The Tea Dragon Society by K. O’Neill (Tea Dragon, #1) * * * *

-

I read The Tea Dragon Society by K. O’Neill for the 2026 PopSugar Reading Challenge, for prompt number 46, “a sapphic comic.” This is definitely a comic, and it is sapphic in a very sweet, gentle, all ages way, so it fits the prompt nicely. 

This is a short, whimsical fantasy story set in a world of magical creatures, blacksmiths, tea shops, dragons, and tiny tea dragons. The main character is Greta, a young blacksmith apprentice who is learning her family’s craft in a world where sword making seems to be fading into something more decorative than practical. I actually found that part interesting, because the story hints at a wider world without fully explaining it. We know swords are no longer needed in the same way, but we do not really know why. Maybe the world has moved on from them. Maybe it has become more peaceful. Maybe there is another explanation entirely. The book does not go very far into that, but it gives the setting a quiet sense of history.

The story begins when Greta rescues a lost tea dragon and returns it to its owner, Hesekiel. Through him, she learns about tea dragons and the careful, fading art of looking after them. Tea dragons are tiny, magical creatures whose leaves can be used to make tea connected to memory, which is such a lovely idea. It fits the whole mood of the book. Soft, nostalgic, a little melancholy, but mostly comforting.

Greta herself is easy to like. She is practical, curious, and talented, and I liked that her blacksmithing is not treated as just a background detail. She has a skill of her own, but she is also open to learning something completely different. Through the tea dragons, she meets Minette, a quiet girl with her own past and her own sadness. There are definitely little sparks between Greta and Minette, but the romance is very gentle and PG. It is more about blushing, closeness, and the feeling of something beginning than about a big romantic plot.

The art style was one of my favourite parts. It is pretty without being too ornate. The pages are clean, soft, and colourful, with enough detail to make the world feel magical, but not so much that the panels become crowded. The tea dragons are especially cute, in a way that feels designed to make you want a plush version immediately. 

I gave this four stars. I really enjoyed it, and it was sweet, charming, and very easy to read. At the same time, I am quite strict with five stars, and for me this did not quite reach that level. The story is lovely, but it is also very brief, and I did feel that there could have been a little more of it. More worldbuilding, more time with the characters, more depth around the tea dragons and the society itself. What is here is beautiful, but I wanted it to go just a bit further.

Still, I would definitely recommend The Tea Dragon Society if you want a soft, cosy, sapphic graphic novel with magical creatures and a gentle emotional centre. It is a small story, but a very warm one, and sometimes that is exactly what you need.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Claiming of Souls by R.A. Sandpiper (Amefyre, #3) * * * * *

-
Image
I finally finished my ARC copy of A Claiming of Souls by R. A. Sandpiper . This is the final part of her Amefyre trilogy, and it was a satisfying conclusion to a great series. (Also, just FYI—there’s a companion novella !) The ending was genuinely unpredictable. I usually have a good sense of where stories are going, but this one kept me guessing—so kudos to the author. I really enjoyed the story in this final book. A lot was happening, and there was even a little callback to the novella, which I appreciated. There were some surprising moments throughout. Suri ’s new powers were used really well—I liked that they didn’t make her feel overpowered or invincible. She still had real moral dilemmas to face and discovered a lot about herself. Her arc was deeply satisfying; she truly developed as a character while still staying true to who she was at her core. Kol , the other main character, wasn’t as prominent in this instalment. He was present, but he didn’t stand out as much this time. An...
Read more

From Five To Nine (JDrama) * * * *

-
Image
First of all, I have to say that I mainly started to watch From Five to Nine for Ishihara Satomi, whom I just adore! She’s not only incredibly beautiful, and I sometimes find myself staring at, but she also brings such warmth to all her performances. I also started to watch it as I’ve worked as an English teacher myself. I tried once to get a job in Japan, but apparently it’s impossible if you didn’t grow up in an English speaking country. This drama starts out a bit strangely, and frankly, throughout the story it was hard to understand Takane ’s attraction to her. Sure, Junko is a lovely, vivacious, beautiful woman. Like I said, it’s very hard to not stare at Satomi sometimes, she’s that gorgeous, but one would think a monk would go deeper than that. Also, frankly, Takane’s very annoying, and I would probably have been more drastic in my refusal of him. So this drama is about a monk falling in love with an English teacher inexplicably fast and deep. He relentlessly pursue...
Read more

Snowpiercer (2013) * * *

-
Image
I didn't hear about this movie until it was mentioned in a list of movies never released in the theatres in Hungary that were good. That's where I live, BTW. The concept sounded interesting and unique, so I decided to check it out. I also do have a thing for dystopias . The movie is about a train that goes around the world, carrying the last members of humanity. In an experiment that we managed to mess up, we managed to freeze the whole world. The train was built to be a self-sustaining economy . I did wonder how that would work. The first thing that came into my mind was "guns?" That's the first thing you see on the the screen of the train. A man carrying a machine gun. In a way that describes the whole movie. It is very violent. The basic plot is that the people who live in the back, the poor section, try to take over the engine at the front, to control the train, the world, really. The rich people control the food, punish rebellious poor people...
Read more