The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton is a young adult fantasy novel that follows Esme and Sybil, two young roommates that are just trying to make ends meet. Often having to steal posters to sell to make money to pay rent, the two find themselves in an interesting situation when one of the posters they steal belongs to a green fairy. The fairy offers them a deal-steal from Mab, queen of the fae, and she will reward them with riches beyond their dreams. But things get complicated quickly when it everything is as easy as they thought it would be.

This sapphic, friends to lovers story reminded me of exactly what I love about young adult books in the way that the stakes felt very appropriate for teenagers. More often than not, YA now is full of chosen ones that have to step up into a leadership role which never feels very realistic to me. Where are the adults? Is there no one else that can be the queen of the land? The stakes just feel too high. This story is a heist story that feels very contained. And I loved it. I read this mostly in one sitting. The romance was slow burn in the best way. And I loved see a fae world where the fae were tricksters. There are also dragons which I loved.

I’m just a huge fan of this book. It is exactly what I wanted when I picked it up. I thought the characters balanced each other out really well, the heist elements were really fun, and the world was interesting. There is a bunch of just info dumping but sometimes I would rather have that than 200 more pages of “showing” instead. I can’t wait to buy a physical copy of this book because the cover is absolutely stunning.

I just want to start out by saying that the cover for this book is absolutely stunning!! It has a slow burn sapphic friends to lovers romance with both a Fae and a steampunk setting which is such an interesting mash up. This book was fine but I did feel that the author did a lot of telling rather than showing and I found Sybil to be quite selfish character and Esme to be extremely naive but ultimately it had a cute ending.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc! This was such a fun read. The characters and atmosphere were spot on and so perfect for teens looking for a cute little cozy fantasy book. The only thing that didn't quite hit the mark for me was the plot; every problem the characters faced was almost immediately solved, which made the whole heist less engaging. Overall, while it would have benefited from some more tension, I still really enjoyed this book and would have loved it as a young reader.

This book was a quick, breezy read with a sweet friends to lovers storyline at its core. There were aspects of this book I really liked: the casual queerness in a historical setting, the bits of Fae magic and lore that pop up throughout the book, and the central concept of the book (i.e. a heist into the Fae lands). I also really loved Esme as a character (girl just wants to sit in her pajamas, do her little hobbies, and be surrounded by her cats which, yeah, same). I think the biggest issue I had, though, was the fact that the scope of the novel feels more ambitious than the way it was executed. The journey into Fae lands doesn't take place until about halfway(?) into the novel. I guess I wanted more. I would've preferred if the gathering of the items needed to get into Fae was glossed over (because truly that's where the majority of the heist aspect seems to happen; the actual theft in Fae seemed like it could've been a bit more complex, in my opinion) and the majority of the novel showcased the weird, slightly off-putting, and fantastical nature so inherent in Fae lore.

There were bits in the writing that I really enjoyed, but for the most part there was a bit of repetitiveness to it that hindered more than helped the progression of the novel.

The fast-pace will work for some people, but overall I was left a little wanting by the end, even though there were parts of this I really enjoyed.

Sapphic slow burn friends-to-lovers in a magical world? Sign me up!

I read it in a day, because I genuinely could not put it down. It’s a fast-paced breath of fresh air that keeps you engaged until the end. Overall a fun and easy read that warmed my heart.

The cover is absolutely stunning as well!

A thrilling, sapphic, friends to lovers? Sign me up right now. We do not have enough fantasy sapphic romance which is why I, sprinted literally, when I saw this book. And I’m not disappointed to say the least.