When Tillie's sister Lucy, is found dead in an alleyway, with two puncture wounds to her carotid, her place in her family changes considerably. Now the only daughter of the Pembrokes, she has to follow the strictest rules and marry a controlling man. Tillie is obsessed with finding her sister's killer, something that doesn't seem to be of much interest to anybody else. Along with Ian Metzger, a paper seller and aspiring writer, she sets out against the orders of her Grandmother and in the dark of night to find what she believes to be a vampire. 

Opium and Absinthe is a great mixture of dark environs of gothic literature, the flowing dresses and corsets of historical fiction and whodunnits of mysteries. I loved the character of Tillie, who is extremely aware of the prejudices and sexism surrounding herself but doesn't let herself be much constrained by them. Her nightly adventures were fun to read and always kept me on the edge of my seat.

However, the best part of the book was its mystery building. It. Was. Amazing. You think you know who did it and just when you think you are sure who did it, Lydia Kang convolutes the clues and you start doubting your deciphering skills.

*Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Victorian mystery. Dracula. Jack the Ripper vibes. Gothic themes. This book had all the elements for a good book that I knew I could enjoy. And it didn’t disappoint.

On the outside Opium and Absinthe is about Tillie, a young heiress whose sister Lucy is killed by a ‘vampire’ and begins an investigation to find Lucy’s killer. Deeper into it, this book is about grief, drug addiction, loss of control, and female independence at the turn of the millennium. When I first picked up this book I thought it was going to lean towards a supernatural story with vampire murders, but instead it wasn’t so much about the vampires, but a story of love, loss and grief set to the backdrop of the Victorian Gothic.

Following a riding accident and the loss of her sister, Tillie begins taking doctor prescribed opium. The portrayal of her drug addiction throughout the novel was one of the most interesting parts for me. I felt  it set this story apart from other Victorian mystery novels and gave the reader a new perspective into a very real problem during this time period. This addiction was a very defining character arc for Tillie and Kang’s exploration of grief and loss and its impact on addiction was really interesting to read. It added a deeper level to the characters, relationships, and the world of this novel. It wasn’t just your average amateur sleuths hunting down Dracula.

The story was a slow burn, but I was okay with that. Kang weaved together multiple plot lines and characters that all came together in a faster paced and satisfying ending. As I read, this book became less about the mystery and vampires and more about Tillie’s personal journey to independence and the truth while fighting her addictions and a world that doesn’t want her to be free.

As a lover of mystery, I loved spending the novel asking ‘who dunnit?’. While I did guess the murderer, there were still parts of the ending that were surprising and the way it all came together was very well done. Kang does a good job at the art of misdirection of making you think it’s going to go one way and it takes a completely different turn.

I did have a couple problems with this book. The first was that it read like a YA novel. It wasn’t until I finished the novel and started doing more research into it for this review that I realized it has been marketed as an adult Historical Mystery novel. I'm not sure if it was the writing style, the age of the characters, or the fact that it reminded me of Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco that gave it YA vibes for me. I think I just expected it to read darker than it did. The book had lots of adult themes and it felt like they were handled in a way more fitting for teens than adults.

The second was the world building. While I can tell that Kang did her research and the world is historically accurate, it still fell a bit flat for me. The story is set during the Gilded Age in New York City in 1899. Kang’s description of this felt very light and sometimes I forgot we were even in New York. For a book set in such a vibrant and gritty historical setting I wanted to feel immersed in that world and instead I felt like this book could have taken place during any Victorian time or place. The one part I think she did very well was her description of the ‘newsies’. Her portrayal of the children selling papers to make a living is intricate and the way she uses them in the plot is very interesting as well. The kids were actually some of my favourite characters and they only showed up a couple times.

I highly recommend this story to anyone who is a fan of the Victorian era, mystery, and historical fiction. It weaves together multiple genres and has a fresh take on all of them. It tackles many topics, including drug addiction, gender expectations, class issue, grief, and much more. It’s more than just a murder mystery about vampires, and will be hard to put down once you start.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. I was given the opportunity to read this book in advanced by Netgalley and when I started reading I wasn't sure I would like it, given that it's a little different then what I usually read. But I'm so glad I kept reading because I found the story to be one that was amazing to read. The story takes place at the beginning of the 1900's in NY where women were supposed to get married, have babies, and be complacent. But Tillie is anything but. When her sister is found murdered she takes it upon herself to learn the truth. Her journey takes her to learn all she can about vampires and to the streets of NY where she meets Ian, a newspaper guy who becomes her partner in her investigation. I found that the author did a great job of using enough description that I could picture the dresses, the setting, and the social relationships but without being so wordy that I got bored. I highly recommend this book and am very glad I read it. 

Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to preread this book.

This was a tough book for me to get through. I really wanted to love it. Not only is the cover stunning, but the premise is right up my alley: a Victorian murder mystery about vampires and absinthe. I was thinking Sherlock Holmes meets Dracula. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. 

I found Opium and Absinthe to be very slow, so much so that I almost didn’t finish it, and I really disliked the main character, Tillie. For me to enjoy a book, I have to care about the main character. If not, it is all over. That was what happened here. I really didn’t care about her, at all, even as her addiction took control. 

I also felt this read more like a YA than a Historical Literary Fiction novel. That wasn’t a problem for me, I love YA, it just surprised me. All in all, it wasn’t a terrible book, just meh. For that, I gave it 2.5 stars but rounded it up to 3 stars for the gorgeous cover. 

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this Victorian historical mystery. Tillie Pembroke, is not your typical Victorian female, she is downright shocking sometimes, with her consumption of drugs. Tillie, spends much of the books in an inebriated state of mystery. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for allowing me to review this arc.

I knew right from the first few pages that I liked Tillie’s character. She’s a young heiress in NYC high society, but she doesn’t quite fit in — she’s awkward and clumsy, and prefers research and learning to gossip and parties. Within the first few pages, she experiences a traumatic fall from a horse and breaks her collarbone. 

While she’s recovering from her injury, Tillie manages to get herself mixed up in all kinds of drama. She quickly becomes addicted to the laudanum the doctor gives her, discovers that her sister was murdered, and starts reading the newest book hitting the shelves — Bram Stoker’s Dracula. When another body turns up, and the police aren’t doing much to solve these crimes, Tillie decides to take matters into her own hands. 

Tillie is smart and brave, and there’s definitely something about a historical fiction where a young woman bucks societal expectations that always appeals to me. It was hard not to root for Tillie, even as she spiraled further into addiction. I think it is an especially important (and timely) issue to address, as our society faces the fact that addiction isn’t something that just happens to [insert specific group here]. While the story takes place in 1899, it is hard to find someone today who can’t put a face to addiction. Most of us personally know someone who has struggled with addiction, or have dealt with it ourselves. Many of us have lost a loved one. Even back then, high society ladies like Tillie had addictions. I love that the author didn’t shy away from that. 

There’s definitely a strong gothic mystery theme throughout the book, and I couldn’t ever guess the twist. Just when I thought I had my finger on whodunit, something else would happen and I realized that my assumption was all wrong. No one was quite who they seemed, but the story developed well, and I was hooked right from the start.

One thing that I especially appreciated was the positive representation of the Jewish character, Ian (and to a lesser degree, his cousin). Ian was represented really well as a Jewish diaspora character. The use of Yiddish was accurate, well-done, and interspersed in the text in natural conversation. I grew up in a home where both of my parents spoke Yiddish fluently, and would randomly drop Yiddish terms and phrases into conversation, just like Ian did. 

Tillie was a woman ahead of her times, and I really enjoyed seeing her journey throughout the book. The mystery held my attention and I couldn’t wait to figure out who was behind the murders. Even the supernatural element and the overlapping elements with Dracula were done really well. Overall, this book was a hidden gem, and I highly recommend it. So get out there and give it a read!

Having been a horror fan since I was a kid and having read an annotated version of Dracula when I was a teen, I’ve always been drawn to books about Vlad the Impaler and Elizabeth Bathory. So when I came across Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang, I was intrigued.
 
While the novel does weave in quotes from Dracula and the victims do have bite marks on their necks and all of their blood is missing, that’s where most of the on the surface similarities end. But the main themes in Dracula (besides good vs. evil) are addiction, dependency, and loss of control which are also the themes in Opium and Absinthe. From reading the synopsis I thought the novel was going to lean more towards the supernatural, but this was actually a pretty heavy read at times and definitely a slow burn. 
 
Kang delves into addiction during the turn of the century and how it was another way to control women who were starting to question their places in society in a much more outspoken way than previous decades. Tillie starts taking opium for her riding injury, but begins taking more to deaden not only the physical pain, but the emotional pain of losing her sister. And then there are other people in her circle who want to keep her addicted for reasons of their own too.
 
There are times when the book didn’t exactly drag on, but with Tillie so out of it or sleeping because of the drugs, the story wasn’t as fast paced as some mysteries. At first I was going to skim to get to the mystery, but Kang entwines all of the aspects so well that I found myself wanting to read even the slower parts because they really were essential to the story. Besides a great portrayal of addiction, Lang also incorporates historical events and places during the turn of the century. And I did not see the final reveal coming which turned out to be a bit twisted.
 
Looking over the other titles that Kang has written it appears that a strong female protagonist is what she writes about, and if they are as good as Opium and Absinthe I will be super happy. A couple of the titles that I’m going to read (eventually!) are The Impossible Girl and A Beautiful Poison.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review 
Tillie has always been the one that drew the frowns of her mother and grandmother and her sister Lucy was always the one that done the right thing and brought smiles to everyone’s faces. The Lucy was found dead with two puncture marks on her neck and no blood left in her body. Were vampires real and is that what really killed Lucy. The same day Lucy went missing Tillie fell off her horse and broke her collarbone. This started her spiral with addiction not only to drugs but also to find out once and for all what killed her sister. 
With the help of Ian Tillie conducts research about vampires as well as looking at other murders in the city that were similar to her sisters. Her grandmother and mother all but lock her in the house that they say is to protect her but Tillie is resourceful and finds a way to meet Ian regularly so that they can continue their research. And the results were a surprise to everyone.
This was a great story not only about murder but also about the way women were restricted with their lives and how hard it was to be independent and live the lives they wanted to.
I found that the story was at times a bit slow going and I became frustrated at the behaviours and attitudes of some of the characters but that did not take away from the enjoyment of reading this book.

"Even if she be not harmed, her heart may fail her in so much and so many horrors; and here after she may suffer-both in waking, from her nerves, and in sleep, from her dreams."
-Van Helsing

"It was a strange thing to be awake within a nightmare".

Tillie Pembroke had an inquisitive mind asking endless questions, although, in the New York of 1899, eighteen year old Tillie was being evaluated by the yardstick of "marital and societal utility". Lucy, her older sister "...would buffer Tillie from their family's disappointment when she made occasional gaffes in public". "It was nearly the turn of the century, a lady could speak for herself sometimes", thought Tillie. Lucy, twenty-one years old, was "the very image of a Gibson Girl", soon to marry well-connected James Cutter. Back-to back shattering events changed everything. A horseback riding accident. Tillie broke her clavicle and was immediately given laudanum..."a soporific cloud settled over her mind"...oppressive pain...morphine followed.

"Get your WORLD for a penny", a Newsie cried. Headline- Vampire Strikes Manhattan, Kills Lady Near Museum...Woman Found Dead in Shadow of Metropolitan Museum of Art...Vampire-like Punctures Found on Neck....Empty Absinthe Bottle Found with Body...Victim Last Seen Wearing a Lilac Silk Dress....Cause of Death: Exsanguination. No blood found at the scene. Oh no! It was Lucy! Bram Stoker's Dracula had just been published. Lucy's death seemingly imitated Count Dracula's lust for blood. Tillie was determined to get her hands on a copy of Dracula...ASAP!

"I cannot live without my Lucy...Tillie drank her medicine...More. Another dose. I cannot be awake...Numbness would do...and so opioid addiction began. In moments of clarity, Tillie questioned...why would Lucy walk unaccompanied to the museum? Lucy seldom imbibed, why absinthe? Newsie Ian Metzger had a "keen interest" in murders. Both Ian and Tillie had the same burning curiosity over Lucy's death "...a dark, deep hole that begged to be filled with reasons and facts". How would Tillie circumvent the restrictions that kept her locked at home except for sanctioned social events? Was Lucy's death a vampiric killing? Count Dracula had feasted on the blood of a "Lucy". Two Lucys dead, hmm. Two bite marks on the neck, four inches apart...not a drop of blood on or near the victim. If not a Dracula-like murder, what other theories might exist?

"Opium and Absinthe" by Lydia Kang is a gothic mystery with amateur sleuths, Tillie and Ian as investigators. While there are enablers who keep Tillie supplied with opiates, she finds ways, albeit while sometimes in a fog, to dole out just desserts, some literal, others edible, as she tries to unravel the truth. This riveting tome stagnated a bit midway with too much emphasis on opioids. It picked up speed unmasking characters with dubious agendas then barreled to a surprising and satisfying conclusion. A mystery lover's delight.

Thank you Lake Union Publishing and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.

This was a difficult read, and for the very real slew of addictions and other issues we have facing our society today. It was hard to read because we're in Tillie's head and we see her making these choices, and we disagree...and yet. 

A gruesome set of murders come to light in the historical scene of the early 1900s Manhattan. It's a different feel, we're in the new old world, amongst the wealthy, and are laden with all the drama of a young woman of the time (Mathilda or Tillie). She comes to depend on a young reporter of sorts, all the while suffering from grief and abuse from her grandmother and others surrounding her. The story of her father is shrouded in mystery (even toward the end of the book) and her sister's grim demise evokes feelings of grief, guilt, as well as confusion. Tillie is just dealing with a lot.

There seems to several mysteries embedded within each other that readers may enjoy guessing at, however much of the story is told from a point of view that's heavy under a cloud of drugs: opium, morphine, and heroine. If you're not able to handle that, then you may want to look elsewhere for a murder mystery. 

I appreciate that the author presents several resources and hotline information in the author's note and recognizes the social climate of the current time.

 Tw: drugs, drug abuse and addictions, sexual abuse (non-graphic), emotional abuse.

I liked this. It takes place in New York City in 1899. A lot is changing in the city in that time period. Tillie and Lucy are from a well-to-do family in high society. While Lucy is “perfect” Tillie is a bit awkward. Lucy is slated to marry a most eligible bachelor when she turns up missing. On that same day Lucy goes missing, Tillie  falls from her horse and breaks her collarbone.. When she wakes up she learns her sister was murdered by exsanguination and had two puncture marks in her neck as if she’d been bitten by a vampire. Tillie is distraught and determined to find Lucy’s killer. As she investigates she must deal with her growing drug addiction, her family’s lock down and her growing affection for a reporter. I liked the characters, however flawed, and was glad Tillie had a mind of her own and was determined to work to get what she wanted in life. Most of her friends were very shallow and I can see why she was drawn to live a different lifestyle. The plot was interesting and I had a hunch I knew who the killer was but was never sure. I only have two complaints. The description of New York at the time was very thin. The other complaint is that the author, like Tillie must really love studying the dictionary. There were so many unusual words, it was a little weird. A little editing might help with that. Otherwise, I liked the book. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I love this book and im not usually a fan of Gothic novels but i as instantly intrigued in this book! a new take on the old vampire tales and narcotics usage. Tillie is my favorite and i could not have picked a better main character! 
Kudos to Lydia Kang for sparking my interest in gothic novels! Definitely a must read book for everyone!

A great gothic thriller I couldn't put down. Great world building, setting and a fascinating cast of characters.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Gothic historical murder mystery with Victorian sensationalism to keep you turn page after page. I went into Opium and Absinthe thinking it might be a supernatural historical read and clicked the request button so fast, granted it is not but I am still glad I read it. We have a murdered woman drained of blood, an unreliable narrator, coupled with the Victorian era penchant for all things macabre and you get an engaging and gothic thriller. I highly recommend Opium and Absinthe to anyone who loves a dash of gothic to their mysteries.

Oh, my, what an unusual book.  Set in gothic Victorian times in New York City 1899, it focuses on eighteen-year-old Tillie Pembroke whose older sister Lucy has been killed, drained of blood, and left with two puncture wounds on her neck.  Tillie immediately is sure her sister has been murdered by a vampire and sets out to prove it.  Before her sister’s death she is injured in a riding accident and is given laudanum and opium for the pain.  This was common for the times for wealthy women to receive drugs for various ailments and in the process of the book the drug use increases. For some strange reason I kept having the recurring thought that I was glad I came from poor, hardworking people who just worked through their issues by forging ahead sans drugs.

There are so many characters in this book that I didn’t know who to suspect.  Several new people come into her life to assist her on her quest for justice which made me immediately suspicious.  The story became tedious at times especially around her escalating drug use, but I was impressed with her tenacity and dedication to the truth.  Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.  I gave this it 2 ½ stars rounded up to 3.

I was immediately drawn to the title and the cover of this novel at first glance. Reading the description had me hooked. This is set in the Victorian era, following Tillie into an investigation of her sister's murder at the hands of a "vampire". Tille is always reading and questioning, and her sister was her best friend and the one who kept her "in line", so to speak. After a fall from her horse, a broken collarbone leads Tillie to an opium addiction, which she also uses to ease her grief. This of course makes investigating so much more difficult. 

This novel felt pretty slow to me. I did love the mystery, and the plot, despite feeling slow to me, did actually move along nicely. I think what did me in was the language and tone. I know it's meant to be Victorian, and usually this doesn't bother me. But I had to keep stopping to look up definitions, and sometimes I had to go on to Wikipedia to learn about some words because they had no definition. So that really took me out of the story, and so it took me much longer than usual to finish this novel. 

All in all, I liked it, and I will be checking out her other work.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Tilly Pembroke has recently lost her beloved sister and from appearances it looks as though a vampire has killed her and drained her blood from her body. Tilly (after suffering injuries from a riding accident) has developed an addiction for opiates mainly Opium and Morphine and under a cloud of addiction she decides to hunt down her sisters killer herself since her family seem to have just accepted her murder and moved on.

This book is fantastic! I love gothic historical fiction and this book didn't let me down!  The book opens your eyes to early medicine, early vaccinations, opiates and pain relief and how addictions can become severe very quickly and just as quickly get out of hand, murder, mystery, family history, family skeletons and friendship all in one book. 

I look forward to reading more from Lydia Kang.

“Opium and Absinthe” follows a young woman’s encounters with both substances as she attempts to track down her sister’s seemingly supernatural killer in 1899 New York City.

As the title suggests, drug usage plays a major role in this book’s plot. Sexual assault also factors into the story. Reader discretion might be advised.

Tillie Pembroke, the protagonist of “Opium and Absinthe,” is a young high-society lady. Painfully aware that she is ill-suited for and unhappy in her expected role, she longs to escape the confines of her station in order to educate herself in and write about the wider world. Tillie’s character seems likely to appeal to readers who have also struggled with being socially awkward, trying to navigate new situations when coming from a sheltered background or limited life experience, or being “book smart” but bad at understanding people.

As Tillie pursues the truth about her sister’s murder, she must confront the darkness in both her circle and society at large. Though vampires do enter the picture, the focus remains on human horrors, such as how much harm people are willing to inflict on others and why.

Lydia Kang, the author of “Opium and Absinthe,” populates Tillie’s entire quest to discover her sister’s killer with rich details. I’m not well-versed enough in U.S. history to say if Kang’s portrait of 1899 New York City is accurate or not, but it certainly gives the impression that Kang researched her subject matter. If Kang’s descriptions of Tillie’s world are indeed accurate, they present a compelling window into that time period. If not, Tillie’s world is still a well-developed, fascinating one to visit. I found Kang’s descriptions of what her characters eat and wear over the course of the story particularly well-written and intriguing, but there are plenty of other details on offer for readers who do not share those interests.

I found the development of the murder mystery in “Opium and Absinthe” surprising, but I don’t regularly read mysteries, and when I do, I am terrible at figuring them out and am content to go along for the ride on the literary sleuth’s investigation rather than try to solve the case myself. I’m not sure if a seasoned fan more invested in following the clues would find this mystery satisfying or not.

Overall, based on this story’s young main character who spends much of the narrative working on asserting herself and deciding who and what she truly wants in her life, I would recommend this book to fans of young adult and/or romance fiction. Based on this story’s detailed descriptions of New York City life and real medical practices in 1899, I would also recommend this book to fans of historical fiction and to readers interested in medical history.  Based on this story’s consideration of sexism, wealth enjoyed at the expense of the poor, and opioid overprescription and addiction, I might recommend this book to readers interested in current issues as well.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing access to a copy of this book for an honest review!

I loved this book. It was very interesting and kept me sucked in throughout.  The story wrapped up nicely, and I loved the mc.

The ARC of this book was kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. #NetGalley.
First of all, can we talk about this gorgeous cover quickly? It's a stunner and it perfectly reflects the theme of the book. This novel had me hooked from the first paragraph, the writing style was wonderfully poetic in scenes and harsh and gritty in others, Kang was able to perfectly balance the mix of these. The mystery kept me enthralled, just when I thought I had figured it out another plot twist was thrown at me and I was left as clueless and interested as before. I especially enjoyed how the secondary characters progressed throughout, their development was realistic and I loved the small scenes we got with them. I've become of a fan of Kang's writing after finishing this and I'll be reading more of her works in the future.