I really enjoyed The Impossible Girl, so I was excited to read Kang’s latest book. I have been on a huge Gothic kick lately, and this book sounded right up my alley. Sadly, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

Ok, it should be obvious from the title that the story has drug use in it. I was expecting that. But I was not expecting the degree that it dominated the entire story. There was simply too much focus on the drug use. It overshadowed (almost to the point of elimination) the murder mystery plot, the Gothic atmosphere, and any personality of the main character.

It was too hard to be invested in Tilly because the reader does not get to know her before she becomes addicted to opium (not a spoiler since that is in the publisher’s description). And her addiction overshadowed her whole personality. She was supposed to be nerdy and quirky and rebellious against society’s restrictions. But her addiction controlled her life from the very first chapter and left no room for any depth of character. Instead, the reader is bombarded with countless descriptions of her highs, withdrawals, and constant search for her next fix. It literally drives the whole story.

Admittedly, this was the second book in a row that I read which featured drug addiction, so I was already getting worn out on the subject. That only magnified my disappointment that the other elements of the story were shoved aside so much in favor of showcasing Tilly’s time chasing the dragon.

I do understand why the story was set up this way. The point is true that addictive drugs were prescribed for every ailment, large or small, with no thought to how damaging and addictive those drugs were. Lots of bad things were advertised as “medicine.” And this was before government regulations about drug prescription and warning labels. Opium, heroin, and other strong drugs truly were prescribed regularly without knowledge of the risks. It was interesting that Keeley’s Gold Cure was included in the story too. Although the story did not elaborate on it, the Gold Cure was supposed to cure alcoholism and other addictions. Unfortunately, it contained problematic ingredients including strychnine, boric acid, and atropine. Yes, seriously.

But while I appreciate the social commentary, it didn’t make for an entertaining read. As I mentioned, the mystery and the Gothic atmosphere were frequently shoved aside in favor of describing Tilly’s addiction. The entire story is seen through that lens, so all of the other elements were obscured. I wish the story had been more balanced to allow the good ideas of the story to shine through. It was an interesting premise, and the time period was well-researched. But the focus on drug use was a bit too much for me.

Could vampires be real? That is what Tillie Pembroke has to ask herself after she found her sister's body drained of blood. Could Bram Stoker's book been more than a work of fiction?

"Opium and Absinthe" reminds me a bit of "The Yellow Wallpaper." The truth is clouded by the poison (medicine?).

It is a bit interesting to contemplate drug use (or over use) in an earlier era. This slow moving mystery will keep your interest throughout!

I'm so obsessed with this type of story right now. It's that just-right blend that's hard to describe and perfect for pandemic reading days where I'm not quite sure what I want but I do know I want to be swept away. Intelligent and atmospheric.

I really enjoyed this book, the writing style, pacing and characters were all just perfect. I haven't read anything by Lydia Kang before but I will definitely be looking for more to read by her.

Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang is a gothic mystery novel that involves a young protagonist trying to solve her elder sister's murder mystery, while trying to make a name of her own in the world where her family wants her to get married and settle like other 'ladies' of their stature.

The central theme of the book includes the newly released Bram Stoker's Dracula, since the story is set in the same year. The modus operandi of the murders appears to be a lot like the fictional dracula, and the protagonist has to work hard to prove that it is a mere human capable of doing such tasks. The way a young mind goes about the research and then reaches learned conclusions is what I liked the most in this book. The way she falls upon drugs at a low moment in her life, and then understands their weakness and gets over it is the moral lesson everyone can take away from the read.

Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.

Verdict: Recommended.

I so love the cover and title of this book! I was intrigued by the blurb and was saving it for the "Halloween" season. 🧛🏻‍♂️

It is 1899 in New York City. Bram Stoker's book, "Dracula" is all the rage to read. Mathilda "Tillie" Pembroke's sister, Lucy, has just been found dead. Lying in an alleyway drained of her blood and with two puncture marks around her neck. They look like vampire bites. Tillie herself has just had a bad fall from a horse and is convalescing in bed trying to cope with her pain and grief. She is prescribed Opium (Laudanum) and Morphine by the doctor. She begins to read the popular book and goes on a quest to solve her sister's murder.

I really wanted to love this book but it just ended up being okay. Parts of it were unbelievable and it just got a bit repetitive. It read almost like a YA novel to me. It is still written well and easy to read and I did enjoy the nail-biting ending.

The setting is 1899, New York City. There have been a series of "vampire" murders including heiress Lucy Pembroke. On the day of Lucy's murder, her sister, Tillie, is in a horse riding accident and breaks a bone in her shoulder which results in an opioid addiction. As unlikely as it seems, this combination of events plus Tillie's passion for writing lead her through her addiction and on to the streets of New York to find out who killed her sister and why. The story has plenty of drama and suspense and kept me guessing pretty much until the end. There is quite a lot in the story about how grief manifests and how elements of grief are resolved or not. One way to attempt to resolve elements of grief is through substances; in this story the substances are forms of opiods. The use of laudenum, opium and heroin were very common at the end of the 19th century and BAYER (yes, the aspro people) made and sold heroin quite openly and legally. Apparently, it was not uncommon for wealthy women to be sent away for short periods of time for rest, detox and rehab. The story involves well drawn characters from several walks of life. A few of these characters are sinister and malevolent.

It is 1899, and Bram Stoker's Dracula has just been published.

Tillie Pembroke has just suffered a terrible injury while out riding her horse. Her collarbone is surely broken. As the doctor attends to her, he prescribes her laudanum for the pain. Just then she receives word that her sister has been murdered. The body has been found, drained of all its blood with two puncture wounds in the neck. It would appear her sister was killed by a vampire.

Tillie, being a young woman who loves to study and research, even in her opium-induced daze, knows she must get a copy of Dracula. As Tillie goes on the hunt for a copy, she runs into Ian, a “newsie”, selling papers that tell of her sister’s death. He seems just as intent on finding the killer as she is.

As Tillie continues to dig deeper into the murder, her doctor sends her down a spiraling path of addiction. Tillie becomes a Morphinomanic. Then the murderer strikes again, the same puncture marks in the neck, all the blood drained from the body. Could it be possible that a vampire is stalking the streets of New York?

This almost felt like a classic gothic mystery. It had historical elements, vampires, addiction, family secrets, and murder. I enjoyed Tillie’s character. She was bright, inquisitive, and independent. Yet through her, Kang told the true story of how so many women in the late 19th century become addicted to opium and morphine.

The author’s notes are a must-read! Please don’t pass them over.

TW: addiction, disease & death, sexual assault.

Thank you to @netgalley, @lakeunionauthors and @LydiaKang for this digital copy for review.

i always enjoy Ms. Kang's work it always has a great supernatural and mystery theme going on with them. I enjoyed the characters and the plot. I look forward to more from the author.

This is a new to me author, and I really enjoyed this book! It was a great combination of murder mystery, historical fiction, and fantasy. I loved the character development and plot twists. I would definitely recommend this book and will be reading more by this author. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Opium and Absinthe follows our titular character, Tillie Pembrooke as she tries to solve the mystery of her sister's death - suspected to be done by a vampire. However, after a recent injury, Tillie has to rely on opium to ease the pain, but this hinders her ability to solve her sister's murder.

Overall, I find this okay. The plot was really intriguing but so disjointed. This was due to the weird pacing since nothing really happens in the first half of the book. Additionally, the ending was predictable.
I found Tillie to be a bit naive and annoying. I could not connect to her character. However, it was interesting to read about how she dealt with her addiction.

The writing was stunning though and I enjoyed the descriptions of the surrounding areas and scenes. Those were so vivid and enjoyable to read about.

Overall, this was okay. The book had so much potential to be better.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Loved this book! was looking forward to reading it for awhile finally got around to it and it was great

While not usually a murder mystery fan, the setting for this novel was hard to resist, as was the character of Tillie Pembroke, amateur sleuth and devoted sister (also a typical Victorian girl). Looking for her sister's murderer puts Tillie into many unknown situations, and her strength and conviction are the only things working for her. Recommended reading.

After her sister is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Tillie Pembroke takes the investigation into her own hands. However, she become addicted to pain medicine following a riding injury. Tillie embarks on a journey that has her finding her own voice among friends, family and a drug addiction. Will she be able to solver her sister’s murder or will her addiction lead her right into the hands of a killer.

Pros: murder mystery, vampire lore (method of murders), feminism

Con: domestic violence

I give this book a solid 3/5. I found it long winded in some parts, but it did manage to hold my attention. I also give this book major credit for showcasing the dangers of prescription medication addiction. While this book is set in the late 1880s, it’s themes are very relevant to today’s culture.


I received a copy of the book from the publisher via the website NetGalley

I had trouble losing myself in this book. 1899 and vampires sounded interesting until I started reading and then it was just boring and read like too subgenres mashed together to sell books. It wasn't poorly written but it wasn't well written either.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a complimentary eARC for review purposes*

Once I got into the book, at about chapter 7, I really enjoyed it. The murder mystery plot really captured my attention and I loved watching Tilly grow into herself. I also really enjoyed the historical setting which isn't something I usually tend towards but it really adds to the plot as leans into the tropes of the era.

I loved this book by Lydia Kang! The writing style if good and moved at good pace. The book is full of twists and turns! The characters were really good and very likeable. I would definitely recommend!

I received this ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Oh my goodness I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book, so much so that I bought two more from the author’s back catalogue to read on holiday, Heavily based within the myth of Dracula, we follow Mathilde or Tille for short, who is desperate to find out what happened to her murdered sister Lucy. The name immediately pricked my ears up because of Mina Harper’s friend Lucy in the original novel by Bram Stoker. Tille is intelligent and very well read young woman. One day she falls and breaks her collar bone when out horse riding, but something even worse has happened - her sister Lucy has been killed by ‘vampire killers’, who are still on the loose. Armed with her copy of Dracula, a list of suspects and some a journalist friend used to investigating. Surely nothing can stop this resourceful young woman from finding her prey? Her only obstacle is a rising opium addiction, which started with pain relief for her collar bone and is becoming something she depends on.

I loved the Victorian setting, one of my favourite eras for this type of novel, because it was well researched and felt authentic. I could imagine myself right there in the action. Although I’d worked out the ‘who’ part of the mystery I still enjoyed finding out the why and watching Tille get there, even if her growing addiction and naivety till play into the killer’s hands somewhat, I admired her tenacity, she was determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and to mark her place as a resourceful woman who doesn’t need to be sheltered to the degree her family wanted. The rise of women’s rights, towards the end of the 19th Century is captured in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Mina Harker is the ‘right’ way to be liberated, able to work and carrying her type writer around. However, she is still modest and is engaged to a suitable young man. Lucy on the other hand is depicted as a little bit too open, with three men courting her at once, she could be seen as the wrong way for women to behave and she is severely punished for it. I think there was an awareness in the author, of this battle within society for the womanhood. The older family members wanting Tille to remain traditional, modest and ‘looked after’. Tille wants to look after herself. This is a great read for all lovers of Gothic fiction. Plus it has an absolutely stunning cover that looks gorgeous on the bookshelf,

Mysterious deaths and a detecting duo take center stage in Opium and Absinthe. Kang's novel is a fun re-working of a Gothic and Horror classic that not only builds on themes of the genre, but also incorporates the thoroughly Victorian tropes of hysteria and opium-use. Fans of Gothic and Detective Fiction will love Opium and Absinthe.

Thank you to Netgalley, Lydia Kang & Lake Union Publishing for my arc of Opium & Absinthe in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Tillie Pembroke's sister lies dead, her body has been drained of blood and there are two puncture wounds on her neck. Bram Stoker's Dracula has just been published and Tillie's mind leaps to the impossible, could her sister's death have been at the hands of a vampire? Tillie is an avid reader and researcher and determined to get to the bottom of it. Assisted by her little helper, the laudanum she was recently given for a broken bone injury which she's becoming more and more reliant on.

I have mixed feelings about this one, I enjoyed the storyline, historical fiction is always a favourite of mine if done well and I especially enjoyed the interesting snippets of information about medicine and medical conditions as viewed at the end of the 19th century. I thought the story was done well and I didn't guess the twist which is always a big bonus! My only real dislike was of the main character Tillie who was quite annoying in parts and very childish not anything like the age she was supposed to be portraying. Other than that an enjoyable novel!