A Selection of Mint & Liquorice
I would have never, ever, ever considered mixing Liquorice with Mint. For me, a cup of mint tea is a cure-all cup of yums. Tummy ache? Mint tea! Out in the cold? Mint tea! Coming down with a cold? Mint tea and honey. Considering all my bad experiences with licorice tea, you can imagine my reaction towards this duo....hmm.
With that in mind, my only excuse for purchasing The Selection series by Kiera Cass and picking up a box of Ahmad Tea Double Mint & Liquorice was pure Vanity. They're all really beautiful and my main expectation when I cracked open the spines of these beauties:
Fluff, lots off fluff and not a lot of intensity.
To be completely fair, within the first few chapters I was swept off by the fairy tale vibes. A low ranking girl chosen to compete for the affection of the future king, very Cinderella-ish. The tea was more or less just as promising as the novel itself. It starts off with a gentle sweeping mint flavour that sort of tickles your taste buds until you notice the liquorice undertone. There is a noticeable change in taste from the first to the last sip...and it's not as bad as you'd think!
The first set (The Selection, Elite, and One) carries a lot of romance(mint) along with the harsh realities of a caste system(liquorice). Even though with YA Fiction you can almost always anticipate the ending, this series does keep you pleasantly guessing along the way. The second set (The Heir & The Crown) completely threw the romance off. It was somewhat similar to watching an emotionless episode of the Bachelorette, where the only good part was the final episode.
To be completely fair, when I first purchased and read through these books, I considered them perfectly flawless and read the whole thing within a week. Don't underestimate the books and the tea because they do have the power to draw your undivided attention. Addiction at its best. It's only now after re-reading them 2 years later that I've noticed a change in taste. Read them for yourself to figure out if they fit your palate!
Until next time,
don't forget your crown!
*Note* the first three books center around America Singer while the last two (Number 6 pictured above) are mainly written with her daughter Eadlyn as the main focus)