Opium and Absinthe, Lydia Kang

As this book is well-reviewed, I don’t have tons more to add that other people haven’t already said. I loved the slow build-up of the storyline. I liked Tillie’s persistence in everything she did. From writing Nelly to pushing back against her mother and grandmother, she never stopped striving to find justice for her sister. Her spirit makes her so endearing, and I loved how caring she was, even when she didn’t feel like she was doing all that great. I loathed her grandmother. Kang wrote her so well to make me feel such emotion about not just my dislike of the grandmother but also Tillie. Overall, this has a fun and engaging storyline. I’m definitely a new fan.

Opium and Absinthe is available on Amazon, Bookshop, and B&N.

About the Book:

New York City, 1899. Tillie Pembroke’s sister lies dead, her body drained of blood and with two puncture wounds on her neck. Bram Stoker’s new novel, Dracula, has just been published, and Tillie’s imagination leaps to the impossible: the murderer is a vampire. But it can’t be—can it?

A ravenous reader and researcher, Tillie has something of an addiction to truth, and she won’t rest until she unravels the mystery of her sister’s death. Unfortunately, Tillie’s addicted to more than just truth; to ease the pain from a recent injury, she’s taking more and more laudanum…and some in her immediate circle are happy to keep her well supplied.

Tillie can’t bring herself to believe vampires exist. But with the hysteria surrounding her sister’s death, the continued vampiric slayings, and the opium swirling through her body, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for a girl who relies on facts and figures to know what’s real—or whether she can trust those closest to her.

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