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 ]

Holy crap I could not put this down. I’m such a sucker for dark academia and magic schools anyway but this was so different in terms of magic systems and the plot and bonus points for the characters being adults 🙌 amazing, I loved it.

I feel like I can’t say much more without spoilers, but I feel as though I’ve been waiting for a book like this for a while.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK for the ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
Oh, this was phenomenal. A book with almost 500 pages was the last thing I expected to get me out of my reading slump, but this hit just the right spot. I didn't know how much I needed this until I read it.

The vibes here were dark academia perfection. This book has such a vivid, cinematic feel to it that I was completely enraptured. Something about the slow pacing really worked for me. Henderson's House of Hunger was a disappointment for me, so I went in with relatively low expectations, but I became fully invested after just a couple of chapters. This had everything I love about dark academia. A rich, gothic atmosphere, interesting character dynamics, academic rivalry, a thirst for power, and a sense of dread that just kept building up. The formidable length of this book gives the reader an opportunity to fully immersed themselves in the world. The way all the threads came together at around the 80% mark (which led to some incredible plot twists, by the way) was just *chef's kiss*. I also liked that the romance did not overshadow the rest of the plot. AAFL leans towards horror, and is gorier than your usual dark academia. I'd not recommend this for the squeamish.

I read this one right in time for fall and loved it. I'd recommend this for fans of Ninth House and The Atlas Six. I'm officially an Alexis Henderson fan and can't wait for whatever she writes next!

I absolutely devoured the first 2/3 of this book. I love me some dark academia vibes and a good campus fantasy/horror, and this delivered. Our FMC is multilayered and the reader is allowed to explore those layers as the book progresses. Loved the development of our side characters and the school as an entity as well.
My one problem with this book is the same that I had with Henderson's previous novel, House of Hunger. The ending feels rushed. And this actually made me less excited to read it, and indeed really slowed down my pace in the final third of the book. We spend so much time developing plot and character, and it all seems wrapped up too soon. Another 50 pages and this would have been a 5-star book for me.

Loved how creepy and dark this one was. It's a chaotic descent into madness, and I loved it. The twists and turns were unexpected and terrifying, and I love how you experience everything with Lennon for the first time. I love that it's a modern Gothic fantasy with horror elements, completely not something I would usually pick up but the darkness was actually what kept me reading. It needed that depth to illustrate what this school is really like. I also love how you can't really ever trust any of the characters, even Lennon herself, because there's this sense of 'otherness' which keeps you on your toes. Overall I loved it and the reading experience was incredibly enjoyable.

I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 because I think some of the extra side parts seemed a bit superfluous but if this was pre-editing I can imagine that would be cut down.

Only other thing I would say the title doesn't do it justice because there are so many books called 'Academy' which brings the idea of a fun trashy fantasy book set in academia which this absolutely is NOT. Academia, yes. Fun and trashy it is not.

Thank you to Netgalley and Transworld for a free eArc in exchange for an honest review.

An Academy For Liars , Alexis Henderson – Random House, Transworld Publishers
Academic setting, dark academia, morally grey characters, forbidden romance, magical systems, fantasy. Released 24th of October

Dark academia is one of mine favourite genres to read and An Academy for Liars did not disappoint, with all the dark gothic aspects that you come to expect from a dark academia novel.
The mystery of Drayton College and Lennon's chance to interview there had me intrigued and unable to put down. We watch our FMC Lennon fall in love with Drayton and all that it stands for her, to then become disillusioned. A story of obsession , power ,betrayal, secrets and lies. We follow Lennon as she has hit rock bottom when she receives a strange phone call. The offer of a chance to interview for Drayton College which until then she did not know existed.
It is at Drayton College Lennon discovers hidden magic that she did not know about and here she will learn how to foster and control it. We watch Lennon learn to navigate life at eerie Drayton College, while also grappling with the weight of her power and all that it holds. However, she soon learns there is a dark side to owning this power, this scares Lennon, and she soon learns there is a dark side to Drayton too.
Dark, Lush and Mesmerizing Alexis’s descriptive writing style kept me hooked, fans of dark gothic fantasy’s who love morally grey characters will adore this, perfect read for Autumn.
Thankyou to Random house and Netgalley for this arc.

I was so intrigued by this book and its concept but was disappointed by the execution. I did not care for the MC and her struggles and her escape to the academy. The academy felt underdeveloped and the magic in it

This is a beautifully written, powerful novel about power, love, and and what we'll do for both. It's also a deep reflection on grief and loss. The book is slow moving at first as Henderson introduces the world and Drayton Academy, but things pick up when the FMC, Lennon begins her tutelage under her advisor, Dante. Lennon has much to learn about the power of Persuasion, as well as her powers specifically. I thoroughly enjoyed An Academy for Liars!

This was a great thriller, gothic mystery story. It is dark and heavy at times, but it made for a very interesting read. For me the main character is refreshing take and I really enjoyed how she was written. I did feel it was a bit slow paced at times but would then pick up throughout the book, so it kept you on the edge and wanting to know what was happening.

If you love dark gothic mysteries you will love this!

Also, Gregory is an icon. I only want the best for hi

I enjoyed this book, solid fantasy academia!

I wouldn't call it horror though, I didn't find anything in it scary. It is certainly dark and has some gruesome parts, just not enough for me to consider it horror.

Magic system was interesting, though to me it often felt to go out of scope of what persuasion could do.

Characters are fine, I didn't like any of them but I didn't dislike any of them. There are all ok.

Fast paced, never boring and keep you to read. The end felt a bit too fast, but it was ok. A lot happens in last 15%.

It has a solid end, with few things I would preferred to learn more about.

I really enjoyed this book, I would definitely recommend it and am hoping to using for subscriptions in my book shop. I am a big fan of dark academia and this book did not disappoint, haunting, mysterious and atmospheric, it’s a great autumnal read.