I was really excited about this book and was very happy to discover it. The setting in the city of Severon particularly appealed to me; it had a slight steampunk touch, which was further enhanced by Esme's passion for clocks. I also found the home of the two women very charming and unique – a bell tower full of cats is indeed an interesting choice.

I really liked the basic idea of the plot. The adventures of Sybil and Esme and the dynamics between them were captivating. However, I missed some information here and there, which made the plot sometimes feel too rushed. I would have liked to dive deeper into the various worlds and get to know the protagonists better. The author could have added more details in some places to make the story more tangible.

I especially enjoyed the romance between Sybil and Esme. It was slowly built and very sweet, just the right amount to avoid being cheesy. Their relationship developed naturally and was a nice contrast to the action-packed parts of the story.

Overall, I give the book 3 out of 5 stars. The atmosphere and basic idea were really good, but the execution could have been more detailed in some parts. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading it and am curious about more works by the author.

I was really looking forward to this novel. It was one of my most anticipated books of the year.
I don't think it was bad but I didn't find it exceptional sadly, I found it to be quite a slog.
Perhaps I had my expectations set too high.
That said, I loved that it has a sapphic romance.

"The Absinthe Underground" is the lovely, soft sapphic fantasy romance that I didn't know I needed. It's got magic, slow burn tension and doors between the human world and Fae, doors between classes and friends versus lovers. It was like a cup of tea in front of a crackling fire on a cold day. And one of the best friends-to-lovers arcs I have read in a long time.

Esme and Sybil couldn't be more mismatched. Esme is sensible and sensitive where Sybil is hotheaded and impetuous. Sybil is hiding secrets of her own, like a past of wealth and oppression that she escaped and her half-Fae heritage. Esme grew up poor with an alcoholic mother, and has found solace in books, fixing clocks and taking in stray cats. Sybil was her latest stray cat, and the two become inseparable friends, all the while pining for more and unable to say.

I usually dislike friends to lovers when there's no more angst or tension the moment they become lovers, but this delivered on the angst and a searing kiss that didn't happen till the last chapter. This was friends to lovers without dumb misunderstandings but real, believable tension that consistently crackled between these two fools in love.

Sybil makes her living as a poster thief, which Esme reluctantly aids her in. One night a job goes wrong and they wind up in the employ of the owner of the glamorous Absinthe Underground, who hires them to steal the crown jewels of the faerie queen. Will this latest assignment bring them the riches they've always chased or lead to their ruin?

Overall I loved these two characters and their dynamic, and that's what kept me enjoying this story. The conflict was often resolved too neatly but that's appropriate for a low-stakes, cozy romance. A nice palate cleanser after some of the high-stakes epic fantasy and horror that I've been reading lately.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily. Apologies for taking so long to review!

The premise is great, but I think I thought this was something else - or going to have something else - I'm not sure. I might read it at some point.

Somehow this book what should be a high-stake heist cozy and I won't lie, I enjoyed it. One could argue that heist needs set backs and hard obstacles that lead to tension and therefore a heist can't be cozy. They may be right and that could slow down this book for a reader. I say, come for cozy, slow burn friends to lovers romance, that's an easy read and you will be satisfied.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc!
I went in super excited for this story! I liked this author's previous work and was excited to dive into the romance. Unfortunately, I ended up not loving the story. I found it difficult to root for the main romance between Sybil and Esme; while reading the story, I felt there was very little romantic chemistry between the two characters. The characters are very different in ways that I think doesn't complement the romantic story-building; it's made very clear throughout the story that Esmay is compromising her ideals or opinions for Sybil because she loves her but is very unhappy with some of the things that are going on. This was a reoccurring issue and ultimately made me not want to root for this romance. I honestly found myself more intrigued by Hyacinth and Chloe's romance than Esme and Sybil. I liked them as characters and felt they had potential, but I think overall, we needed more development from them in order to make their story work romantically and in general.
In addition, I feel like the overall plot is very convenient and not as well thought out as I wish. The highest is unbelievably easy to the point of disbelief and, honestly, some confusion. Everything kind of just conveniently happens or works out without any plan or skill. They are both kind of just saved at every point by someone else or get unbelievably lucky time and time again. Oh I think they were just too many elements in such a short story that everything felt extremely rushed and not as well thought out as it could've been. There were elements that I was really excited to see done in the story but so many of them felt flat as there was very little explanation or development.

Overall while I was really really excited for the story, I think it needed a bit more development and unfortunately I didn't love it.

Very similarly to Pacton's earlier novel The Vermilion Emporium, the cover of The Absynth Undergound immediately caught my eye. Add in the expectation of a Sapphic romance, and the mention of a similarity between Pacton and Holly Black, and I was hooked. Sadly, what I hoped would be a quick Summer read turned into quite the slog. I took a number of breaks over the course of reading the book, which is never the experience one wants to have with a book.

I did think that Pacton did a wonderful job with the world building.

While I truly wanted to love this book, The Absinthe Underground simply did not strike the correct chord with me. I will put some of the onus on me as, at the time of reading, I was in a bit of a slump. I would maybe be willing to give the book another chance when I was more in the swing of things, less in a reading slump.

This was a cute, if simple friends-to-lovers novel. I liked the setting but overall it felt juvenile and more like a middle grade novel where everything works out perfectly. I feel like it would have been a lot better if it had been longer and if the stakes were higher, especially in the fae realm. The main couple was cute though, and this one was a quick read!

🌈Queer rep: FF main couple, bi/pan main characters.

This was a sweet and really good book and I’m not mad that it’s friends to lovers! I have to either really like the author or the trope has to be done well (to like the trope/book) – luckily both applied here! What I like most about Pacton’s books are her characters. She writes them so well you can tell she loves them and had fun writing their journey. That makes it easier for me to like the characters. They’re also easy to love! Well, most of the time. With The Vermillion Emporium I took a while to start liking the characters. With this book I almost instantly loved Sybil and Esme. They had fun personalities and they worked well with each other. You could tell they were real friends and not just friends because they roomed together.

I loved how easy it was to believe they’re friends and then when that changed to romance that too was very easy to believe. I definitely rooted for them to be together long before they actually were and that is… rare with friends to lovers because I don’t like how the trope seems to set up the idea that you can’t really have friends. That you’re bound to have crushes on them and that’ll ruin the friendship. Although, most of the books I’ve read that have that trope are m/f relationships so maybe that’s the problem/solution (solution being don’t read m/f friends to lovers haha).

The descriptions absolutely made me feel like I was in the book and there’s nothing more that I like when that happens. It’s something I hope that could happen in all books but unfortunately that isn’t the case. Pacton, however, is always so amazing with that so it’s easy to feel like I’m in the novel. I wanted to spend more time in this book – in either realm – so I was sad when the book ended! Pacton certainly doesn’t slack when it comes to her plots. It’s always well-written and I wasn’t bored while reading (always a pleasure when I have that). Plus the descriptions really just added to the plot, elevated them to a point where (at least I felt like) you couldn’t not be entranced by the book.

I could only get about 30 percent of the way into this book before I was just too bored to continue. Thank you for the opportunity but I did dnf this book.

This was a miss for me. The writing was a bit too convoluted and the characters fell flat. I didn't get invested in the story as I didn't care for the characters at all.

I think that this book had great ideas and a great premise, but the execution needed work. I'm always hesitant reading a book with fantastical/fantasy elements that is less then 300 pages; especially ones with other worlds. Even though Fae worlds are pretty common/a very popular world in YA and adult fantasy in the last few years, there still needs to be significant worldbuilding. There was next to no worldbuilding here, I finished the book knowing next to nothing about this Fae world, how it works, what kind of magic rules it, etc. That was this books biggest weakness, and its a shame, because I really enjoyed the main characters. They were well developed and interesting, and deserved more. The ending went by way too quickly, and again, nothing was really explained so it felt like nothing had any impact and everything was ridiculously convenient. Overall, the characters were likeable and interesting, but the story was too short and the worldbuilding was next to non existent.

I am sadly not into YA as much anymore. I think I have aged out. Totally a me problem, not a book problem. But did love the cozy and sapphic elements of this book.

This book felt both very long and very fast. So many things happened in swift succession that I forgot half of it already. The plot was predictable and the characters didn't have much dimensions and switch emotions so rapidly it gave me whiplash. It happened because it had to happen and that's it. Also Sybil's total lack of respect for Esme's comfort zone during the first part made me grimace a little too much.

The Art Nouveau aesthetic, which I enjoyed, got forgotten as soon as they went into Fae.

This story was a lovely and very atmospheric read. I was drawn to the premise and the LGBTQ representation. Though I found the pacing slow at time, I overall enjoyed the story and its beautiful romance.

A very cozy and nice book, I loved the clock tower and the many cats the most, also the girls, they were so adorable.

I had the honor of speaking with Jamie Pacton about "The Absinthe Underground" for the Storytime in Paris podcast. Here is what I said:

Ep 67. Jamie Pacton, “The Absinthe Underground”

My guest this week is bestselling, award-winning author Jamie Pacton. Jamie has predominantly written Young Adult novels, although she currently has some adult fiction in the works. Her latest novel, “The Absinthe Underground,” is a sapphic YA romantasy set in France during the Belle Époque, and was an instant Indie Bestseller.

In it, Sybil and Esme, two best friends who are secretly in love with one another, make the mistake of stealing the wrong poster in an effort to make rent. They are confronted by the head of The Absinthe Underground nightclub, an actual Green Faerie, catapulting them on a heist that sends them into the Fae World.

In our conversation, Jamie shares what drew her to Sybil and Esme’s love story, what challenges make wrting YA fun, how her work of historic fiction first stepped foot into the world of Fae, and so much more.

Listen to the full interview here: https://bit.ly/3To6WJm

Why haven't you read Jamie Pacton yet? I adored The Vermilion Emporium so I was thrilled to be back in that world with a different set of characters. I'm also a huge fan of the friends to lovers trope so of course I had to read The Absinthe Underground. What I found was a fun YA sapphic fantasy with an interesting magic system and tons of characters who are never quite what they seem. Also, anytime I see heist in the synopsis of a book, I'm immediately interested in the story.

this one is for the sapphics who love fae worlds, but also thrive in the aesthetic of the belle époque - think cabarets, artists, and crime. I didn't love one of the protagonists, Sybil, but I'm crazy about Esme, with her love for cats, clocks, tea and a simple life. this is about friends who secretly love each other. and this is about a quest into the world of fae, through a key Sybil got from her late mother, to help the owner of the underground cabaret who promises them everything they could ever want. I felt like there's still a lot to be told that should have been in this book, even if it has a sequel (it better). however, the research for this book is AWESOME and it got me excited for other works by this author.

I had the same problems with this that I had with the previous Jamie Pacton book I read. It was such a great idea but the execution was lacking. It was just... dull. I didn't care about the characters. Everything that happened was utterly predictable. The characters want something and it instantly falls into their laps with no real effort. Esme just wants to go home to her books and her cats and her clocks. Sybil is extremely flighty and just wants excitement. But they love each other. Which we know because they are constantly thinking "oh, I wish I could kiss her. But she can't know that I feel that way because she might reject me." It doesn't matter what they are doing, they look at each other and that scene repeats. I made it to 30% before I gave up, because I kept thinking it would get better, but it didn't.

It's such a shame because that cover is gorgeous and the premise is so cool.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for providing an early copy for review.