Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim + Playlist

Hello everyone and welcome back to Readlogy! As you probably may know, I’m part of Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop’s blog tour organized by Caffeine Tours. Today is my tour stop and let’s just dive into it!

VANESSA YU’S MAGICAL PARIS TEA SHOP
by Roselle Lim

Publication date: 4 August 2020 by Berkley Publishing Group
adult | contemporary

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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SYNOPSIS

Become enamored with the splendor of Paris in this heartwarming and delightful story about writing one’s own destiny and finding love along the way.

Vanessa Yu never wanted to see people’s fortunes—or misfortunes—in tea leaves.

Ever since she can remember, Vanessa Yu has been able to see people’s fortunes at the bottom of their teacups. To avoid blurting out their fortunes, she converts to coffee, but somehow fortunes escape and find a way to complicate her life and the ones of those around her. To add to this plight, her romance life is so nonexistent that her parents enlist the services of a matchmaking expert from Shanghai.

The day before her matchmaking appointment, Vanessa accidentally sees her own fate: death by traffic accident. She decides that she can’t truly live until she can find a way to get rid of her uncanny abilities. When her eccentric aunt, Evelyn, shows up with a tempting offer to whisk her away, Vanessa says au revoir to America and bonjour to Paris. While working at Evelyn’s tea stall at a Parisian antique market, Vanessa performs some matchmaking of her own, attempting to help reconnect her aunt with a lost love. As she learns more about herself and the root of her gifts, she realizes one thing to be true: knowing one’s destiny isn’t a curse, but being unable to change it is.

REVIEW

I received digital copy review from Berkley Publishing Group via Caffeine Book Tours. This does not affect my review in any way; all opinions are my own.

Oh, wow, what a book! I don’t always read books that revolve around food and Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop just makes me want to read other foodie books. Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop follows Vanessa, a fortune-teller, who accidentally spilled bad luck for her cousin on her wedding day. Ashamed Vanessa then flies out to Paris with her aunt & mentor, Evelyn, and helps her take care of her tea shop.

First thing first, I adore Roselle Lim’s writing so much! She took me on a tour from Palo Alto to Paris, following Vanessa’s and her aunt’s journey. The description of the food is so tempting–it makes me want to eat every food in this book. Roselle Lim’s writing makes me visualize everything easier; the food, the Parisian street, how Vanessa felt. 

The story itself doesn’t really feel like romance for me. Yes, there’s romance, but, the story is more focused on Vanessa’s self-discovery journey and her relationship with Evelyn. I have only read a few pages from Roselle Lim’s debut, but I guess family drama stories are Roselle Lim’s best elements. However, Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop is way more funnier than Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune. Whereas the latter started off with grief–which makes the book doesn’t really feel like comedy at all–the former started off with the classic “I’m the only cousin who isn’t married yet”.

What I like the most about this book is the dynamic in between Vanessa’s and her family. Maybe it’s my personal preference, but lately I’m craving for family drama and I think if you’re looking for one too, you’ll also love it!

Overall, Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop is an entertaining and funny book to read. Considering reading this book if you’re into:

• Slow-paced book
• A book that revolves around food and family
• Complex dynamics in between family members
• Soap opera

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Roselle Lim was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada as a child. She lived in north Scarborough in a diverse, Asian neighbourhood.

She found her love of writing by listening to her lola (paternal grandmother’s) stories about Filipino folktales. Growing up in a household where Chinese superstition mingled with Filipino Catholicism, she devoured books about mythology, which shaped the fantasies in her novels.

An artist by nature, she considers writing as “painting with words.”

She is represented by Jenny Bent of The Bent Agency.

🍵 Vanessa’s Yu Playlist 🍵

• mirrorball – taylor swift
• la vie en rose – daniela andrade
• neptune – sleeping at last
• clairvoyant – the story so far
• somewhere else – artist vs poet
• the woods – hollow coves
• let it all go – rhodes

below you’ll find the schedule of our blog tour!