The Absinthe Underground

Moulin Rouge meets Holly Black in a thrilling sapphic friends-to-lovers romantasy!
  • ISBN: 9781682634929
  • Publication date: 02/06/2024
  • Page Count: 416
  • Size: 5-1/4" x 8"
  • Age Range: 14-18
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  • ISBN: 9781682634929
  • Publication date: 02/06/2024
  • Page Count: 416
  • Size: 5-1/4" x 8"
  • Age Range: 14-18
  • Price:
  • Age Range: 14-18
  • Price:
  • Age Range: 14-18
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  • ISBN: 9781682636381
  • Publication date: 02/06/2024
  • Page Count: N/A
  • Age Range: 14-18
  • Price:
  • Age Range: 14-18
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Description

Moulin Rouge meets Holly Black in a thrilling sapphic friends-to-lovers romantasy!

This lavish and decedent LGBTQ+ fantasy romance will leave fans of Divine Rivals and Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries utterly enchanted!

After running away from home, Sybil Clarion is eager to embrace all the freedom the Belle Époque city of Severon has to offer. Instead, she’s traded high-society soirées for empty pockets. At least she has Esme, the girl who offered Sybil a home, and if either of them dared, something more.

Ever since Esme Rimbaud brought Sybil back to her flat, the girls have been everything to each other—best friends, found family, and secret crushes. While Esme would rather spend the night tinkering with her clocks and snuggling her cats, Sybil craves excitement and needs money. She plans to get both by stealing the rare posters that crop up around town. With rent due, Esme agrees to accompany—and more importantly protect—Sybil.

When they’re caught selling a poster by none other than its subject, Maeve, the glamorous girl invites Sybil and Esme to The Absinthe Underground, the exclusive club she co-owns, and reveals herself to be a Green Faerie, trapped in this world. She wants to hire thieves for a daring heist in Fae that would set her free, and is willing to pay enough that Sybil and Esme never have to worry about rent again. It’s too good of an offer to pass up, even if Maeve’s tragic story doesn’t quite add up, and the secrets could jeopardize everything the girls have so carefully built.

Jamie Pacton, author of The Vermilion Emporium, dazzles in this whimsical and daring romantic fantasy. Fans of Fae lore, slow-burn sapphic pining, and decadently magical worlds will find The Absinthe Underground as ensorcelling as a fairy delight.

Author/Illustrator

Jamie Pacton

Author

Jamie Pacton is an award-nominated young adult and middle grade author, who writes swoony, funny, magical books across genres. The Vermilion Emporium is her YA fantasy debut. When she’s not writing, she’s teaching college English, obsessively reading obscure history, hiking, baking, or playing video games. The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly is her Young Adult debut and her sophomore novel, Lucky Girl, released from Page Street in May 2021.

Reviews

★“In this haunting tale, Pacton weaves a romantic and thrilling story of ambition, magic, and peril. Sybil and Esme’s chemistry is palpable, and Pacton’s lush portrayal of Severon as a city filled with art and beauty reminiscent of fin de siècle Paris adds additional layers of enchantment and appeal to the setting.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“[A] sweetly enchanting ‘romantasy’ for fans of quasi-historical fiction .”—Booklist

“A sweetly undemanding, cozy sapphic romance sprinkled with magic and adventure.”The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“A delightful, magical tale that’s as comforting as a hot cup of tea.”Kirkus Reviews

“This is a heartwarming Sapphic love story with a gauzy heist plot for cozy-fantasy ­lovers and art fans.”School Library Journal

More Details

BISAC 1: YAF031000 Young Adult Fiction – LGBTQ+
BISAC 2: YAF019060 Young Adult Fiction – Fantasy – Romance
BISAC 3: YAF062040 Young Adult Fiction – Thrillers & Suspense – Supernatural