My copy of Yesterday Crumb and the Storm in a Teacup was gifted to me by the publisher, Hachette Children’s Group, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Yesterday Crumb is no ordinary girl. She was born with fox ears that have cursed her to a lonely life working in the circus and her origins are a complete mystery. But she is about to escape into the adventure of a lifetime when she learns that she’s a strangeling who’s lost her magic.
Taken in by Miss Dumpling the flamboyant Tea Witch, Yesterday is introduced to a magical, walking teashop filled with fantastical customers, a flying teapot turtle called Pascal and powerful spells in every teacup!
Yesterday starts to rediscover her magic and to feel a sense of belonging. But a mysterious figure of darkness is working hard to ensure her new life comes crashing down – and it all starts with a deadly shard of ice in Yesterday’s heart…
But there’s nothing that can’t be solved with a pot of tea, a slice of cake and a BIG dash of magic!
Sometimes, you come across a book and you just know you’re going to love it. It might be the lead character’s name (Yesterday Crumb is an amazing name for a children’s book character), it might be the comparisons to other book series (This one was compared to The Strangeworlds Travel Agency and Starfell, two of my favourite series), or it might just be the synopsis (there’s a tea witch and a magical walking teashop. What more do you need?!). In this case, it was all three, and let me tell you, this is already a contender for my book of the year. I absolutely adored Yesterday Crumb and the Storm in a Teacup by Andy Sagar, and I highly recommend you pick up a copy.
I’m not even sure where to begin with this book. Everything about it was fantastic. The main characters – Yesterday herself, Miss Dumpling, Madrigal and Jack – are all brilliant, and make up one of my favourite found families. Madrigal, the grumpy not-raven with a heart of gold may have been my favourite, but I loved all of them. Mr Weep and his gang of minions was the perfect antagonist for the story, sufficiently creepy to make you worry for our heroes, but with an intriguing backstory which went some way to explaining his motivations.
My absolute favourite thing about this book though, was Dwimmerly End, the magical teashop where Yesterday finds herself, complete with the cutest tea spirit you have ever seen in a book. I want to live there. I’ll even volunteer to muck out the unicorn stables if necessary, as long as I get to drink Miss Dumpling’s wonderful tea and eat her amazing cake while travelling around the country in a teashop on legs. It honestly just sounds so welcoming and full of sunshine. If I can also train as a tea witch, that would be a bonus, but I’m not a strangeling, so I don’t think I have any magic.
So the characters and setting are amazing, what’s the story like, I hear you ask. Well, you’ll be unsurprised to learn that it is also amazing. We travel to various places to find the ingredients needed for the pot of tea to lift the curse Mr Weep has laid on Yesterday for nefarious reasons of his own and it’s a proper rip-roaring adventure. At the same time, Yesterday is trying to learn how to use her magic, training as a tea witch under the most immense pressure, and everything comes together to form a truly satisfying plot. Is it clear yet just how much I loved this book?
I really can’t recommend Yesterday Crumb and the Storm in a Teacup highly enough. If you have kids of the appropriate age, they are definitely going to love it, but it’s such a good book that there’s plenty for adults to enjoy too. It’s the sort of book that makes you give a big sigh of contentment when you’ve finished it, shortly before you start desperately wishing for the sequel!
5/5
Yesterday Crumb and the Storm in a Teacup is out on Thursday 17th March
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