Title: The Tea Dragon Society, The Tea Dragon Festival, The Tea Dragon Tapestry
Author: Kay O’Neill
Series: The Tea Dragon Series
Publish Date: October 31, 2017 (repubbed Feb 2019 for Owlcrate), September 17, 2019, June 1, 2021 respectively
Publisher: Oni Press
Format: Society: Print, paperback; Festival and Tapestry: ebook via Hoopla

Goodreads Summary:

From the award-winning author of Princess Princess Ever After comes The Tea Dragon Society, a charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in the enchanting world of tea dragons.

After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own.

Review: I’m reviewing all three graphic novels at once for this review.

The Tea Dragon series is one that I’ve heard of many times. It has earned a beloved and well deserved following and respect from so many people. And now I’m one of them. I couldn’t sleep last night, so I ended up attempting to reorganize my bookshelves, as one does with insomnia. I came across the Owlcrate reprint of The Tea Dragon Society that was included in their February 2019 box, Legendary Beasts. I gave it a read… and immediately hopped online to see if the other two were available, which they were!

I was surprised at how quickly I fell into this world. The worldbuilding alone is vast, but it also works. Information isn’t given in a heavy-handed way, instead naturally through conversation that flows. The story builds within the chapters, and the amount of detail captured in the dialogue and art is wonderful.

I was immediately in love with all of the characters. There’s young Greta, who goes from somewhat a dreamer to someone who doesn’t want the knowledge of both tea dragons and blacksmithing to vanish, and takes the responsibility seriously. Then you have her counterpart Minette, a former prophetess who suffers from a damaged memory, but manages to remember Greta and her foster parents. Let’s not forget Hesekiel and Erik, married husbands and former adventurers who now are the last two remaining members of the original Tea Dragon Society. In the sequel we are introduced to Rinn, who is nonbinary/genderfluid and grows so much as a cook. And there is also Aedhan, a dragon with the ability to shift into a human form, and who is filled with so much history and knowledge.

Each story is full of such vibrant characters and stories, but there’s so much more. The representation in this world is wonderful. We have a m/m couple that are together and strong. We have disability representation, as one character is in a wheelchair, and several characters use American Sign Language. We have a nonbinary character that is handled in such a perfect way, that you don’t feel like they are shoehorned into the story. It’s just another detail of their character. The world is also filled with people of all walks of life and backgrounds. Oh, and the POC rep is on point, with the pages being filled with people of all colors of the rainbow.

I needed to read a feelgood story, but something that didn’t just hold my hand. It had to earn it. And this series did so in spades. If you’re looking for a trio of short graphic novels, this is the series for you.

Rating: 5/5

Goodreads Goal 18-20/52

(Quick note: I didn’t write a review for the 6th, 8th, 10th and 16th “books” I read this year, as they are the first three The Old Guard: Tales Through Time issues, which are 32 pages each. I decided I’ll just review the series as a whole when the final issue is released in September.)