Jamie Pacton

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.… (meer)

This was a fun, feminist read, and I enjoyed the infusions of all things medieval. Kit's enthusiasm about women in history as well as her want for a workplace that allows anyone to become a knight provides a great drive for the story.
The biggest downsides are that 1) I felt like a lot of subplots and messages (Kit's dad, selling the house, the narrative on being poor, choosing college, feelings for her friend, etc. etc.) just became a bit overwhelming and drowned out the main plot. Each new chapter felt like a fresh problem for Kit and it made it difficult for any one point to get a truly satisfying wrap-up. Speaking of which, that brings me to 2) the conclusion of the book happened SO. FAST. There was hardly any drama/consequences, just a big moment of "wow, this worked out so great in all this various areas of my life!" Spoiler alert here, but such a huge part of the book was that Kit was going to have to deal with what corporate thought of her ideas for the Castle, and in the end they're just like "omg we love it!" with no consequences. Subsequently, because of that, it gave off the impression that corporate only agreed because they could make money off of female knights and not because they actually cared to have a more diverse workplace. It felt cheap at the end.
I still enjoyed the book, and think it had a lot of heart! I just wished it had some more solidity in choosing a narrative and then giving THAT story all it could be.… (meer)

Fantastic! This story was completely unique and I loved every page. Loved the setting, loved finally seeing a modern YA book with the main character coming from a poor background and showing how that colors every aspect of your life from what you eat, when you eat, your relationships with friends, your sense of worth, etc. Lots of character diversity representation in so far as race, gender, and sexuality. Much loved themes of strong girl character, beating the patriarchy, strong friendships and found family. Would highly recommend.… (meer)