A review by sdevine
The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I have been waiting for this book for over a year like I added it on Goodreads before I even had a cover and unfortunately, I was so underwhelmed. 
Sapphic, Friends to lovers romantansy with fae, a hidden world, and a Moulin Rouge vibe? Sign me up. I don’t know what I expected but this wasn’t quite it. I got through this pretty quick and I overall enjoyed the writing style however, all of the characters felt off. Not quite one dimensional but not fully formed either, somewhere in between. My favorite characters we only see briefly (Chloe (don’t have access to physical copy so I don’t remember the spelling I’m sorry!!), Hyacinth, and Lucien) and our two main characters are fine. But just fine. 

I think the romance also felt a little odd because right from the start we know they’re in love with each other, clearly. They both think about it constantly and don’t get me wrong, I understand the pining for your best friend BUT I think it could’ve been done better. There wasn’t much tension between the girls and I think because you don’t get to see the build up of their relationship, it’s just kind of eh. Like happy for them but I also don’t really care? I al,almost cared more about their dream cottage and cozy life than what was happening in the moment. 

Everything also felt like it wrapped up just a little too well. If this were marketed as a low-stakes heist type of cozy fantasy, I think I would’ve had different expectations. But to be fair, I actually haven’t seen much marketing for this at all, a mutual on booksta (@amodelwhosread) recommended it forever ago and I’ve had my eye on it since. I came across the arc on net-galley (shoutout to NG for the arc in exchange for an honest review btw) and that put it back on my radar. 

Overall, I enjoyed this. It was fast paced, low stakes, and the world building was interesting enough. I’d love to read more set in this universe and will likely pick up more from this author! Would love a sequel heist to get our girl Chloe with Lucien involved too. Maybe a magic cat thrown in for funsies.