What if Charles Darnay was really a changeling, and that's why Sydney Carton and he looked so alike? Carton, or Memory as the fairies call him, narrates his story as a mortal who is forced to work for his fairy masters. He knows one fairy in particular, Shadow, has a purpose for him but not what it is. Can he discover it and get revenge on the fairy who allowed his childhood friend, Ivy (and Lucy Manette's double), to die? A fun, inventive fantasy spin on A Tale of Two Cities.

My thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for an advance copy of this novel that shows the best and worst of times for a group of characters from two worlds caught in a game of political tumult, revenge and supernatural stakes that could affect everyone.

In the afterword for this book there is a line about how they story came together for the writer. The sentence is quite familiar to many, one that starts with "But what if". Those three world probably have launched more creative works than anything else. That's why I love art so much. Three words can create something that touches the reader, takes a familiar tale, and make it unique, Gives life to characters in different ways. And leads to places others never thought to go. In case there is a question, I really loved this novel. A Far Better Thing by H. G. Parry is a novel of two cities, two sets of characters, and two worlds, set in a time of revolution, chaos, revenge, and love.

Sydney Carton is a man who drinks too much, sleeps too little, and cares nothing for the life he leads. Carton works two jobs, one of them as a researcher and advisor to a lawyer, and whose latest case has caused difficulties in Carton's life. Their client has been accused of treason, by a man known to owe money all over London. An easy case Carton thinks, until he sees the client and realizes that he knows him. For they are both touched by faeries. Carton was taken from his family as a child, replaced by a changeling, the client Charles Darnay. Carton spent his childhood trapped in the Children's World of Faery, and now works his second job, as a mortal servant carrying out the will of Faeries in London. To meet one's changeling is rare. To see another one also in court, and this one being the changeling of the woman he once loved, is impossible. Carton knows something is going on, that rumours he has heard about trouble in the Faery Realm might be coming to this world. Soon Carton is caught in a web of treachery, rebellion and revenge, stretching from London to Paris, with bodies starting to pile up, and the sounds of the Wild Hunt filling the night skies.

I am usually not a fan of books that attempt to work as sequels, or reboots or use older works to build a story. A rule that I am willing to be flexible about when the writing is as good as this book is. Parry takes the story of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and makes something original, and compelling Right from the beginning the reader is pulled into a world familiar and yet different, darker and more sinister than one expects, with a lot of sadness for many of the characters. The writing is quite good, the characters are very well developed, and fleshed out in many ways. One gets the motivations even from the most evil and wrong of characters. One gets why they feel like they do. Faery World is well described and a place I would like to read more about. Parry goes into a lot of different things, English and French law, the revolution in France, the different sides, and mixes fictional and real pople in the story.

One doesn't have to have read Dickens to understand what is going on. Though it might help a bit. This is a really wonderful story, with a mythology that is different, and one I would like to know more about. A perfect example of what fantasy stories can be capable of, taking the everyday and making them not just magical, but compelling. This is my first reading of anything by H. G. Parry but will not be my last.

A darkly whimsical retelling of A Tale of Two Cities, in which the main characters are Mortal Servants of the Faerie Realm, stolen as babies, and their changelings, the people who took their place, their names and their lives. Against the backdrop of the French Revolution, H.G. Parry weaves in the machinations of the Fae, wreaking damage with their plots and revenge, and the misery and torment of their mortal servants who are also longing for a revenge of their own.
Rightly marketed as a book for readers who loved Jonathan Strange & Mr. NorrelI.

This is a 3.5 I would say. The reason I can’t give it a 4 is because I found it very slow with no real aim for a good part of it. It didn’t inspire me to keep reading, so this took me quite a while to read. It does pick up extraordinarily at the last 1/3 I would say. I read it all in one day and thoroughly love the ending.

A beautifully-spun retelling of Dicken's classic A Tale of Two Cities with a twist of fate and a dash of fairy magic. Sydney Carton is the human servant of fairy masters and has been ever since he was swapped for a changeling as a child. A coincidence that's not a coincidence at all presents itself when he meets and saves the life of his own changeling, Charles Darney, and begins to plot revenge against the fairy that brought them together and fairy realm itself. Would that all fantasy stories were this tragic and compelling. Carton is incredibly relatable even while he tries to convince himself and everyone around him, readers included, that he's just a drunken ne'er-do-well, and the plot, while familiar, is cleverly reinvented in a way that feels entirely new. Fans of classic fairy stories and doomed protagonists will appreciate Parry's latest novel.

Thank you to Tor Books for the eARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Firstly, I'll say that this is a retelling of A Tale of Two Cities. Since I never finished the Dickens original, I am not equipped to discuss this book as a retelling.

Nonetheless, I was really intrigued by Parry's <i>A Far Better Thing</i>. It is an alluring mash-up of two worlds, each going through major upheaval, with characters torn between the two while also navigating battles with their own demons. It is very slow at the beginning, and I'll admit that it took nearly half the book to convince me that I wanted to finish it. After over three weeks of fighting, Parry got my buy-in and I raced through the second half. The ending was devastatingly predictable, but I just HAD to know.

The way that Parry laces magic through an already familiar landscape is not overbearing but rather subtle and beautiful. Changelings are not my favourite piece of folklore, but they were well-utilized in this story. The faerie world felt vague and fuzzy, and while that was frustrating because I wanted all my questions answered, it also felt like an accurate representation of how that world would feel from the outside.

I am heavily invested in the adventures of Addison and Rosemary, and I hope we get to see them again some day!

Overall, this was thought-provoking and eventually also captivating. I give it 4.25 stars.

Content Warnings:
- Alcohol and alcoholism
- Kidnapping
- Violence
- War
- Murder
- Death
- Rape

This book will be released on June 17, 2025.

As someone who loved The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door as well as A Tale of Two Cities, this one certainly piqued my interest. This was such a great fairy tale on Dickens! I loved each twist and turn.

I thought this was a well written book that simply wasn't for me. I love a main character that is very dry humored and goes about life saying they are the worst while doing everything in their power to help others. What I did not enjoy was the setting and direct tie in to the French revolution. It felt that our story was going at it's own pace with fairies, deals, and revenge, and then it had to follow the years and skips and the realities of French history which is not a device I enjoy. I also found it distracting as we now had the entirety of political drama tied closely to the drama of the Realm.

Thanks so much to Tor and NetGalley for the preview. All opinions are my own.

I AM UNWELL. You know how people say, "this book DESTROYED me, 10/10 would recommend?" THIS IS THAT BOOK. I think most of us had to read Tale of Two Cities in school; I know I did. I remember being a little moved by the ending, and that's about it. This retelling with faeries has so much more depth and emotion, and I think I cried for at least 30% of the book.

I don't know if everyone appreciates how hard it is to take a well-known story and add in magic and fae, and still somehow keep all the characters and plot points, and still make sense within all the new and old motivations. Parry does this so beautifully and seamlessly. Yes, we know what the ending is, but the twists and turns and faerie meddling that gets us there is mind-blowing. The use of changelings was inspired.

The Scholar & the Last Faerie Door was one of my top reads last year, and A Far Better Thing is guaranteed to be one of my top books this year. Do yourself a favor, and pick it (and honestly ALL of her books) up!

This book is your classic portal fantasy with your Faerie Realm. Historically set. Really fun to follow these characters as they navigate both the mortal and faerie realms and all of those within.

This book does not hold your hand as it jumps right into the story. It took me a bit to get into it and get on board with what was happening, but once I understood how exactly the real-world history and fantastical faerie realm blended together for the setting, I was locked in.

The premise was new and exciting. I mean, I can’t say in all of the books about fae and faeries I’ve read that I have ever encountered one that involved revolutionary France.

Ultimately, I think the book suffered from some pacing issues, but they weren’t egregious enough to put me off.

3.5 stars rounded up!

4.5 Stars

Sydney Carton was taken by the fairies at the age of two, and made to be a mortal servant of the Faerie Realm. After returning to the human world at the age of thirteen, and doing the work of the faeries, he has finally discovered his true name and found the changeling that was left in his place. Now he is plotting revenge against his changeling, Charles Darnay, and the inhabitants of the Realm. Sydney must find ways to hide his true intentions from the Realm and travel between London and Paris, during the Reign of Terror in France.

Changelings, faeries, and the Wild Hunt...sign me up!! A Far Better Thing is a unique retelling of Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities. Parry does a fantastic job of merging Dicken's original book with the fairy world. I really enjoyed the historical fiction background of the story being mixed with fantasy, by adding in magic and faeries.

The story follows Sydney Carton and his chance to have his revenge against the Realm, for being taken as a child and replaced with a changeling, and made to serve the Realm in his adult life. As the story unfolds, Parry reveals the revenge, betrayals, and secrets that are at the heart of story. The book is slower paced, but it is very well-written, and Parry definitely held my interest. The pacing of the book did pick up, for me, closer to the end, and the way Parry tied everything together and completed Sydney's story, was heartbreakingly beautiful.

I loved that Parry balanced the tragedy and sacrifice of the book with friendships, love, and hope. If you enjoy historical fantasy, with a melancholic storyline and conflict between the Faerie Realm and the human world, then I would highly recommend A Far Better Thing.

I want to start this off by saying I love H.G Parry The Scholar and the Last Faerie door is one of my all time favorite books but I just don’t think this one was for me. I didn’t connect with the characters and the writing style felt different from the other books I’d read by H.G Parry. This is by no means a bad thing, and I think that this book will absolutely find its audience, I’ll be happy to recommend it for purchase at my store and continue to hand sell her other books. :)

This book is a lot. Historical fiction, fae, revolution, changelings, and a character who’s basically spiraling through all of it. It shouldn’t work as well as it does, but somehow it comes together in a way that mostly lands.

The pacing is definitely on the slower side, and the plot takes some attention to follow. But it’s also doing something deeper than your average fantasy, and once I settled into the rhythm, I found myself really appreciating how layered it all was. It’s less about action and more about reckoning. With your past, with your choices, with what it means to be the version of yourself you didn’t choose.

The magic is cool but understated. The characters carry most of the weight here, especially Sydney, who’s kind of a mess but still weirdly compelling. And while I wouldn’t call this a light or easy read, it stuck with me more than I expected.

This is not just a clever take on Dickens. It has something to say, and it earns the space it takes to say it.

I had a hard time reading this one at first. Only because I felt like the beginning was a little slow. But it did pick up. And I really enjoyed this read!

Such a fun and lovely standalone. Really enjoyed the retelling aspect. The vibes are perfect for the fall but with a faery magic twist!

This was one beautifully written book. Such a lovely and different historical take on changlings and faerie. It sucked me in from the beginning

I received a free copy from Tor Books via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Publish date June 17th.

I've read one of Parry's books in the past, and I was intrigued to see the changeling-themed premise of her latest. In A Far Better Thing, Sydney Carton was human child stolen by the faeries, and he's now bound into faerie servitude in late eighteenth century London. When a chance encounter results in Carton meeting his own changeling, he's plunged into a complex web of faerie manipulations, with himself at the heart of it...

A Far Better Thing is, of course, a retelling of Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities from the evil doppelganger's perspective. Having not read the Dickens myself, I can't comment on the novel's merits as an adaptation. I can, however, say that it was an awfully good book. Magician's Daughter, Perry's previous novel, had a lightness and naiveté that made it read as almost middle grade. A Far Better Thing has an intriguingly bitter and complex taste, mostly established through the viewpoint character, Sydney Carton. Carton is twenty-five years old, bitter as gall, an alcoholic, and more than a little suicidal. He's been haunted his whole life by the death of his childhood friend Ivy in the faerie realm, and despises his servitude stealing old bones and children. The existence of Charles Dufay, who looks like a beautiful, happy version of him, is not helping Carton's feeling that he effectively died as a baby.

The worldbuilding manages to add a few original elements to the well-trodden tale of the changeling, which is no mean feat. In this world, faeries are ethereal, inhuman beings who can't touch the real world, and steal human children to do their bidding on Earth. I was a little skeptical about the French Revolution setting from reading the premise, but I think Parry did a decent enough job with it. I don't necessarily agree with all of her interpretations, but it escapes editorializing, as so many books do, about the dangers of Change and Political Violence. It helps as well that the book is grounded in moderately formal prose. Not the full Dickens, but it suits the setting nicely.

A melancholy tragedy with a compellingly dark and bitter protagonist to match. And what an ending! Recommended for fans of historical fantasy.

I didn't think anything could make A Tale of Two Cities better, but Parry did it. I loved the portrayal of Sydney as a complicated, cynical, yet ultimately endearing character. The inclusion of the fae was masterfully done. This was a most anticipated 2025 read for me and it absolutely, totally delivered.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review this book

I will say it was hard to get into the book but once you are in it then you are in for a great book of fairies and their games.

I absolutely loved the faires and how they interacted with the humans and the human worlds. One thing I feel like Parry needs to do better is a cleaner explanation of what is going on but it was a good mystery.

This is definitely a tales of two cities...fairies and human. Changeling and their human counterpart. And a murder.

Where I have an issue with the statement that this is like Strange and Norrell is that the language is not in the same time of the 1800s and I feel like this takes me out of the book a bit.

Other than that this was a must read for me.

Please give this a good shot. About 25% in it gets good.