Love this cover. Entertaining read - an interesting history fiction with fantasy elements. Some of it I did struggle through but I don't think it was the book, I think it was just me. I would check out future Lydia Kang's novels. Thank you to netgalley for providing me with a copy.

I liked this. It was cute. But 2 things.... this is pretty YA in that it might not really appeal to an adult audience. And there is a scene with the grandmother and her parrot that nearly made me stop reading. I get that its a metaphor for what the grandmother would like to do to Tillie, but it seems like there might have been some other way to convey this. I did enjoy all of the drug use. But it seems pretty standard for the time period. I'm not going to ruin that journey for you.

My favorite part is the cover. Isn't it pretty?

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre,  however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different. Characters were so well developed that I felt as though I knew them. I love when a book draws you into the story and it feels like you are living it with them.

Opium and Absinthe was a great historical fiction crime novel with a wonderfully twisty and gothic mystery loosely inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down. I love a boook where you have to keep on reading to find out what is happening or coming next.
I have just purchased this book for my personal library.

Thank you Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing and Lydia Kang for free- e-ARC in return of my honest review.

#OpiumandAbsinthe #NetGalley

A really entertaining read.Historical fiction at its best.Inlove a book that keeps me reading late into the night& this book did just. that.Looking forward to more by this author. #netgalley #lakeunion

Thank you Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing and Lydia Kang for free- e-ARC in return of my honest review.

I was intrigued by Opium and Absinthe synopsis and cover. I love the time frame of late 19th-early 20th century, particularly in America. It was such a rapid growth in many areas of lives, particularly in States, as in New World.

The reader meets Tillie, a second daughter of an aristocratic family in New York. Her older sister disappeared and later found dead with clean bite marks on her neck. New book Dracula is just hitting the bookshelves of New York stands and bookstores, and the simulates are clearly uncanny. The rumour is the killer is a vampire. Tillie does not trust neither police not her family in finding her sister's killer and she starts her own investigation.

It was quite entertaining read. Tillie is such a naive but adorable character. Her addiction are troublesome but she is strong willed to overcome obstacles. She is the new woman of new generation. Plot wise is was, some in-discrepancies in killer explanations and too many themes were chosen to work on (murder, addiction, sexual assault, abuse); however, it might be attributed to the complexity of life back then.

Overall, I enjoyed it.

When her sister, the perfect daughter is murdered, Tillie is shocked, but determined to find out more - that is, as soon as she is feeling better.


This was an interesting story, wrapped in the hysteria of the newly released Dracula. I enjoyed reading through this book! Great for weekend reads or those rainy days where you want to stay on the couch! Perfect for book clubs too!

Opium and Absinthe
By Lydia Kang

Lydia Kang is an exceptional storyteller. A murder mystery involving a vampire, with some opium and heroin in the mix and this made this read superb! This was an amazing story set in 1899 NYC in the midst of a Bram Stoker's Dracula being released and her sister ends up dead with two puncture marks and drained of blood. Tillie Pembroke plays the amateur sleuth trying to solve the mystery behind her sister's death. With the help of Ian, she venture in a quest to the dark side. Masking her pain from her injury and later on from her sister's death, she battles a horrid addiction from opium, heroin and morphine. This was a fascinating read with amazing research on the medical treatments during the Victorian period. The writing was fully immersive with the rich details of this historical fiction thriller. I highly recommend this book!

I must say I absolutely loved this and the only reason it’s not 5 stars is because I found the drug addiction a bit tiresome after a while. I wanted more of the mystery and hints of vampirism. It is a wonderfully twisty and gothic historical mystery loosely inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It kept me guessing until the end and I never suspected who the killer was!

Tillie’s character is a touch annoying in the beginning but it’s short lived and she becomes someone to inspire and root for. All of the characters are so richly portrayed even the hateful ones. It’s impossible not to find them all engaging and get caught up in their webs.

Beautifully written and utterly unputdownable.

Thank you to Netgalley, Lake Union and Lydia Kang for this e-copy in return for my honest review. Interesting premise and range of characters. My first book by Lydia Kang but definitely not my last. Loved the writing style but I'm tired after spending one too many nights reading great books into the early hours.

I loved this dark mystery book, the twists, the turns, the characters! Everything about this was fantastic. I can't wait to read more by this author!

Lydia Kang’s Opium and Absinthe is a work of historical fiction that gives the reader a look at the mind of a young woman struggling through substance abuse while shining a light on a serial killer.
Tillie (Mathilda) Pembroke is trying to find herself in the wilds of 1900’s New York City. As she makes her way through the social life of the beautiful and wealthy, she finds that she prefers to spend her time among the books and exhibits of the libraries and the museums. She enjoys letting her mind wander through the curiosities that are in the world around her. She is living her life in the shadow of her beautiful sister Lucy. Tillie seems fine with this arrangement since it allows her the freedom to explore and think through the many meandering questions that fill her mind. Life turns a corner for Tillie and she faces daemons she never thought were real.
Tillie’s inquisitive mind becomes her treasure and tool as she tries to solve the dark mysteries of the people who surround her. She wonders how much she missed while Lucy was covering for her. Along the way, Tillie blazes a path that not many have traveled before her. She has one role model to follow, at least that’s what she thinks.
This is a wonderful read. Lydia Kang masterfully wended her way through Tillie Pembroke’s mind as she fights societal norms, family expectations, and substance abuse. We follow her thoughts through her many curiosities including ranges from what an elephant smells like to how fangs work.

I struggle to give this a rating. While I found the story generally enjoyable, there were times I just didn't want to read it. I'm sitting between a 3 and a 3.5.

They story wasn't bad, it was well written, however I felt it focused so much on Tillie's drug addiction that it took away from other areas of the book that could have been more detailed or fleshed out. I honestly got really tired of hearing about all these drugs she kept getting addicted to.

I know the book is called Opium and Absinthe, but come on...

The characters were ok, besides being annoyed by Tillie's addiction most of the time. She did have her good points, she was strong and determined, she cared very much about finding her sisters killer and she loved learning things a woman of that time had no business knowing.

Tom was perhaps one of my favorites, the way he cared for the children, Tillie and his interest in always helping Tillie. I wanted a bit more from some of the other characters, though I suppose it fit together well with the storyline.

The world building wasn't too bad either. It set the mood for that time period and how certain things would have been taboo or what was expected of certain characters.

Fort the most part, I did like the ending, once things started to unreavel. It was interesting to hear the killers motive and technique. I'd be interested to see what comes next from this author.

I found this novel to be meticulously researched in terms of the surroundings, but unfortunately I didn't find the main characters’ actions to be that realistic given their status in society. The story was reasonably well developed (although I found there were a few too many hints of who the killer was too early on).

Great characters, great story and fun plot. Good historical fiction. Hard to put down and found myself reading this late into the night. I found the writing really beautiful and interesting and with drug use and murder this really does pull you in and makes you want more - Read it if you just want something different that is really well written!

As much as I really wanted to, I didn't love this book. I love the time period, had no problem with the writing style but I found the main character very hard to like.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Lydia Kang uses her knowledge from being an internal medicine physician to bring us a beautifully constructed story of murder, investigation and life in New York City in 1899.
After a riding accident, Tillie Pembroke is introduced to laudanum by her doctor to help manage her pain. But little did she know this would only be the begining of her problems and she had a different kind of pain yet to come.
When she wakes, she discovers that her sister has gone missing... not only that, but she later discovers that she has, in fact, been murdered.
Together with her "newsie" friend, Ian - and armed with her inquisitive mind and a copy of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' - Tillie enters the world of investigative journalism in an attempt to shed light on her sister's murder. In doing so, she discovers a link to other suspicious deaths...
All the while, Tillie's opiate addiction only grows - enabled by her doctor and those who seek to gain something from her. When it lands her in a troublesome situation with the doctor's son, her family decide to place her in a boardinghouse for women to help her break free of the addiction. This doesn't entirely go to plan though as when her "suitor" comes to call, he ends up giving her heroin tablets.
However, despite her addiction, Tillie and Ian do manage to find the person responsible - getting themselves into a spot of trouble in doing so.

This book is brilliantly written with realistically flawed and honest characters. I also love that Kang doesn't over-sell the setting (there's not an incessant stream of detail being constantly flung at you) and only . The balance is perfect and only really uses descriptions of things that Tillie would realistically notice/feel the need to describe - this makes it so much more natural and submersive.

Trigger Warnings: does include drugs and addiction, also includes sex references and an attempted rape. Also includes kidnapping, violence and murder.

I seem to be at a difference of opinion from most the reviews, but I really wasn’t keen on this, I found it quite dull and uninteresting on the whole. I didn’t like atillie or find her appealing generally as a MC. Just not for me I feel as others seem to love it

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Opium and absinthe is a book I read in one siting because I could not wait to know everything despite me being proven right for most of it which took away some of the fun. Despite it being a little too slow in the beginning which almost made me not wanting to continue, it picks up after 80 pages or so and then the flow gets better and the writing also gets smoother and thus easier and faster to read. Love the idea behind it as I have never read anything like it so far.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Picture this...

Its 1899 in New York City, and a young woman lies dead, her body drained of its blood AND she has two puncture wounds on her neck. There is a new book that was just released, its called Dracula. Surely the murderer couldnt be a vampire..could he?

Opium and Absinthe follows Tillie Pembroke’s on her quest to solve her sisters murder and it is one HELL of aquest. Tillie plays amuteur slueth with the help of a newsie named Ian. Not only is she pushing towards justice for her sister she is also battling a horrid Opioid addiction, which only adds fuel to the flames. But unlike Ian not all the characters have Tillies best interest at heart and their questionable agendas are steadily made clear and result in a satisfying conclusion.

Overall I loved this Murder Mystery, it had a nice splash of romance and paranormal that kept thing interesting and added depth to the story.

I recieved a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.