I‘m a bit on the fence regarding this book. I liked the academic setting and the whimsical yet dark elements. At the same time I felt that the real plot was in fact relatively limited. I would have wished for it to be bit more “fleshed out”.

“In a world of lies, the truth is the most dangerous weapon.”

Deeply intriguing, An Academy for Liars is not for the faint-hearted. Immediately, the story begins with the dark academia vibes which is relevant throughout the book. With it's dark, unsettling prose and writing style, we follow the characters through a supernatural atmosphere with several twists and turns.

There is a lot I want to talk about this book, but I really enjoyed the development of Lennon and Dante's relationship. I will certainly be reading more of Alexis Henderson's books as An Academy for Liars was my first. The rationales of the characters kept me on the edge of my seat and I honestly could not guess the twists.

In all, this book is perfect for those who enjoying a mystery storyline filled with dark secrets and an dark academic setting.

This was an intriguing blend of mystery and dark academia. The story follows a group of students at a mysterious academy where secrets and deception run rampant. Henderson’s atmospheric writing pulls you right into the eerie setting, and one line that caught me was, “In a world of lies, the truth is the most dangerous weapon.”

I loved the intricate plot twists and the way the characters' motives kept me guessing throughout. The tension between them was palpable, adding layers to the story. However, I found some parts a bit convoluted, which made it hard to follow the threads at times.

Overall, An Academy for Liars is a captivating read that beautifully weaves suspense with a touch of the supernatural. It’s perfect for anyone who enjoys navigating a dark, twisty tale filled with secrets.

Aside from a dark academia-esque fantasy (of course), I was not really sure what I was expecting with this book. I have read an Alexis Henderson book before, her debut The Year of The Witching, which I gave a three but I was open to giving her another go, hence me reading this book. First thing I will say, I highly doubt this will have mass appeal. It's currently sitting at a 3.57 on goodreads, which while I don't necessarily agree, it does prove my point. I think for the most part the writing was good, however I think the character work leant heavily into telling vs showing. For example, Alexis Henderson would do a thing where she would tell us the traits of this character, and I would think to myself, but she hasn't actually shown us that though. However, besides Lennon, Dante, and a handful of others, the side characters are not too relevant, so this was only a light bug bear for me. I don't think this story is really that unique, but I do like what it did and said in terms of persuasion and power, which are integral themes to the plot. I've seen someone compare this to Middlegame (by Seanan McGuire), and I do think it has a similar atmosphere. An Academy for Liars is one of those books that I was thinking about when not reading, something which happens very rarely for me nowadays, which is another point for the book. It ends on quite an open note, and while I don't necessarily think more is necessary, if there was a sequel, I would read it, and I do not say that lightly!

Another superb story from one of my favourite newly discovered authors. You've got to love a story that grabs you on page 1 and doesn't let you go until you finish the last page.

This is such a brilliantly written dark academia fantasy, and had the PERFECT autumnal/November vibes. This was my first Alexis Henderson and I'm very intrigued to read more of this author's works. I really liked our main character Lennon; she's very unsure of herself and her life, a college dropout, cheated on by her fiance, and desperate to prove herself when she is introduced to Drayton College. I loved seeing her character development throughout this.

The whole cast of characters are very morally grey, with ambition and power at the heart of everyone's goals, and I loved the setting of this mysterious college where everyone is being trained in the art of persuasion. Horror elements slowly trickle into the story as well, which I found very interesting, and pretty brutal at times. It's definitely going to become one of the set dark academia recommendations, and it absolutely should - I just wasn't totally sold with how the ending played out, unfortunately.

This should have been perfect for me, but unfortunately it really missed the mark.

The main character was insufferable and I could not bring myself to care about her - I don’t think we’re given enough to really relate to Lennon.

Alexis Henderson is a master of gothic writing, sympathetic and yet morally grey female characters and mysteries that will have you gripped until the end. After reading The Year of the Witching and House of Hunger, I truly thought she couldn’t get any better but An Academy for Liars is a worthy follow up to her previous books. Lennon was so cunning but still remained as a character I could empathise with while being keenly aware of her flaws. Dante’s intrigue made him all the more compelling. I’m not sure I’d make it into Drayton but there is just something about the fever dream of that school that kept me reading. She’s great.

Another amazing one by this author. I loved her previous two books so know I needed to request this one too.
It’s masterfully gothic and dark academia which I loved

this book had so much potential. the premise seemed very unique and could've made for a fantastic story, but all its potential got wasted in an array of plot holes. and while the elevator concept was really cool and unique, i wished that there was a little more world building, explanation and "rules".
in addition to that, there was just way too much telling instead of showing. show me the character development! show me how the friendships and realtionships blossom! i don't want to be told that two characters are no friends, i want to see it. this made the characters and relationships feel really shallow.

Dark, bloody and engaging! I really enjoyed Alexis Henderson’s writing style - it was easy to read and emotive. Her characters are broken and entertaining to read about (and, for some, get their just desserts). I liked the relationship between Dante and Lennon but the flip on Dante’s side didn’t seem as worked through as it could have been. I’m happy that the story ended happy for all the harsh events that took place throughout the book. This worlds ‘magic’ as well was very cool and unique.

This is one of the best dark academia books. I have read in 2024 and I can’t wait for everyone else to read it. It has the perfect plot the perfect characters and the perfect mystery to hold you.

This was a book that reminded me of a few other dark academia novels at first and then took things in a completely new direction, which I really appreciated. Lennon was a fascinating protagonist, full of insecurities and flaws and yet incredibly strong in many ways and Dante was equally compelling in his own ways. I also really enjoyed the environment of Drayton and thought the author did a great job at bringing the campus to life. Overall, another enjoyable read from Alexis Henderson who's books I will continue to pick up.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book was just everything and more, easily my number one read. Hands down, it just pushed all the other contenders off the shelf.

Let me start by saying, this book was nothing like what I expected. It's been labeled as both dark academia and horror, but honestly, I didn't really see the "horror" side of it. Maybe, I’m just the problem.

As a big fan of dark academia, I totally devoured this book. Anytime I had a free moment, I was diving right back into the Drayton world.

But let me not get ahead of myself here.

An Academy For Liars follows our main girl, Lennon, who's basically just not happy with her life. She's been on the sidelines for years, just staring up at the men in her life with hearts in her eyes, while all the while one step away from having a total meltdown.

Then one night, she catches her partner cheating. So she jumps in his sweet ride and just takes off, not even knowing where she's going. But one random decision to pull into an empty parking lot changes her life forever. When a phone booth starts ringing out of nowhere, she picks it up, and next thing you know, she's going through all these interviews and tests that get her a spot at this unknown place called Drayton.

"Power doesn't come for free.” And oh boy, isn’t that just the truth?

I loved the whole concept of having power over someone's mind - that's got to be the greatest power of all. And get this, little does everyone know, but Lennon is the one holding Drayton's fate in her hands.

I also seriously felt like I could relate to her. Everybody, including me, is just looking for a place to belong, a spot where they're accepted, and most importantly, straight-up love.

The relationship between Lennon and the MMC, Dante, kept me on the edge of my seat. My heart was breaking, then getting put back together, only to be broken again. Thanks Alexis!

And that ending? I can't even. I'm still, days later, just trying to process it all.

Alexis, you killed it with this book. It's going to hold a special place in my heart, and in my mind, it's living rent-free. Thanks for the wild ride!

I usually avoid dark academia but something about this book spoke to me and I’m so glad I took a chance on it. The opening scene of this book is scarred into my brain. It taps into the uncanny so well and really set the tone for the book.

We jump straight into our fmc’s life falling apart. Lennon is an absolute mess and I love her for it. She felt so real and is completely different to the fmcs I’m used to reading about in fantasy. She was relatable on a level that is probably something I need to unpack with a therapist.

Drayton College is not your usual ‘schools for the gifted’. There are no airs and graces and it’s dark from the beginning. I’m not exactly a horror aficionado but this was an unsettling read in the best of ways.

The magic system deals with complex theories but uses clever, easy to understand concepts that felt believable.

This was my first book by the author but it definitely won’t be my last!

Do you ever read a book that’s so good that you’re just (unfortunately) ugly sobbing in public because you feel like someone reached into your soul and pulled it right from the depths kicking and screaming? Well, that’s exactly how I feel about An Academy for Liars.

This book holds up a mirror between the person you want to become, and the person you truly are. It takes all the broken pieces hidden inside ourselves and fishes them out with such force that you have no choice other than to face them, head on whether you like it or not. When you think you‘ve got it all figured out, it will veer you completely off course headfirst off a cliff without warning. It will have you questioning whether trust is something you earn, or something you give freely. Most of all it will make you FEEL like you are constantly trending water.

An Academy for Liars will open your eyes wide to what the Dark Academia genre can do when it is allowed to think outside the box that it’s been put in. This book was about self discovery, grief, loss, self acceptance, forgiveness, loneliness and much much more. Everyone is morally grey, and I mean everyone - and that’s also a reason why you should read this.

This was the Dark Academia I absolutely needed. The gritty, the gruesome, and the deeply unsettling.

I know I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. I know I’ll be banging on at everyone I know to read it.

I really enjoyed this book and have recently just received this as a special edition from illumicrate, it gripped me straight from the beginning, I just wish that there was more character building

I'm giving this a 3 stars because it had potential but the characters had some irksome personality traits I didn't find appealing such as Lennon's rash and impulsive behaviour. I also hated the storyline of the advisors always ending up with their students like why was it a pattern? That continuously happened 3 times and one situation where the character, Dante, had been both the student abusED by the advisor (this case was abuse as he was a child at the time of it taking place with the advisor being a grown adult) and then the adviser in a relationship with a student. I would have been interested if this book actually explored the predatory nature of these systemic relationships evolving from abusive tendencies but nothing.

The one interesting character Claude who could have been a pivotal aspect to showing this was sidelining halfway through. He was the perfect mirror to Lennon and seeing two sides of the same coin was fascinating.

The second 50% of the story picked up with the action and storytelling. Overall, I feel as of this could have explored the story better and while I can enjoy a student/professor love story, it needs to have chemistry that i found lacking between Lennon and Dante, even though I liked them individually as characters outside of a relationship.

3.75

I was entirely invested in this book between the start and around 40%, after that it lost me a little but did bring it back by the end.

The concept and plot felt really unique to me, Alexis Henderson definitely has a talent for building suspense and atmosphere, and I found her writing style really captivating. I loved the conversations regarding persuasion and the magical realism elements of the story and how it questions the morality of what they were doing, and how they could justify just about every scenario, whether ethical or not.

Where this book let me down was the characters. I never felt truly connected to the main character Lennon, even though we follow the story from her POV. I felt like her character was inconsistent and at times I didn't understand her motivations, this may have been by design but for me it was a little off putting. I also wasn't invested in the friendships or relationship she forged, mainly because the secondary characters fell a little flat for me.

Overall however, I enjoyed my time with this book and the vibes are perfect for a spooky Autumn read. I loved the writing style and definitely plan to read Henderson’s other work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing/Ace Books for providing me with an ARC.

Devoured in 2 sittings (would have been one if id started early enough in the day)

-Atmospheric
-Fast paced
-Characters that keep you guessing
-Interesting magic system
-School setting
-Mentor- Mentee