Hi there! Hello! Welcome back!
Happy Tuesday and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton! I absolutely LOVED this book and I’m so excited to share my review with all of you today! Read on to find my review, plus more information about the book and author! And now without any further ado, let’s get to the review!
I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton Published on February 6, 2024 by Peachtree Teen
Genres: Fantasy, Queer, YA
Pages: 304
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: Edelweiss
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok
Moulin Rouge meets Holly Black in a thrilling sapphic friends-to-lovers romantasy!
For Sybil Clarion, the Belle Époque city of Severon is a wild, romantic dream, filled with cafés, cabarets, and glittering nightclubs. Eager to embrace the city’s freedom after running away from home, she’s traded high-society soirées for empty pockets and barren cabinets. At least she has Esme, the girl who offered Sybil a home, and maybe—if either of them dared—something more.
Ever since Esme Rimbaud brought Sybil back to her flat, the girls have been everything to each other—best friends, found family, and secret crushes. While Esme would rather spend the night tinkering with her clocks and snuggling her cats, Sybil craves excitement and needs money. She plans to get both by stealing the rare posters that crop up around town and selling them to collectors. With rent due, Esme agrees to accompany—and more importantly protect —Sybil.
When they’re caught selling a poster by none other than its subject, Maeve, the glamorous girl doesn’t press charges. Rather, she invites Sybil and Esme to The Absinthe Underground, the exclusive club she co-owns, and reveals herself to be a Green Faerie, trapped in this world. She wants to hire thieves for a daring heist in Fae that would set her free, and is willing to pay enough that Sybil and Esme never have to worry about rent again. It’s too good of an offer to pass up, even if Maeve’s tragic story doesn’t quite add up, and even if Sybil’s personal ties to Fae could jeopardize everything she and Esme have so carefully built.
Jamie Pacton, author of The Vermilion Emporium, dazzles in this lavish and decadent LGBTQ+ fantasy romance that will leave readers utterly enchanted!
tl;dr
holy worldbuilding!!! and the writing!!! and the story!!! and everything omg!!!
favorite character?
Esme! Although I do like Lucien quite a bit as well…
will I re-read it?
yes! with The Vermilion Emporium so I catch all the worldbuilding details!
three words to describe the book
STEAL MY HEART (it’s already yours)
thank you so much to Colored Pages Book Tours, Peachtree Teen, and Jamie Pacton for sending me a copy of this book to read and review!!!
alternatively, this gifset
gifset by stydiaislove.tumblr.com
this cover is lovely!!! the color! the green fairy! the girls! the aesthetic! the details! I love absolutely everything about it!!! …. except the font. I hate the font. minus .1 points for the font.
9.9/10 stars!!!!
- #The Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love With Your Best Friend
- #there is pain and suffering but there’s also magic and THIEVERY and love and support
- #why you shouldn’t make deals with Fae
- #and some worldbuilding as a treat
- The Vermilion Emporium by Jamie Pacton
- Master of One by Jaida Jones & Dani Bennett
- Belle Révolte by Linsey Miller
- Spellhacker by MK England
- The Folk of the Air by Holly Black
About Jamie Pacton
Jamie Pacton is a Young Adult and Middle Grade author who grew up minutes away from the National Storytelling Center in the mountains of East Tennessee. She has a BA and MA in English Literature, and currently teaches English at the college level. While pursuing her dream of being an author, she worked as a waitress, pen salesperson, lab assistant, art museum guard, bookseller, pool attendant, nanny, and lots of other weird jobs in between. Her writing has appeared in national and local magazines, and she spent many years blogging for Parents.com. Currently, Jamie lives in Wisconsin with her family. Her YA contemporary books include Furious, Lucky Girl, and The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly. Her YA fantasy novels include The Absinthe Underground and The Vermilion Emporium.
What do you think about The Absinthe Underground ? Have you added it to your tbr yet? Let me know in the comments and have an absolutely wonderful day!
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