While I’m not entirely convinced by the dark academia label, this was a thoroughly entertaining book.
Lennon has spent her life running away from her problems. When she finds her fiancé having sex with her friend in the bathroom of their home it’s only natural that she decides to leave. What is not usual is the fact that she then takes receipt of a strange phone call inviting her to an interview at Drayton, a college that nobody has heard of.
Curious, Lennon sees this as an opportunity to prove her worth. However, the interview and test is like nothing she has encountered before. For reasons she is unsure of, she passes and begins her studies.
Drayton is a college like no other. Every student is skilled in the art of persuasion and there are many suggestions that Lennon may well be one of the most gifted…of course, things don’t go that smoothly and Lennon has a lot of learning to do before she can tap into her potential.
There’s twists and turns aplenty. Some chilling scenes showing the risk of manipulating others, and some interesting magical elements linking to the concept of travel.
Aside from the mawkish ending - by that time I felt she needed to have drawn a line on her feelings for Dante - this was cleverly constructed and definitely a recommended read (though it did feel like something of a misdirection).
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review it before publication.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this earc.

I feel like this book was longer than it needed to be. I was loving the first 15-20% but after that I kind of lost it and felt like it was really slow paced.

I prefer a fast paced book but think many people will enjoy!

I was very intrigued by the premise of this story, but unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations.

First of all I'm quite unsure of how early of a advanced copy I received, but I think I've never read an ARC with this many typos, grammar errors and words missing from sentences before. That made it very off putting to read, it definitely needs a couple more rounds of proof reading before going into final print for that alone.

Aside from that the story itself felt rather disjointed. It was like reading the rough outline of an interesting story that started off quite good, but as it progressed I kept on finding myself confused if I was missing chapters, because things just kept progressing and ending in a very abrupt manner. There were many time jumps when things just started to get interesting and could have used more time to be established.
I really liked the setting and the atmosphere, but the characters felt so very one dimensional and flat, what made it hard to really get into the story. They had interesting foundations, but never came across as more than an idea of a character. If they were more fleshed out, through their interactions and actually showing their relationships progressing, I could have warmed up to them, but as it is everything was so rushed when it came to social interactions. I never saw anything actually playing out and instead was made to assume that things just happened off screen during the last time jump between chapters and everyone is best friends all of a sudden.
The main plot of the story was also relatively predictable, I kept on being reminded of every other sci-fi dark academia book or tv show ever, so unfortunately that also couldn't really make up for the lack of character depth. All in all it kept me entertained enough to read on, but it didn't really convince me.

Given how much I've loved Alexis Henderson's previous novels, I should not have been surprised at how much I enjoyed this. An Academy of Liars is a story of persuasion, the pursuit of it and how the lure of its power is intoxicating and destructive.

Lennon, our protagonist, has hit rock bottom at the start of the novel. Having discovered her fiancee in a compromising position with his work colleague, she finds herself lost and contemplating the worthiness of her life. Until she receives a mysterious phonecall stating that she's moved onto the next stage in thr selection process for an unheard of college. What follows is a rabbit hole of magical elevators, a highly competitive school hidden from the general population and mysterious societies with deadly games of admition.

I like Lennon as a protagonist. She's deeply self deprecating, having continually let everyone down in her life so far she's desperate to remain at Drayton where she finds herself to be special, unique. Her inexplicable pull to Dante is magnetic. The pair know that together they're both bad and good for each other. Two sides of the same coin, and Dante knows how to get the best out of Lennon. I did at times find their relationship a little unconvincing in that Lennon falls very easily given no encouragement from Dante whatsoever, however their chemistry cannot be denied.

The overall plot was intriguing and highly atmospheric as Lennon spends most of her time within the mysterious walls of Drayton college. It's a college that oozes gothic, dark academia - and from someone who normally hates dark academia, I found myself pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the world. Some of the finer elements of the plot are left a little open to interpretation or not fully explained (such as the kids skeletons and weird dark shadow monsters for example) and the pacing did get a little off track in the middle however overall I found that it was highly entertaining and interesting. It had definite Ninth House vibes and the mysteries that Lennon becomes embroiled in were suitably creepy and satisfying to see unfold.

Another great edition to Alexis Henderson's stories. If you loved her other novels, or Ninth House I think you'll love this one.

I reviewed An Academy of Liars for book recommendation and sales site LoveReading.co.uk

I’ve chosen this title as a Liz Pick of the Month for November.

Please see the link for the full review.

I had such high hopes for this book after having loved Alexis Henderson’s previous works, but unfortunately, this one did not live up to her earlier books in my opinion.

Henderson’s talent for creating complex yet digestible world-building, her captivating atmospheres, and her skill for writing realistic, unstilted dialogue are what ultimately carried me through to the end. That, and my determination to find out what happened next as I’m not sure any of us could have predicted some of the directions that the book went!

Although I’m not a big reader of book series, I found myself wishing that Lennon’s character arc had been stretched across multiple books. While it’s impressive that Alexis managed to pack so much into this single story, I would have preferred more time to get to know Lennon, her peers, and her associates, as well as to spend more time at the College itself. Personally, I didn’t feel particularly connected to Lennon, and I suspect this was due to the rapid pace of events escalating before we had a proper chance to understand her outside of the chaos. This left me feeling frustrated with Lennon and the characters around her, rather than rooting for them.

Echoing the sentiments of other reviewers, I found that the relationships—both romantic and otherwise—left a lot to be desired. These relationships felt underdeveloped, possibly due to the rushed and frantic circumstances under which they were formed but they had so much potential!

Overall, while I found the book engaging enough to see the story through, it didn’t quite meet my expectations. I will definitely continue to read and recommend Alexis Henderson’s past (and hopefully future) works, especially her more horror-oriented stories, as I feel that’s where her characters and narrative skills truly shine.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

Alexis Henderson writes descriptively dark and atmospheric gothic stories and An academy for liars is every bit as dramatic and dark as you could hope for.
I enjoyed the storyline, a secret college where selected people are invited to hone their powers of persuasion.
While I enjoyed these elements of the book, I did find the writing to be repetitive in parts and a little cliché with Lennon the student and Dante her adviser/professor.
The story takes some interesting twists and turns and has plenty of likeable (and unlikeable) characters.
I didn’t love Lennon (mc) I found her character annoying and wish washy, she’s bottom of her classes and yet she’s supposed to be special. She struggles with learning how to use her abilities and yet she’s gifted?
If you enjoyed the likes of Naomi Novic’s A deadly education or Silvia Moreno Garcia’s Mexican gothic then you might like this!
Overall an enjoyable read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

This dark academia with horror elements book was great! I found Lennon to be a compelling but flawed MC, and the gradual reveals as the sinister aspects of Drayton college were revealed was well executed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

3.5 stars

Overall I really enjoyed this. I loved the atmosphere, the writing and thought the plot was interesting and I specially liked the ending. I guess my biggest issue was with dark academia specifically, I always expect a good character work, and this book didnt satisfy me in this regard. The only characters I cared about was the protagonist and Dante, and Dante wasn't that much either. But like I said, the rest of the book keept me entertained and internesting. I really enjoy this author, will definitely keep an eye for the next releases.

I am a fan of dark academia, yes magic but no rainbows and butterflies. This is nicely dark filled with moths and rats (yes, experiments but taken good care of by Dante and Gregory is awesomely cute!), mind twisting and control and the occasional dark reflection or twisted being that wreaks chaos. It is an interesting magic, mostly called persuasion. the stronger one is, the more they can influence others and the strongest can even influence or change reality (but only a very special few). And they get called by the hidden college of Drayton to be tested and to learn to change the world (if they can make the cut). Lennon was interesting in that she is a kind of a mixture of weakness but also capable of great strength even to the creation of elevators. And as the story progressed and she grew into those powers, she also learned more about herself. I kept reading to see what she would be capable but also what the mystery of Dante is and what his plans are. The first part was interesting with the introduction of Drayton, the middle had a few draggy bits (not quite a fan of the professor/student relationship that popped up) but the ending with the house of cards falling down, it got really thrilling and I too told Lennon to run!

I have enjoyed Alexis Henderson's other books which do not shy away from the dark, disturbing, but also kind of magical. I liked this one too and will happily read any other books she publishes.

Unfortunately I couldn’t connect with this book. I don’t know if it was a mixture of not vibing with the main character and the story being slow to grip me. I usually like my main characters to have a lot of personality and I think thats the reason I didn't connect with the FMC that much. Also I found the descriptions a little confusing and it took me out of the book

An Academy for Liars is a dark fantasy set in a mysterious, hidden school where students learn to develop their skill of persuasion, using it control and manipulate others. I absolutely love the secrecy of it all and the idea that the people in power, the big government decisions, the places the money goes, could all be influenced by this small group of people. How far they'll go using their powers comes down to their own, often questionable, morals. It is such a fun premise and the author has a brilliant way of setting the scene. Their writing is super descriptive and captivating.

It is a satisfying standalone with mixed pacing. At times it meanders along as Lennon gets used to this new world that's been revealed to her, and at other times speeds along with dramatic action. There were some things that I wished we'd been able to dwell on longer, particularly the 'academia' of it all. I'd have loved to know more about Drayton, her classes, her studies, the exams. The scenes showing her learning were fascinating to me and I wanted more of them, and of her friends.

Recommended for fans of dark academia and creepy fantasy.

I loved the idea of this - I love dark academia - but found it a little slower than I would have liked. It never really gripped me and I found myself willing myself to get through it so I could move on to something else, not so much because I was so enthralled with it.

3.5⭐️

This was dark, atmospheric and mysterious Dark Academia tale following Lennon, our main character, enrolling into Drayton Manor.

This was definitely a slow burn, and maybe not for everyone, but it kept me enticed throughout and the concept of persuasion was different to anything I had ever read before so I was intrigued to read on. I felt the ‘twist’ at the end however was expected and not particularly shocking. Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me an e-ARC of this book to review.

Look, I’ll come clean: I still haven’t cracked open Donna Tartt’s The Secret History or M.L. Rio’s If We Were Villains. I know, I know—I’m a dark academia heretic. My experience has mainly been Hogwarts, Naomi Novik’s The Scholomance, and Leigh Bardugo’s paranormal version of Yale University, which are my benchmark. So, take that as you will. But let me tell you, Drayton College in Alexis Henderson’s An Academy for Liars is in a unique league of its own—and I’m here for it.

Meet Lennon Carter, our protagonist, who isn’t exactly getting a magical school acceptance letter by owl. No, she’s busy catching her fiancé red-handed with her closest friend at her own engagement party. Ouch. So, what’s a girl to do? Naturally, she steals his car, consults a mysterious stranger in a phone booth, and makes a beeline for a secret magic school that teaches cool mind powers. What fun!

With a premise like that, you’d expect An Academy for Liars to have me hooked from page one. But for the first 40%, I was all set to slap on a "It was okay but forgettable" 3-star rating. Maybe it was a “me” issue; patience isn’t exactly my superpower. While the world-building was atmospheric, the initial pace was also a bit slow for my tastes.

Furthermore, when I caught wind of the student-teacher relationship trope, I braced myself for disappointment—personally not really into it.

Then, around the 50% mark, things started to pick up speed. And then—bam! The story took my expectations, crumpled them up, and yeeted them out the window. What followed was a wild ride of twists, turns, violence, morals, power struggles and an emotional whirlwind that completely flipped the script.

So yeah, I might be stating the obvious, but don’t waltz in expecting cute elves with mismatched socks in this one. Brace yourself for adult themes, highly questionable ethics, intense horror elements, and a splash of sci-fi. There are moments that practically scream Stephen King—but I’ll keep which book title under wraps to avoid spoilers. Just know that when the horror kicks in, it’s a wild ride—think lots of blood, gore, injuries, seizures, murder, coercion, violence and a smorgasbord of other trigger warnings.

Speaking of trigger warnings, animal lovers, take note: the big one for me was the questionable animal ethics (no deaths, but think testing on animals). Rest assured, Lennon, our FMC also questions the school’s ethics, and I was pleased with how things turned out. Had any animals met a senseless tragic end, my rating would’ve plummeted. Still, proceed with caution.

So yes, this book crawled, walked, ran, and ultimately soared for me. If you’re the type who demands plot fireworks from page one, this might not be your cup of tea. It took a while to warm up to, but the payoff was worth it.

This is undoubtedly one of the most memorable dark academia reads I’ve encountered this year and comes with my high recommendation for school-of-magic enthusiasts who don't mind their story punctuated with blood, gore and unsettling horror elements. And that student-teacher trope? Did I like it in the end? Just look at my rating.

My heartfelt thanks to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers | Bantam for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I recently finished An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson, and it was a bit of a mixed experience for me. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars, and here's why.

First off, the premise was super intriguing—dark academia, magic, and a mysterious school with hidden powers, what's not to love, right? And the opening was pretty solid, setting up Lennon’s life falling apart and then getting whisked away to Drayton College, where persuasion is an actual skill you can study. I was all in at that point.

But then the pacing slowed a lot in the middle. I found myself drifting, honestly losing interest as the story dragged a bit too much. It felt like there was a lot of potential buildup that just didn’t go anywhere fast. However, it did pick up again toward the end, and I’m glad I stuck with it. The last few chapters had more tension, twists, and revelations that finally gave the plot the momentum it needed.

The characters, especially Lennon and her adviser Dante, were fascinating, but I think the book could’ve done more to keep me hooked throughout. So, while I didn’t love it, the dark atmosphere and the ending saved it for me. It’s worth checking out if you’re a fan of slow-burn, dark academia, but prepare for a bit of a slog in the middle!

This sounded like such an interesting book and I was really excited to start reading. Unfortunately, when I did start, it was slow beginning and all that intrigue and excitement got lost in the slow procession of the story. I enjoyed the dark academia, and the academy vibes, also the magic was really interesting, but I found that I cared very little for Lennon. She wasn't as interesting as I think she needed to be to hold the story.

2.5

Thank you to Random House UK and NetGalley for providing me an eARC to review!

After really enjoying The Year of the Witching I was excited to dive into another Henderson book, and while this started off promising, I quickly lost steam.

I just felt like there was no real direction to any of this, and the characters weren't fleshed out enough to support the lack of overarching plot. There was a lot of people not telling people things and Lennon asking annoying questions all the time, and her moral dilemmas felt inconsistent and uninteresting.

I was on board for the first half, but when it became clear that we weren't going much deeper into any of this I just lost interest really quickly. It felt like things were happening just to happen, and characters would kind of only crop up when needed. The relationships - both romantic and platonic - fell flat and Lennon wasn't a strong enough protagonist to carry things on her own. Some of the discussions and phrasing also felt repetitive which pulled me out of the story.

I would recommend The Atlas Six instead, because I think the multi POV structure really helped to flesh out the characters and their motivations. The more horror elements also reminded me a bit of The Devil Makes Three which I also enjoyed.

I just needed a bit more from this, and while things did pick up at the end the 3rd quarter was really a slog so I found it hard to engage with the action-packed ending.

Dark academia, forbidden romance, morally grey characters and powers - what more could you ask for?

However, if you are reading this for professor - student romantasy vibes, this is not the book. The romance is very much a subplot, although still very enjoyable. Zero smut however, good for some, less so for others

From literally chapter 1, this book had me intrigued. So fast paced, novel, and confusing but in the best way. This is the first dark academia book I have well and truly loved from start to finish. Also the epic battle scenes?! I felt like I was watching a movie, leaning forward in my chair with my face as close to the pages as I could get.

Every single character has their own character arc of which I felt was completely unpredictable, yet relatable. Lennon herself annoyed me at points, flat out shocked me at points (I quite literally gasped at THE elevator scene - did not see that coming AT ALL), but also somehow throughout many questionable decisions still felt loveable and enjoyable to read!

I think I would actually put this as 4.5 stars, the only reason being, I just maybe wanted more? More understanding of Sawyer, Blaine, even Dante and Alec. I felt some parts of the plot weren’t explored as much as I felt there could be. I leave a 5 stars feeling homesick that I have spent days in another world and I’m so nearly there with this book, but that .5 stars but just slightly missing.

Nevertheless, this book was engaging, exciting, heart-racing and definitely worth a read. I will absolutely be recommending this book to dark academia fantasy lovers out there. Also - was happy to read a dark academia where the FMC and MMC were a bit older than your standard academy age, with Lennon being 24. Felt much more relatable!

Okay, let’s get into it!

3.5 ⭐️

I enjoyed this book - for the most part. I was really hoping for more romance between Lennon and Dante but I guess such is life. It’s quite slow paced until about 80% in, when things pick up all of a sudden. It’s an enjoyable dark academia novel with hints of romance, loyalty, power play!!! and and honestly just kind of unhinged characters. It gives me similar vibes to The Atlas Six series by Olivie Blake as far as the ✨vibe✨ itself but I know it’s not fair to compare a trilogy to a standalone. Unfortunately it just didn’t live up to the hype of other reviews I’ve seen prior to reading it, thus capping it at 3.5 stars.

I generally have a love/hate relationship with standalone books… it seems to be so difficult to nail the perfect amount of story building etc., to fit within one book & also feel like there isn’t anything left out or too much of. Unfortunately, I feel like in this case there were times while I was reading the book that information kept being shot at me but it didn’t actually add anything to the story & there was too much to focus on/not enough time for it to unfold naturally? I’m not sure if that even makes sense. I guess that despite all that, I finished the book still quite confused about a lot of the storyline.

[ thank you NetGalley for this e-ARC copy of the book in exchange for an honest review ahead of its publication date - out in the UK on 24th October 2024 ]