I wanted to love this book sad, Sybil and Esme had my heart from the very beginning but the world building could have been sharper, there were moments were things were unclear especially with sybil's secrets and what Esme did or did not know.

This book also introduced a human desperate to get home named Chloe and had Sybil so upset that she couldn't rescue her and then a few pages later basically say "oh well." Introducing this character and her love interest only to lose them, introducing Sybil to the world of the fae as a half fae oly for her to maybe return one day made this story so uneven and the unevenness slowed down the story.

The ending was so damn rushed it really brought the book down, especially as Maeve goes full Disney villain five or six pages before the book is over.

I think this had such amazing potential, it makes me want to read more by Jamie Pacton, but the follow through just missed the mark.

This book had me enthralled from start to finish, the images painted within the words of this book were so vivid and detailed, I can almost image the little apartment in which the two main characters live. I can see the club where the Absinthe is sold, I can see the lands of the fey and the beings that inhabit it. this book, is not just an amazing story that had me on the edge of my seat, but it was an aesthetic journey through art, culture, and passion. when I tell you this book has Vibes I mean it. it was beautifully written, beautifully described and beautifully researched on top of that!

The mutual pining was just the icing on the cake. I was yelling 'just kiss already!' more than once at this book, which caused both my cat, and my mother, some concern to be sure! Not only is the mutual pining so perfectly written, the characters themselves are well written with large (and small) personalities that make you feel as if your actually witnessing real people going through this adventure. i literally cannot rave about Esme enough, the way she tinkers and fidgets with things in her pockets and just wants to stay at home with her cats, absolutely my kind of character.

All in all, this is absolutely going on my Top 5 list for this year!

I was intrigued by the premise and world, but the writing was too simplistic for my taste, and the characters felt flat to me, so I couldn't really get invested in their romance.

Thank you so much for the ARC.

For Sybil Clarion, the Belle Époque city of Severon is a wild, romantic dream, filled with cafés, cabarets, and glittering nightclubs. Eager to embrace the city’s freedom after running away from home, she’s traded high-society soirées for empty pockets and barren cabinets. At least she has Esme, the girl who offered Sybil a home, and maybe—if either of them dared—something more.

This was wonderful. I love a good sapphic fantasy romance and this delivered! Wonderful characters, excellent world-building, and a swoon-worthy romance!

"The Absinthe Underground" is a ya fantasy romance standalone written by Jamie Pacton.

It is a book that drew me in right away, a little because of the beautiful cover and a little because of the intriguing plot. I didn't really know what to expect, but I started the reading with pretty high expectations. And I was not disappointed! Bewitching, elegant and enchanting, it completely won me over. I became attached to Sybil and Esme, the two protagonists, and I was absorbed by the lavish setting! In my opinion it is not a perfect tale, I perceived several flaws, but honestly I don't care! It managed to involve me, to excite me, and that's what matters to me!

The story takes place in the city of Severon, inspired by the Paris of the Belle Époque. A lively, wild and dynamic place filled with cafes, patisseries, theaters, cabarets and glittering nightclubs. A place where the rich with their luxurious mansions, expensive clothes and gilded lifestyle are alternating with the masses of the poor, forced to live on crumbs, in miserable and precarious conditions, amidst grueling shifts and less than lawful activities. I was enchanted by this seductive setting, vividly described through an evocative, refined and sophisticated prose. Otherwise, the world building is decidedly nebulous! Just as an example: the book does not tell where exactly Severon is located and tells nothing about the outside of the town. Information, when present, are thrown out quickly and then abandoned, without any detail. Not to mention the magic system, the Faeries or the world of Fae, intriguing in the premises but poorly developed. Honestly, in this case, it didn't bother me that much because my focus was all on the characters and so who cares about the rest!

The story has several plot holes and various convenient situations, which occasionally made me turn up my nose. Many events seem to happen just like this, without a clear logic, with important situations handled with extreme haste. It is a pity because I  really loved the ideas in this book, but their realization did not satisfy me. I still managed to enjoy it in the end, thanks to my interest in the characters and the fast pace, however, I expected more.

Sybil and Esme, protagonists with their respective third person povs, won me over with their intensity! Sybil is a girl from a rich background, escaped from the high society in which she grew up, driven by a desire for freedom. A skilled thief, she has traded a wealthy existence for a life of empty pockets and rumbling stomachs. Specializing in stealing posters and selling them to collectors for money, she lives with her best friend, Esme, in an apartment in the clock tower, along with their cats. Esme, for her part, is a girl who grew up in misery. Daughter of a troubled mother who died when she was a child, she has made her way through orphanages, hunger and poverty. She works as a waitress in a club and loves books, cats, clocks and other various gears. Sybil is an impulsive, adventurous and extroverted person, disorganized to the highest levels. Esme on the other hand is introverted, organized, reflective and quiet. In theory, they could not be more different, yet their cohabitation and their deep friendship are fantastic! I loved their relationship so much, which is strange, since this is a friends to lovers, trope that I am not so fond of. However, here I found it handled very well, thanks to a wonderful slooow burn and flashbacks that show the origins of their relationship!

All in all, it is not a perfect book, but I loved it so much!

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! I love the dynamic between Sybil and Esme. I love how they never even questioned loving another woman, just questioned how that would change the friendship. The storyline was very fast paced and kept me engaged. However, I did find the story fairly low stakes overall so it wasn't something that was very intense. Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

This was a really nice and quick queer romantasy read. It's not that long, and it reads quickly because of the simplicity of the plot (though sometimes I wish it wasn't so simple). The characters and their relationship are definitely the focus though, not the plot, and those two things are done well enough even though sometimes I wish the story would explore the characters a bit more thoroughly.

Comping to The Cruel Prince and Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries made me very excited to read The Absinthe Underground, but I quickly realized this book doesn’t come close to TCP or EWEOF. So much info dumping in the first few chapters made the characters and story immediately feel flat. I’m pretty generous with info dumping, especially in YA, because that seems to be the growing trend/expectation to tell the reader everything they need to know about the world in the beginning. But Absinthe Underground never stopped, never gave the reader the opportunity to figure things out or experience the world and characters for themselves. This made the romance feel very dull. No tension between them. Unfortunately this book is a no from me.

This is a fun, lovely little book that I think some people will really enjoy. This is my second Jamie Pacton book, and like their first, the plot got an A+ for originality. Right now a lot of fantasy books seem to feel derivative, and this story felt very fresh and different. That being said, I wanted more. There was a lot of telling and not a lot of showing. The world and the characters had a lot of promise, I just wish they were developed a little more. I will say however that this has some great sapphic pining, which makes every book better in my opinion.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

If I was to rate this based on the writing quality alone, it would be a 2/5 star, but there's a lot to love here. First thing I'll say tho is PLEASE, Jamie Pacton, write another book about poster thieves in historical Paris. Your author's note alone sold me on the concept, and I desperately want a whole story about queer poster thieves of France now, without the fae story.

This book needs a stronger editor, period. There's strong roots here but it needs to be tended and cultivated. I enjoyed it, but found myself skipping chunks of dialogue or exposition a LOT because of the method of delivery.

I wish one of the two girls, maybe Esme, had been unaware of her feelings for the other until later in the book. It was hard to keep track of which POV we were in when the same "I want to kiss her, but I don't want her to hate me!" Inner dialogue came up over and over again.

I would read a sequel/side-story about Hyacinth and Chloe.

I wish Maeve had been presented as more of a "supernatural" being. She acted pretty much like a rich brat. I wish there'd been more overall of the "unnatural" feeling of the Fae realm and their cultures.

It was okay, for a heist story. I'm rating it 3/5 mostly on the author's note selling me that this was a work of passion and long dreams come true.

This is such a fun and clever take on fae romantasy! I loved the queer rep, the heists, the action, and the extra swoony romance. The author blended actual history into this fantasy world so seamlessly, which made the worldbuilding feel much more grounded. Thank you to Peachtree Teen for providing me with an ARC!

The cover, premise and characters of this story are all incredible. I was so excited for it!

The plot itself is really intriguing and main characters and subsequent slow burn romance (friends to lovers ft some incredible pining & dual POV) are all , in theory - SUPERB. But they didn’t work.

The writing itself really took me away from the story - it tried to jam too much in right away. Tell, never show. I had worked out the plot and the stress points by chapter 2 because you’re hand fed everything. It also made characters that were supposed to be suave and well versed and mysterious read a bit like a 13 year olds interpretation of those words. I didn’t buy into any of the bad guys or the mystical and dark settings because the writing kept immediately pulling me out.

The pacing is very poor, which makes the stuffed to the brim plot feel very hard to handle.

This book absolutely had all the facets of a for me book but missed the mark entirely.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!
The Absinthe Underground is a delightful book that takes you through the world of poster thieves and their troubling encounters with some pesky Fae.
This was a very fun read. Before the first sentence, the dedication and quote made me feel as if I had already entered their world. It had enjoyable character introductions, though some characters, particularly Esme, felt a little flat, though this is most likely due to the fact that I typically read longer books where they have more page time to flesh out the characters.
There were a couple of wording errors, &c. that distracted me from the book at times and it was a bit predictable so I was never really surprised with where it went, but I enjoyed its direction thoroughly nonetheless.
It was a lot of fun reading about poster thieves just because that's not something I've ever heard about before, so it made for a very original plot.
Overall, I enjoyed it, but even with the originality of the plot, it felt like it was going through the motions of what a book should be at times. It has a two by my rating system but would be a three otherwise.

As a lifelong francophile, I was thrilled to review The Absinthe Underground by @jamiepacton - the setting is very much like the belle epoque, where roommates Sybil and Esme struggle to make a living.

Into their lives comes Maeve, who brings them to her club and tells them she is the Green Faerie herself, with plans of a heist that can be the solution to all their problems.

Of course, there is more than Sybil and Esme are being told, and there is also the unresolved issue of their feelings for each other.

While the writing could be polished up a bit, this was a quick, easy read set in a time that is not often seen in fantasy fiction.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This novel was a refreshing fairytale with sapphic fantasy fae elements. It was a good story with solid characters. I liked the atmosphere and the lush prose.

Got this for review on Netgalley.
I found the story to be kind of a cozy to read, cute but intruiging but not very intense. In parts I felt like I wanted more, for example more exploration of the characters. But overall I found it entertaining and a good read.

This book is a great sapphic fae fantasy! I would definitely recommend this to my friends, even those that don’t usually read fantasy!

"The Absinthe Underground" by Jamie Pacton offers a beguiling fusion of Moulin Rouge and Holly Black, creating a sapphic friends-to-lovers romantic fantasy set in a captivating world. In this sumptuous LGBTQ+ novel, readers can expect to be charmed by the delightful blend of romance and fantasy.

The story centers around Sybil Clarion, who escapes from her home to experience the allure of the Belle Époque city of Severon. However, her hopes for freedom are replaced with the reality of financial hardship. In this moment of need, she finds solace and companionship in Esme, who not only provides her with a home but also stirs deep feelings within her.

The friendship between Sybil and Esme is the anchor of the narrative, layered with complexities that give rise to more profound emotions. As the story unfolds, readers are drawn into the intoxicating world of the Absinthe Underground, where the enigmatic Maeve unveils her true identity as a Green Faerie trapped in this realm. Maeve presents an enticing offer that could solve Sybil and Esme's financial woes and grant them unimaginable freedom.

Pacton's writing takes you on an enthralling journey, rich with Fae lore, a slow-burning sapphic romance, and a world that is equal parts whimsical and dangerous. The plot keeps you guessing as secrets and twists are revealed, adding depth to the characters and their motivations. The captivating narrative combines the allure of the Belle Époque with the enchantment of the Fae, creating a truly unique setting.

In "The Absinthe Underground," Jamie Pacton masterfully intertwines romance and fantasy to create a mesmerizing story that explores themes of friendship, love, and personal liberation. Fans of Fae lore and those who savor the slow-burn build of sapphic relationships in a richly magical world will find this book an enchanting delight.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐ 4.5

The Absinthe Underground is a sapphic delight filled with charming gaslamp fae fantasy and Art Nouveau whimsy. It really was lovely reading a book where the queerness was so sweet and threaded throughout and I found myself really adoring Esme and Sybil's romantic dynamic, as well as them as separate characters. However, for a heist novel, it truly never felt dangerous or suspenseful. The tone is consistent in it's exploration of a comforting fairy tale-esque journey. But that being said, I do not think the story struggles for it! It feels purposeful and with the anchor of Esme and Sybil's beautiful love story; fulfilling.

As an aside, the incorporation of the author's love of art history and of artists such as Mucha and Toulouse was very refreshing as an art history buff myself. The story felt more special for the care given to this aspect of the thievery and setting. This is a world you would jump at the chance to exist within just to stroll down the streets and get a glance at the artistry.

If you want a cozy sapphic fairy adventure, I would highly recommend!

A heart-warming tale of friendship, sapphic romance, magical objects, stealthy heists, and the Fae. This book is sure to dazzle you.

Sybil Clarion has given up a life of luxury to live her truth with her best friend and secret crush, Esme Rimbaud. Where they are fortunate in a loving home with plenty of cute cats, they lack in sustainable funds. Thankfully, Sybil’s knack for stealing desired posters around town lands the two a job that could change their life and secure their wealth. It’s all thanks to the mysterious establishment known as The Absinthe Underground.

I adore Esme, seeing as she is a lot like myself. I too want to stay at home with my cats, preferring comfort over adventure. My own best friend seems to drag me out on the town and cause trouble, much like Sybil. The friends-to-lovers dynamic is the real star of the show. I always dread sapphic romances, they seem to turn to drama or tragedy. I’m pleased to say, this one is very heart-warming. Sybil, our adventurous heroine, can get selfish at times, but Esme does reign her in and balance the two. I did wish the Fae world would have come sooner, but the mysterious club makes up for the wait. I can’t say more for fear of spoiling the plot, but the ending did surprise me! If you love magic and the Fae, you’ll love this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and Peachtree for this ARC.