A TEMPEST OF TEA by Hafsah Faizal

Although the third-person narrative initially made it hard for me to immerse myself in this story, I was impressed by the captivating, vivid descriptions that effortlessly brought the characters and world to life. I was also fascinated by the intriguing and creative world that was established. However, I struggled with the clunky worldbuilding information dumps and wished some concepts, like the tea house, had been better developed.

INK BLOOD SISTER SCRIBE by Emma Törzs

Lush details and descriptions brought this story to life but were jarringly excessive – especially in the first half of the story. On top of this, a third-person point of view was used, which made the writing style even less engaging. There were some cute moments of humour, though, and fewer information dumps in the second half of the story, making the pacing better.

THE REVELATION OF LIGHT AND DARK by Sawyer Bennett

From the start, a palpable atmosphere of foreboding and mystery kept the story engaging. Equally intriguing was the concealed paranormal world gradually established throughout the story. However, I struggled slightly with the overly descriptive writing style, especially since there is lots of filler information, and much is told, not shown.