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.