I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

A simple, sweet book following two girls who are pulled into a fae quest somewhere around late 1800's Paris. It has sapphic elements and fairy-tale vibes, but it just didn't draw me in as much as I had hoped.

⭐⭐⭐✨ (3.5 stars rounded up)
The Absinthe Underground is a sapphic friends-to-lovers romantasy. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The romance between the two young adult ladies is very much a pure-hearted, discovering love romance (vs. a spicy romance).

Sybil is a wild, extroverted romantic who loves a night on the town and steals posters to support herself, her roommate and friend Esme, and their million cats. She's a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants character that I loved. She's had multiple flings with girls and boys, and she's comfortable with her sexuality. Esme is an introvert who loves her cats, books, and clocks. These two sweet characters are easy to fall in love with, and they had me wishing they would just get together already!

The fantasy portion fell a little flat for me. I was hoping for an exciting fae adventure similar to Holly Black, but there wasn't as much excitement as one would want. I think this would be great for younger teen readers.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc!

Firstly I have to say that this cover is beautiful, like amazingly soo!!!! But even with that the story wasn't captivating to me. I wanted to get into it and I tried so bad, but by the end I was feeling like it missed something.

I have to be honest, I didn’t know The Absinthe Underground was set in the same universe as The Vermilion Emporium. How have I not realized? But I was very positively surprised to be back in Severon. Following Sybil and Esme was a wonderful experience. We meet them when they go about a usual quiet evening. Esme with her clocks and her cats, immersed in in her work yet aware of Sybil being restless and full of adventure next to her. The two of them are very different characterwise but that makes them a good fit.
Where Sybil is adventurous and impulsive, Esme is thoughtful and calm. Sybil gets them into situations™, Esme gets them through and Sybil manages to save the day in the end.
I liked how they don’t change in their cores for the duration of the story but become more as they realize important things about their world – and the fact that there are more worlds out there. They learn to treasure what they have and finally act on their feelings for each other. The two of them have already been best friends and seeing the romance between unfurling was beautiful. The looks here and there, the subtle touches, the constant thoughts. The romance had a prominent space in the novel and I enjoyed it a lot!

I also liked the heist a lot. Even though some things later revealed were pretty obvious to me. Some parts went very quickly and too smoothly and something about the heist itself seemed suspicious. But I loved how it all was described. I really liked the tasks in Severon which already showed the resourcefulness of the girls, especially Sybil. But I also loved to read their journey into Fae and how magically it was written; there were the devious fairies but also some surprises as well as different kinds of magic to reckon with.

I do think this book could have been longer. Some of the things, especially when it comes to the heist, seemed rushed and quickly dealt with. I would have loved some more details, maybe some more drama even.

But I was so happy to be back with Jamie Pacton’s beautiful, slightly metaphorical writing that set an amazing scene and built such a perfect atmosphere for the story that I was so sucked into The Absinthe Underground, I still loved the book a lot and would highly recommend it despite the very few issues I had with it!

And for a last point, I really need to mention the cover. I mean, excuse me? How dare you be so gorgeous? I’ve had heart eyes over this cover ever since I first laid eyes on it!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this ARC!
I really enjoyed this sapphic fantasy set in a fantasy version of 1890s Paris.
The whole idea of this cool club run by a Fae was just really intriguing and I loved how fast paced it was.
The two main characters Esme and Sybil were both lovely and relatable and the pining between was so cute.
Their individual personalities and interests made me giggle a lot.
Bonus points: there’s a lot of cats and nerdy talk about clocks!
The only thing I didn’t like was how fast the part in Fae was over. The author made up such a cool and complex world only to rush through it. It’s rare that I say a book could’ve been longer but in this case? I would’ve ate this up if it was 100 pages longer.

Overall definitely an underrated and queer gem!

I was really excited to read this book because of its interesting premise (sapphic, 1920s-esque, fae mystery etc) but I have to say it took me a while to finish it. I think ultimately I didn't really connect to the characters, even though the story was fun and had potential, the characters fell a bit flat for me and their romance wasn't very exciting. I also thought the pacing & world building on the fae world needed some more work. Ultimately this had a great concept and a lot of potential but it missed the mark for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for the eARC.

I needed to find the publisher name in order to write this DNF review - and now knowing that this is YA, my dislike makes more sense! The cover and description of this book were fantastic, so I was very disappointed that I didn’t get caught up in it. However, “thrilling” and “cottage core” are oxymorons - so the description doesn’t actually make sense. By the third mention of the main character’s cats in the first chapter I knew this was going to be a tough finish for me (and I adore my cats!) Unfortunately, there was nothing eye-catching to keep me engaged past the first chapter. I don’t think I’m a friends to lovers gal (usually) and I’m a bit too old (yikes) for YA unless it’s something special.

dnf at 13%

This is not a terrible novel, but for some reason I barely force myself to pick this up again after reading the first 10% or so in one sitting. There is just so little about this Belle Époque-inspired setting that stood out, and even less about the friends-to-lovers romance. All the while I couldn't help but think that this unfinished read was the only thing keehttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5682087801ping me from starting the next book I might actually enjoy... I have to move on.

This book was so underwhelming and I really struggled to finish it. I was excited by the cover, the promise of caberet, sapphic friends to lovers romance, fae mystery, and a heist adventure but it was such a slog to read through. I think there was so much potential but some of the bigger plot threads were sped through and not enough time was spent on developing the characters into people and their romance felt very predictable. I really struggled to connect to the them and even though I was intrigued by the mystery elements of the plot, I didn't feel like the payoff made me care enough.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

The Absinthe Underground is a slow burn, YA, Fae, Historical Fantasy Romance.

As you can picture with so many things going on this novel had a high bar it set for itself, and it almost hit every note.

The setting for this novel was 1920's-ish Severon, Paris with a bit more magic and a bit less dirt, where our leads Sybil and Esme are living in a tiny apartment and struggling to get by. We very quickly come to see the Sybil is adventurous and head strong, while Esme is more reserved and bookish. The main thing they share in common is a love for the arts and a deep love for the other that goes unspoken.

When Maeve finds them stealing and selling posters for her club, the titular Absinthe Underground, she sends them on an adventure in both our world and the Fae realms that takes up the remainder of the novel.

The thrilling heist of this novel is well written, if a tad rushed, the first half of the heist felt well timed and plotted out, if almost a bit slow at points. That changed when we entered the Fae Realm and the pacing of the novel speed up the a breathtaking pace. I found the second half to thrilling and it went from a slow burn vibe to a page turner that had me rushing to see what happened next.

As for our main heroines, Sybil and Esme, I found them both to be charming, sweet, and utterly smitten with one another. I kept waiting for them to come together, and this is one place where the slow burn remained through the entire novel.

I would recommend this novel to you if you like:
- Queer YA Romance
- Historical Fantasy
- Heist Stories
- Slow Burn
- Fae in Historical Settings

I received an advance review copy of this book and I am leaving this review voluntarily and all thoughts and opinions are wholly my own and unbiased.

Unfortunately a DNF for me. I loved the set up and the characters but was not interesting enough to care to finish

I loved the opening of this book and the main characters (and their passel of 7 French cats!). Once the story engine fully kicked in around the one-third mark, though, I felt like the writing quality dropped off a bit, and the plotting itself seemed a bit silly and required the MCs to be very gullible and not-at-all savvy. That made it a slog to get through despite all of the action.

I was so thrilled to receive an ARC of this gorgeous book! Not going to lie, I was initially drawn in solely by the cover and title, after just returning from a trip to Las Vegas where I saw the Cirque du Soleil show "Absinthe" and this book seemed to have very similar vibes.

If I could describe this book in one word, it would be "enchanting". From start to finish I was drawn in by the settings, art inspirations from Belle Epoque Paris and Art Nouvaeu, cozy touches, and characters. The Absinthe Underground is a wonderous blend of campy, cozy, and fantasy with a sapphic love story of friendship at the center. The magic and world building was clear and well thought out, and a delight to read.

Already feel this will be one of my go-to cozy fantasy comfort books that I will return to in the same vein of "Flowerheart," "A Study in Drowning," and so many other.

Fun sidethought: Maeve will forever live in my head as a faerie incarnation of Chappell Roan and no one can convince me otherwise!

03/06/2024 || The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton || #TheAbsintheUnderground #NetGalley

Thank you NetGalley, Jamie Pacton, Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink, Peachtree Teen for making this e-ARC available!
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author and myself.

All of my thoughts are my own~

4.5 Stars !!!
Gorgeous sapphic historical fantasy with fae and other magical delights!

The Absinthe Underground follows Sybil and Esme as they navigate the harsh world around them. Just trying to survive and pay this months rent (so relatable), Sybil tries to steal illustrated posters but Esme just rather stay in, drink tea, pet her cats, and tinker (ridiculously relatable omg????), and all the while both girls secretly pine and yearn to hold their best friend as more.

I related so much to both girls, their yearning, both of their shared and not shared interests and what made each of them unique. I loved all the character growth, twists, turns, and reveals as the story progressed.

SPOILER ALERT TERRITORY DO NOT LOOK IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK
Some of the things that didn't work for me, and affected my rating, and I wish were ironed out a bit more is what happened to all the side characters? I really hope with as much loose ends were left that means Pacton plans to write more about the world of The Absinthe Underground as I felt there was so much left unsaid that could have been said to make this book a lot longer and a lot more detailed:
I wanted to know Maeve's fate a bit more in detail and desperately wanted to see her healed or just anything. What about Lucien? I wanted to hear more about his adventures and see him and Sybil reconnect. I wanted to hear more of the Fae lore in general (the snid-bits we got as Esme explained or figured things out was so neat but i want more)! Where did Chloe come from and will she ever get back there? What IS her relationship with Hyacinth exactly? Were they enemies to lovers or starting on the path? The vibe was there (maybe I'm just projecting tho). I wanted to know more about the Fae realms and Severon as well (the hierarchy system was so unique and interesting).

Loved TF outta little Oliver just being such a star and everyone loving him (as they should, he's perfect)!

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

This was really challenging for me to get through. There would be hints of brilliance in the story, but it never quite materialized enough for me to stay engaged and get excited over the plot. I found the characters frustrating. Sybil was incredibly rash in a way that would have gotten her killed a million times over in any other fantasy story, and it felt that there were very few repercussions for her poor decision-making. Esme was very sweet. While I think her being obsessed with clocks reflects how she likes orderliness and rigidity, especially considering her relationship with her mother and her time in an orphanage, I felt like the author was overly reliant on this fact about Esme in a way that started to feel like a parody. A lot of Esme’s analogies, internal monologues, and her banter with Sybil revolve around clocks in a way that felt emblematic of poor or weak characterization. After a while, this usage of clocks in this story just became annoying.

I also feel that Esme barely grappled with the fact that she had been financially supporting someone who came from generational wealth without her knowledge. I think she spent essentially no time at all processing this realization when she found out about it, which felt very strange to me. I understand that this is likely because the characters were operating on a strict timeline, but I would have expected her to be way angrier after this realization, even if she loves Sybil very much.

Honestly, I was much more excited to read about Chloe and Hyacinth’s relationship as definite “nemeses” rather than the story of Sybil and Esme, which was disappointing. This was unfortunately a miss for me. 2.5/5 stars

Also, it needs to be remarked that the formatting of the eARC I received was horrible. There were no indentations on any of the paragraphs, random images breaking up the pages, random capitalizations for any of the chapters, etc. It turned the pages into unreadable blobs of text. I waited until I could read the published version in order to review this book because I found it so unreadable, and I don’t know how this got pushed through to advanced readers in this state. I don't want to sound ungrateful since I received a free copy of this book, but the author's work deserves more respect and I felt that this was a disservice to their craft for the publisher to push out a book looking like this to advanced readers.

Despite being such a short book at around 300 pages, I struggled to get through this quickly. It just felt like it was missing something, that spark that grabs you - I found myself not connecting to the characters. I believe that if this book had had another 50-100 pages, we could've had a lot more development and this book would've been a lot stronger. The worldbuilding needed some serious exploration especially in terms of the Fae side, and despite that being where the majority of the girls' quest takes place, we don't actually get there until halfway through the story. I think this had a great concept and great potential, but the final product doesn't live up to that. I did like Sybil and Esme, however, and I enjoyed their friendship developing into romance - I just wish that we'd had more of a development for their friendship.

Two sapphic thieves get themselves involved in a heist stealing from a fae queen. Set in a world that is vibrant and unforgettable, with characters who feel real and fully fleshed out. The added historical references give this story an extra layer of depth.

I was looking forward to reading this book, because the cover had me hooked from the first moment I laid my eyes on it and I saw that it was supposed to be a sapphic romance. That's why it makes me so sad to say that it was a big disappointment. I found it really hard to connect with the characters and immerse in the plot. The world building was interesting at times, with all the faeries and folklore (it reminded me of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, which I didn't love but it definitely had a distinctive atmosphere). The plot was too slow at the beginning to actually have me hooked. At the same time I was not expecting for it to lean towards "cosy" end of the spectrum that much, and because I prefer more action in my fantasy, I may not have been the perfect audience for this story. But for me the romance was too boring and plot - utterly unoriginal.

I'm a fan of cozy fantasy, and this fit the bill perfectly. The story moved slowly in some places, but it worked well.