I’m reeling. This may have fairies, but it’s truly about suffering, sacrifice, and the tension between seeking revenge at all costs or protecting an ideal no matter the price. The concept is haunting—we’ve all heard of changelings, but what does it really mean to take a child? To choose to be a fairy? Or to remain human, but in servitude?

The magic in this book isn’t overbearing or indulgent; it’s lightly woven into a story steeped in human tragedy. The main character is impossible not to feel for, even as he stumbles through life—drunk, self-loathing, and convincing everyone around him that he’s irredeemable. His transformation is both painful and compelling, and where it ultimately leads him feels heartbreakingly inevitable.

By the end, I found myself exclaiming aloud. It was an ending that made sense, but it still left me wishing for another way.

Damn if reading this wasn't as being wrapped in a warm blanket on an autumn evening. Odd for such a cold, bloody thing, but it was a comfort for all that.

I absolutely loved Parry’s depiction of Sydney Carton and was brought to tears multiple times by this fantastical retelling of A Tale of Two Cities. Will absolutely be purchasing this for our store and will talk the ear off of anyone who asks about it. A wonderful read.

I just finished A Far Better Thing by H.G. Parry. I received an eARC from Netgalley.

It was the best of time, it was the worst of time... but with Faries. What if Dicken's classic A Tale of Two Cities was actually the story of Faries interfering in our world? What if Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay were actually the same... one stolen as a child and one sent to replace him? This is the premise of A Far Better Thing. If you've read A Tale of Two Cities you'll recognize the characters and the major plot points, what you might not recognize are the Unseen pulling strings behind the scenes. If you've never read A Tale of Two Cities, you may just be surprised at the end.

I love Charles Dickens; so this was an interesting read for me. I don't know how much influence I was expecting, but it ended up being a pretty fun book. Sydney is an interesting character, and as any book like this (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies anyone?) the major storylines are known to a contemporary audience. While the expected French Revolution takes up the main plot of the novel, there is a concurrent plot happening in there Fairy World that jas ri0ples across the two. I'm not entirely sure I think this book needed to be written, but it was a fun read. As a personal aside, I appreciate that Parry was way more generous to the French than Dickens was.

Do you crave a historical fantasy about the French Revolution, English law, changelings, magicians, absolutely no goopy romance, and fairies who really don't care about you AT ALL? This is the book for you!

The hero is a law clerk - and a mortal servant to terrifying fairies - who learns exactly what it means to have human concerns when he is one day called to build a court defense for the Changeling who replaced him. Fairy politics, terrible deals, bad decision-making, and Madame Defarge. What could be better?

This was such a heartbreaking story. I love the way H. G. Parry brings this time period to life, as well as breathing new life into classic stories. I've always been a big fan of A Tale of Two Cities, and I'm well aware of the major plot points and the ending, which didn't stop me from being absolutely devastated. I really like the way that Parry depicts the fae, drawing from actual legends about them, their behavior, and lack of humanity. Her portrayals are often a nice break from the way that faeries are often characterized in popular romantasy novels.

This was an audacious idea that I felt worked better as its own story than as a take on A Tale of Two Cities. it didn't seem to deepen any part of what Dickens had already done and instead grew its own world off to the side. Sydney didn't feel much deeper than the original and Darney was even slighter than his already basic personality in the original. the depth came from the fae world, which didn't feel fully blended with either Two Cities or actual history enough for me.

As an aside of personal taste, I do tend to struggle with real people in fantasy unless it is exceptionally well done, and there were elements of addressing actual revolutionary French history in here that felt unpleasant to me.

H.G. Parry is a consistently solid writer and there were multiple characters I grew to enjoy and care about, so I'm disappointed in this one but not at all dissuaded from reading more by this author in the future.