This book tells the story of our heroin Lana, a scribe, who gets sent to the Parliament, to fulfill her job there. Upon arrival, she discovers that the fairies have every intention to let the Parliament sink under ground and let all the people inside drown, she, along with her new fairy friend Bugbite and the beautiful Eloquentia, must find a solution and bring the Parliament to an actual working state.

It's been a week since I've finished the book, and let me tell you, I'm still confused. While I did like the narration and even the plot, I'm left wondering what in the hell did I just read.
Although it may seem like another fantasy short story, like many others, this is one of a kind in its contents, and it almost reminds me of an allegory, to make the reading realize how essential yet complex the role of democracy and of members of Parliament actually is.

I was granted audio ARC access to High Times in the Low Parliament by Kelly Robson via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the approval! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

As promised, I'm going to be completely honest and admit that while this book is remarkably short, I didn't finish it. I was actually graned access after publication day, so I loaded it up right away to start listening with the hope of providing a glowing review as soon as possible, but it wasn't to be. Even though the narrator was lovely and did a fine job, this book just didn't capture me at all. It failed to make me care about the characters or pay attention to what's really going on, rather than just admire the setting and atmosphere, and because of that I easily (and without much regret at all) loaded up the next three audiobooks waiting in my NetGalley app before returning to finish this one.

I really enjoyed this work, however I feel like it was way too short. There was so much opportunity to delve deeper into the issues, but it felt like it was cut off so suddenly.

Overall I enjoyed it though. I just feel it needed more.

Os prometo que la lectora de este audiolibro, Amy Scanlon, hace una labor encomiable en tratar de hacerlo interesante, pero es que el material de partida no hay por dónde agarrarlo.


Lo que pretende ser una divertida parodia sobre el Brexit pero trasladado a un mundo fantástico queer con hadas y magia, se transforma en un aburrido debate parlamentario sin ningún atisbo de interés, a pesar de la amenaza de muerte que pende sobre los miembros de las cortes.

La protagonista es Lana Baker, una famosa amanuense más centrada en sus flirteos amorosos que en otras labores, que cae en una trampa y acaba enrolada en el plantel de escribas del parlamento inglés. Por desgracia para ella y para las demás personas presentes, una antigua tradición ordena que si no se llega a un acuerdo, el parlamento se inundará y todos los allí presentes perecerán ahogados. Parecería un buen incentivo para que las partes implicadas negociaran unos términos adecuados para todos, pero está claro que la clase política que nos presenta Robson no tiene interés en ello.

Los debates son aburridos, la labor de los escribas superflua, la intervención de las hadas empeora la situación en vez de enderezarla y la resolución del conflicto es, cuando menos, estrambótica.

Lo único bueno que puedo sacar del libro es que es muy corto. No lo puedo recomendar en absoluto.

What a weird little novella - I had fun, but I also couldn't really tell you what was going on and why? Which I think is partially my own inability to understand fantasy but also perhaps partially a flaw of the piece. There's more questions left unanswered by the end than answered, which I don't know is a real negative (it's a novella, not everything is going to get addressed), but I think people would be more tolerant if there were like 10 more pages here or the promise of a series. Should the latter manifest, I don't feel the need to return personally, but I certainly wouldn't encourage people to do the same. If you liked Legends & Lattes, you may like this one.

I liked the narrator for this, but wouldn't say she added anything to the story beyond a nice voice for it. A totally acceptable audiobook, but not the format I'd insist people read it in.

The narrator was lovely and the world building was delightful but the resolution and story were a bit superficial.

A lively and enjoyable novella with some thoroughly entertaining characters at the centre of it. I'd love for this to have been longer, but what we are given works fantastically as it is.

I was actually surprised when I got this audiobook arc and noticed how SHORT it is. When a novel is this short, there is a lot to get done to make the reader involved and care for the world/characters. A prime example of this done to perfection is Seanan McGuire’s Every Heart a Doorway or All Systems Red by Martha Wells. I just think the scope of the book was too big, and the page count too small.

Lana is a scoundrel, a flirt, and the best scribe in town (or so she proclaims). Her flirting leads to her doom in the end, she has been recruiter to Parliament. What nobody told her is that if parliament doesn’t come to an agreement soon the whole thing is going to go under water and everyone on the island will die. What is a girl to do in this situation, other than live life to the fullest and flirt your way through Parliament? And so our story begins, and kind of ends.

I just kept coming back to this question, “why should I care?” The beginning was pretty great, and the audiobook narrator nailed her character, but after Lana is sent off to parliament nothing really happens, other than her flirting and making friends with a Faerie. There was this particular scene, where a row of bodies is shown, perhaps to drive home the point of how very serious this situation is, but there was no emotional CATCH. We never met anyone that was involved with the dead, we didn’t make friends or connections that lasted with any other character other than Lana, Bugbite, and Eloquencia (and she was pretty two dimensional, actually, every character is pretty two dimensional). The political aspect of the whole thing left a lot to be desired, the stakes were just never felt to the fullest, and everybody in the parliament was rather dull.

Cool idea, not a great execution. Back to the drawing board!

# High Times in the Low Parliament

“High Times in the Low Parliament” is a easy-to-read novel centered around fairies, politics, and a human girl’s sense of adventure which keeps getting her into trouble. The main character, Lana Baker, agrees to pass a message in exchange for kisses, and in doing so, unknowingly gets a job as scribe at the Low Parliament. As there is no end in sight of getting away and with the threat of the Low Parliament sinking every day, Lana goes yet again in the search of adventures, only to get into more trouble.

While the idea of the book’s concept is interesting and asks for more development, the same cannot be said by the writing style and pacing of time. Always in a hurry to get from one sequence to another diminishes the listening experience drastically, which also the reason for the rating. Given the open ending, I would love to see a continuation of the main story, as well as an improved writing style.

Special thanks to NetGalley, RB Media, Recorded Books, and the editorial team for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC in audiobook format and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.

If you are interested in other of my book reviews, make sure to follow me on GoodReads!

#HighTimesintheLowParliament #NetGalley #LifeLongLearning

I wish this book was a little longer. It’s hard to squeeze everything that makes a good high-fantasy novel into a novella. It felt like the world building was both rushed and fell flat, some plot holes that made it hard to follow. I did enjoyed the relationship between the human MC and the Fae MC. There was solid character growth there. Honestly, the Human MC really annoyed me at time, she was selfish and overly flirty, but the thing that this author does well was really takes this character on a journey of growth. She comes to realize that there are more important things in life, like true connections, both plutonic and intimate.

Absolute nonsense-filled romp. Everybody is gay and high and horny and it is hilarious. In a world where men do not exist, but fairies do, politics are still causing problems and it's up to Lana to fix everything. Unfortunately for her, it's going to take more than a little flirting to fix everything that's wrong in the Low Parliament.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC which hit just the right spot

This story is a Sapphic novella based in a fantasy world where Fairies control everything. If I understand correctly the fairies gift human women babies if they apply to be mothers.
However, the fairies prefer perfection and they don’t believe humans are, so they are considering flooding the world and drowning the humans to start over.
✺✺
It was an interesting concept but it’s hard to get the world building needed for a story like this in a short novella. I believe this world only has females and Fairies which was a fun twist.
The main character went from only caring about kissing girls and writing with pretty pens, to being elected to the human parliament… Also her and her Fairy friend are constantly on hallucinogenic drugs so it isn’t surprising that a dance is what saves the world!??!
If you’re looking for a very fast fantasy read I think this was interesting but don’t expect character growth or a lot of world building.
✺✺
Rating: 3/5
I received a copy of this from @netgalley for an honest review
✺✺
#bookreview #netgalley #hightimesinthelowparliment

Well this was painful. I started listening to this audiobook 3 times and kept giving up because despite my best efforts (low speed, doing nothing, closing my eyes) I could not follow the text at all. It was not just the story, the world would glide over me and I could not absorb a single bit of information.

I do not know what to think about the audiobook narrator she is clearly acting her heart out but it gets annoying so fast. Especially the fairy voices would at certain points were just impossible to understand. I do not know whether it was her or the writing that made me ne being able to engage with the text.

It's not that I am unfamiliar with works where the worldbuiling is vague or confusing, some of my favourite works do that but it's always with a goal in mind, it is a narrative choice serving a purpose. Here I don't know. I have no idea what was in this book. There are a flirty lesbian, fairies, a parliament and scribes. That's the only thing I can remember. I can't tell you anything else because this book felt like a long string of words spoken one after the others.

I am sure it has some redeeming quality in terms of story and characters for the people for whom it did not feel like a bad fever dream and that's why I can't rate it 1 star

Advanced Reader’s Copy audiobook provided by NetGalley, and RB Media exchange for an honest review.

High Times in the Low Parliament by Kelly Robson was an amazing novella to follow up a heavy and lengthy read. The story featured light worldbuilding, and fun characters. I greatly enjoyed following along with Lana's storyline. She was a talent scribe, who was a lady's lady. I greatly enjoyed her wit and her (sometimes inappropriate timing) flirty banter.

The narrator Amy Scanlon did an amazing job capturing the story! Scanlon skillfully brought life to every flirty and witty moment!

Overall, I would give High Times in Low Parliament a 3.5 stars. This story seems more geared to readers who are looking for a bit more of a refreshing read, versus a high fantasy with intense world building.

I would recommend this book and audiobook to readers, though it did not happen to make the cut to be purchased for our library's collection.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook of this!

Story: 4 ⭐
Narration: 4.5 ⭐

High Times in the Low Parliament is such a fun read! You have to go into it with the right mindset in order to fully appreciate it, however. It's a novella, so you don't get a ton of world building or back story. There's no explanation for why there doesn't seem to be any men. If you go in knowing you won't get all the answers, you will have a good time.

High Times follows Lana Baker– shameless flirt, lazy scribe, and lover of women in all shapes and sizes– as she is sent to the low parliament on the brink of sealing its own demise. We don't necessarily want to be Lana, but we can recognize bits of ourselves in her, and we definitely can find her in the people around us. She changes the people around her for the better while her own character improves in the face of the challenges of politics. She doesn't save parliament on her own though. Instead she makes room for the voices and art of others to do the savings themselves. She is not a heroine, but rather a path to follow for others to get things done.

Kelly Robson takes some time to poke fun at the political mess of the world, most specifically Brexit, but her story is light and fun and full of the reminder of just how wonderful women can be. The tongue-in-cheek depiction of politics– none of the scribes really know what's going on or why things are the way they are– holds a mirror up to the sometimes stupid complexity of our own political landscapes.

The narration itself is a bit shrill for some of the voices, particularly those of the fairies, so finding the right volume can be difficult. The fairies themselves, however, are a comical refresher on the current take on the fair folk in fiction. They are beautiful, and they are bitter. Robson has done a wonderful job showing both the good and bad of humans through a fun and immensely enjoyable story.

In the 18th century, fairies rule the parliament to make sure humans don't go to war. An event with grave consequences for the faeries historically. If the parliment can't agree, ending on a hung vote, the parliment will be flooded and all present drowned. Including scribes like Lana Baker. No one's favorite daughter, no one's favorite paramour. She's tricked into becoming a scribe with a kiss, and meets Fairy Bugbite and the beautiful deputy Eloquentia.
Often Lana describes others as boring to the point of putting her to sleep. That's how I felt the majority of this book. At 80% I realized I had no idea what was happening, and I had no investment in the characters, I didn't care what happened to them even as they discussed the likely hood of being drowned by the end of the day.
I have no idea what was discussed or what they were voting on, why it was important, or why Lana didn't care. No one was well fleshed out, the world-building was interesting at times but mostly overly simplified. Too much was mentioned as though we knew what was going on. Even in terms of parliament, I had no idea how the government worked or what made it up.
I got to the point of hating free time when I would normally listen to a book because it was just so boring. For being so short, that's saying something.

The narration from Amy Scanlon was lovely. I didn't love all of the voices, but they tended to match the characters, I think she captured Lana's attitude very well.

The story itself is mostly funny and whimsical, and just drops us into a world with what feels like very little information. I felt like I was scrambling to wrap my head around the world. I listened to this playful romp in an afternoon.

I suppose it's not really my kind of book - I prefer more world building in the books I read unless they're more familiar settings, and I felt a bit lost. I also found the world of only women and girls vaguely off-putting, as in it rubs me the wrong way and treads into some questionable territory for me.

I think I expected something different from the synopsys and didn't connect with the work.

I wish all books were this length! But also I wish this book was longer! Robson wrote just about the cutest book! With lesbians, polyamory, and fairies. High Times in the Low Parliament is story about a scribe who is forced to work for the Parliament and while she shows up against her will, just in time for the entire city to be flooded by the fairies, she finds a family, and within her, courage. This book was so sweet and engaging and wonderful! I was so immersed in the story and the characters. Lana, Bugbite, and Eloquentia make an unexpected, yet beautiful trio as they bicker and fall in love with each other. I'm so excited about this book and can't wait to tell everyone at Little District Books to read it!.

CW: Death, drug use, violence, blood, alcohol

Thank you to Kelly Robson, RB Media, and #NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This novella by Kelly Robson is set in a fantastical 18th Century London where faeries get high on precious baker's yeast and run Parliament (not in that order, or maybe in that order?). The main character, Lana, is a scribe that seemed to love drama and debauchery and she reminded me a bit of Anne Lister from the show Gentleman Jack. Except, I was a bit underwhelmed by the story and character development. I kept feeling like I missed something, even going so far as to pause and go back a few chapters in case I did. The writing and narrating weren't bad at all, but it left me wanting more, a deeper dive into the fantasy and debauchery it promised.

3 out of 5 stars

Lana is a fantastic scribe, known for her penmanship and her sass. She believes herself to be quite the charmer as well; in an attempt to get in good with a lovely lady, she delivers a message to the Low Parliament in exchange for some kisses. But she finds herself roped into the politics and forced to be a scribe at the Low Parliament, where fairies harangue the humans for not being able to agree on anything. Lana soon discovers that if Parliament can’t agree, then their lives will be in danger and war will likely begin. Can she do anything to keep this from becoming a reality?

I’m really not sure what I just read.

There was a lack of explanation for almost everything, including plot-important details and quirky details that just made no sense (e.g., a slight pinch of yeast was equivalent to doing drugs?). With no explanations given to these things, the whole work felt disjointed and nonsensical. Similarly, there was no worldbuilding, no grounding of the world’s facts, no explanations, nothing. Why does Low Parliament exist? Why would Parliament be eradicated if they couldn’t agree? Why did a faction want this to happen? Why were there no males in this world?

The characters were lacking. I enjoyed Lana at first, though her overuse of the word “beauty” began to get on my nerves. Her character had no real development, other than that she liked drugs and hooking up with folks. It was fun to watch her relationship with BB evolve and grow, but other than that, there was no character depth, development, or growth.

Unfortunately, I have nothing good to say about this work other than that I’m glad it wasn’t any longer. The narrator did a good job with the audiobook, though. I don’t recommend this work. My thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for allowing me to review this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.