Oh, how excited I was to receive this ARC… unfortunately, An Academy for Liars just wasn’t for me. I loved the concepts behind the story, but that’s where my enjoyment ended. All of the characters felt flat and one-dimensional, the mysteries weren’t exactly mysterious, and plot itself crawled along at a snail’s pace.

I also really hated how Lennon tried so hard to reestablish her identity separate from her romantic partner just to end up being defined by a new man. Including a student/teacher trope didn’t help either (if this was marketed, I totally missed it, because I wouldn’t have requested the ARC had I known it was a key factor in the book’s romance plot).

Overall, I was left bored and disappointed. But hey, at least I was able to cancel my preorder!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 16% - Adult dark academia

Unfortunately, deciding to DNF this one but I do think this is personal taste only. I have such a love / hate relationship with dark academia. I think I want to like it but it may just not be for me. I found the premise of "persuasion" really interesting but found the main character of Lennon unlikeable and the pace really slow and those are the two main reasons I decide to DNF books for. .

I enjoyed Gothikana and from the description that's what made me pick this one up as it sounded similar. However, I felt it more comparative to the Atlas Six so if you enjoyed this one then you may also like this but I wasn't a fan.

This is easily one of the most unique dark academia stories I’ve read. It’s hard not to become enthralled with this academy when you’re experiencing the lessons of persuasion right alongside Lennon, all while being thoroughly wrapped within messy and morally grey dynamics that you can’t look away from. The ambition, the power struggles, the yearning to be someone all proved authentic as we enter an endless grapple for the top-spot. And with gothic/horror elements to add an extra sprinkling of tension, it was hard not to avidly read this in the late hours of the night.

By 100 pages I expected to be wanting more and excited but I just found this hard to get into and enjoy. Didn't want to continue unfortunately.

A mysterious, twisty dark academia with an intriguing magic system involving ‘persuasion’ magic and very morally grey characters. This book was indeed fully of lying characters! 😂

I really enjoyed this refreshing take on the genre with a diverse cast! Need to see more like this in the future!

Something you should know, I am nothing if not impatient. It’s sad but it’s true. So a book that sounds this amazing coming out in September? I’m basically incapable of waiting two months. So when the US publisher declined my arc request, I was determined to find another way to read this. Turns out a simple google search and the UK publisher were the solution to my problems.

Also turns out I would find a whirlwind of new problems as soon as this book starts.

I’ll start by getting the positives out of the way first, because this book really isn’t all bad, even if I’m not quite sure it lived up to its potential.

The concept behind this book really was amazing. Having the book center around studying the art of persuasion was such a creative and unique thing to read. Since the concept was so cool, even when I was having my issues with this book, I was still interested in what would happen next and found this very easy to read.

Another thing I really enjoyed was the writing style. I can say for sure that I would 100% pick up another book by this author. Some people just have the ability to completely immerse you in the world they create with just one paragraph, and this was a perfect example. This also had an atmosphere that I really loved, it felt weird and confusing but in a good way…most of the time.

Which brings me to the not so good. Because you see, if you want to get to the good parts of this book, you have to make it through the first 20%. And for me, that was honestly a struggle that took days.

I think in order to properly enjoy this book right off the bat there is a certain suspension of disbelief required. If you’re capable of that you may love this from the jump. If you’re like me however, and find yourself scratching your head at characters ridiculous decisions, then you may have some trouble getting into this.

Let’s play a quick game of choose your path, featuring the scenarios the main character is put in at the beginning of the book, so you can see what I mean.

***Warning because I’ll be spoiling things that happen in the first 12% of the book***


➸ Scenario A:

↳ After you see what you believe to be a monstrous version of yourself in the mirror you flee and end up in an abandoned parking lot. You then hear an old payphone ringing nonstop nearby and decide to pick it up. On the other end of the line you hear a voice - or what sounds like many voices at once - and it knows personal details about you. It tells you if you want your life to change, you should go to this address eight hours away to interview for a college you have never heard of or applied to. The decision doesn’t really require much thought from you and so you…

ⓐ Drive away immediately and go literally anywhere else

ⓑ Go to stay with a family member and tell them what has happened, possibly consider checking into a psych ward because you may be experiencing hallucinations

ⓒ Listen to the creepy voice and go on the full drive in the middle of the night without telling anyone where you’re going

Now let’s think: what would a sensible person do. If you chose option A or B…sorry but you would be incorrect. You may have too much common sense I fear.

If you chose option C then congratulations, your journey continues.


➸ Scenario B:

↳ You arrive at the address in the middle of nowhere and discover it is a strangers house. Curious still, you knock on the door. A man in his forties answers and he seems a bit creepy. Immediately you…

ⓐ Run, start the car, and drive as far as you have the energy to make it. Nothing can be worse than whatever is going on in there

ⓑ Follow his instructions when he says to enter his house, and let him lead you to a back room

It’s pretty easy to figure out what a logical person would do. So imagine my surprise when she does the exact opposite.

I think you get the gist of what I mean now, right? Even though I like the confusing atmosphere of the story and the way that it makes you wonder what’s happening, in the beginning all that confusion stemmed from wondering how a person can be so stupid. This does ease up once the mc actually arrives at the college, and that’s where this book actually entertains, but I still couldn’t forget how we had gotten there.

After struggling through that though, I was pleasantly surprised by how much it improved. The pacing in the middle really picked up, and I was much more engaged and curious about what was going on than I thought I would be. However, once the truth was revealed, I found myself ready for the story to wrap up. It’s not that the ending was bad, I just felt like it could have been stronger.

For context, this book has a pretty large cast of characters. I'm mentioning this because watching seventeen dangerous situations unfold, only to have all these characters repeatedly come out of nowhere to save the day, got annoying quick. Then some more of them pop up and cause trouble while I try and figure out where they’ve been for the past one hundred pages. The repetition became frustrating and I started rolling my eyes each time someone new was yelling at the main character to run while they fight off whoever is now on the floor.

Overall, I can’t remember the last time I finished a book and felt this conflicted. This definitely had its strengths but I had a hard time enjoying it at more than one point. I definitely think this book is going to have a certain audience that it going to do very well with though, so if it sounds interesting to you I would still recommend you to give it a try.


Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

🄾🅅🄴🅁🄰🄻🄻 🅁🄰🅃🄸🄽🄶: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆.75~

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC! This was such a delicious dark academia read that reminded me a lot of Ninth House! The relationships were so well done and the dynamic was so fun to read! I loved it and devoured the story very quickly. 4 stars.

This is one of the best dark academia books that I have ever read.

Original and captivating, I was hooked from the very first chapter. You are thrown straight into a situation and watch as Lennon has to find herself out of it.

The power of persuasion and the magic of influencing people is a really interesting concept and I was constantly questioning and intrigued by where the story was going.

Loved every single page.

I was so excited to read this arc. And now, I’m just really disappointed.

2 Stars

The concept was there, the idea was quite interesting, but the execution just didn’t happen for me.

An Academy for Liars follows our main character, Lennon. At the beginning of the book, Lennon experiences something that causes her to want to end her life. She reaches out, asking for something to make her reconsider. In an eerie parking lot, a phone booth covered in ivy starts to ring. She answers the phone, and is told to head to Ogden, Utah for her interview for Drayton College the very next morning. She goes (who on earth would drive to a stranger’s house lol) and ultimately gets accepted into Drayton College, where she will learn the art of persuasion and influencing one’s will.

This concept of persuasion was very intriguing to me, but I personally did not appreciate how it was executed. The book was very fast paced and confusing at times, and we never really stopped to explain things. I think this had potential to have excellent worldbuilding, but there wasn’t much given. I was hoping for a very atmospheric, dark academia novel.

I also didn’t necessarily find this to be “dark academia”, which is the whole reason I wanted to read this! It wasn’t moody or atmospheric; it was really weird, grotesque, and more horror-esque at times.

This book definitely recycles its words often. I’d find the same unique word used multiple times within a few pages, and then there would be a new word that stuck out. This might just be me nitpicking, but it’s something that really takes me out of a story.

I am quite tired of the “I’m not good at anything” trope girl who is shocked when someone is jealous of her and her terrible life.

Also - I know this is an arc, so hopefully this gets fixed before publication, but the amount of hyphens splitting up words was absurd and very distracting. My review is completely based on the story, but the format was completely jacked up. The wo-rding was li-ke th-is for the entire-ty of the bo-ok.

*Spoilers Ahead*

Lennon - Our FMC is in her mid-twenties and is one of the most powerful persuasionists in awhile, due to her ability to “open gates”. I feel like Lennon made stupid decisions left and right through this book, and it just became infuriating to me. She purposefully overdoses on cocaine to see if it’ll open up gates. And later, we discover she’s quite the murderer. Lennon is incredibly whiny and pick-me throughout the book, and I simply did not like a single thing about her.

Dante - Our mystery man. The thirty-something year old professor who says he can’t get with the younger student, but then one night he magically changes his mind (Sorry, I really hate the professorxstudent trope). Supposed to be morally gray, but not much going for him. We learn he has a dark past, but then we never get to dive into it at all. His character was incredibly one dimensional, and I also had no feelings toward his character.

Lennon and Dante have a weird romance in this book. I feel like it can’t even be classified as a slow burn because there are no sparks between them at all. The chemistry is not there at all - there are no elements available for chemistry to even happen. They get together in Dante’s house in South Carolina, and it was really, really awkward. Here’s a direct quote: “From then on, they did what they did in silence”. They did what they did? And silence? You’re telling me I’m supposed to believe these characters have chemistry!?

I was so disappointed by this book. I wanted the dark academia vibes with some forbidden romance, and I was left empty handed. It didn’t stand out in any way to me, and the whole story felt one dimensional. The potential for an incredible world and story was there, but was poorly executed.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this arc!

I thoroughly enjoyed An Academy For Liars - a novel that perfectly embodies the Dark Academia genre.

The story starts with introducing us to Lennon just as her life begins to unfurl, before she is whisked away to the mysterious, and seemingly non-existent, Drayton College. Whilst here she learns about developing her ability as a persuasionist and how this new-found power impacts her own nature, her relationships and her strength.

I was gripped from start to finish and absolutely devoured this novel.

It was well written, with just the right amount of world and character building. I think the author managed to perfectly capture the fact that no one is perfect - all the characters were flawed, some more so than others.

The pacing was a bit slow to begin with (probably my only negative) but I still found myself compelled to keep going. The payoff was 100% worth it as the story was fantastic.

This was the first book by Alexis Henderson that I've read, but it won't be the last!

I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a darker book, as some of the themes could be a bit heavy. Please check content warnings.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC!

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for a free eARC of "An Academy for Liars" by Alexis Handerson.
A Dark Academia with some Paranormal ellements. Think something between "The Secred History" and "Vita Nostra".
I was so excited to read this, bit I guess I went into it with the wrong expectation. I was hoping for something like "Babel" or "Blood Over Bright Haven", but this was more like "The Secret History" but with more inclusive atmosphere.
My struggle here was that I was not made to care, to get attached. While the main herione is somewhat complex, the setting and everyone else feels muted.
I apreciated the author's prose , so I will try her future works.

As a number one fan of dark academia and secret societies this book was like a warm hug after a long day for me. I loved following Lennon's journey as she tries to deal with her powers in the right way and the setting added even more points to my reading. For me the only flaw was that the book starts a little slowly, making it a little more difficult to immerse yourself in the story but after that the reading flows really well.

Alexis Henderson’s An Academy for Liars is a great entry into the dark academia genre. Henderson wastes no time in getting main character Lennon to Drayton College—a hidden school dedicated to the study of magic. I loved learning about the type of magic at play, which is essentially an enhanced version of persuasion, but there’s far more layers to it than that.

The academic atmosphere was also a strong point and if anything I wish the novel indulged in that atmosphere even more, giving even more detailed descriptions of the classes and the school’s buildings. The same goes for Lennon’s classmates—I liked the characters that we were introduced to, but wish we got more of them!

I will say that the romance in the book doesn’t really work for me, partly because it’s a student-teacher relationship (albeit one that is age appropriate and consensual) and partly because my appetite for romance in fiction is limited.

This was a masterclass in dark academia! So brilliantly crafted that had me hooked from start to end. A completely absorbing world of magic and mystery. Absolutely recommend!

A great addition to the genre of dark academia! Alexis Henderson never disappoints- her writing style is gothic and gorgeous, the protagonist Lennon was intriguing to read about and the story in general was phenomenal. If you are an avid fan of dark academia, or wanting to introduce yourself into the genre- read this book!

I was hooked - it wasn't like anything else I've read. I didn't have to spend forever figuring out the world building and the characters were all likeable/realistic.

Alexis Henderson becomes an auto-buy!

Going into this without really knowing much. Honestly this was a cover pick.
But I ended up loving this.
While the beginning did feel a little slow. It soon picked up enough for me to not want to put this down.
At no point did I really have any theories but at the same time I just wanted to enjoy the ride.
By the end I wanted more. The morally grey characters and world intrigued me. I hope we get more so this world can grow more.

Title: An Academy for Liars

Author: Alexis Henderson

Rating: ★★★★

This novel is a magical mix of mystery, power, and the kind of lessons that change your life outside the classroom.

Lennon Carter’s life is in shambles—until a mysterious phone call changes everything. Invited to take the entrance exam for the elusive Drayton College, a hidden school of magic in Savannah, Lennon discovers her innate gift of persuasion.

Imagine being able to wield your will like a weapon, controlling others and even matter itself!

Passing the entrance exam is just the beginning. Lennon dives into mastering her powerful, yet taxing ability. Drayton College’s enchanting, moss-draped campus and her brilliant peers captivate her, but it’s her enigmatic adviser, Dante, who truly bewitches her. His charm is both intimidating and irresistible, making Lennon's journey even more intense.

As Lennon hones her skills, she unravels the dark, unsettling secrets of Drayton College and her mentor's violent past.

The ultimate challenge? To wield absolute power without falling into corruption—a test that terrifies Lennon to her core.

Lennon’s journey through magic, power, and self-discovery is a thrilling ride that I loved. The plot is a perfect blend of magical education, dark secrets, and moral dilemmas. As Lennon uncovers more about the disquieting history of Drayton College and her mentor’s violent past, the stakes rise, and the tension builds. The ultimate test of wielding absolute power without succumbing to corruption kept me riveted, wondering how Lennon would fare.

Lennon is a complex, relatable protagonist whose struggles and triumphs drew me in immediately. Her journey from a life falling apart to discovering her hidden talents was inspiring. Dante, her charismatic adviser, added an extra layer of intrigue and tension. His mysterious past and magnetic personality kept me on the edge of my seat, wanting to know more about him and his connection to Drayton College.

If you love secret societies, forbidden knowledge, and the heavy cost of power, this book is for you. It perfectly captures the essence of dark academia, with its blend of intellectual pursuit, hidden agendas, and the haunting consequences of seeking power.

Thank you to The Publisher Bantam, the author Alexis Henderson & Netgalley for an advanced reader copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review.

This was fantastic, I love dark academia so much. This had Ninth House and Atlas six vibes which really drew me in. The magic system is complex and layered which all kinds of potential, it feels like a very sentient thing with its limitations but also extraordinary capabilities. I devoured this book, the connections and betrayals mixed with secrets and chaos were so alluring, I hope there’s another book!

i don’t quite know how to review this one because i didn’t dislike it, but i also didn’t love it.
the beginning is very reminiscent of “Vita Nostra” in regards to the vibe of dark academia and ‘magic’, of the characters learning something they aren’t quite sure yet of what it is but that’s shaping them to become someone powerful.
it was very intriguing, but i wasn’t yet captivated by the characters and that continued until the end. by the middle, the plot fizzled out for me, though it was interesting enough that i wanted to keep reading to discover what was going to happen in the end. it just wasn’t a memorable novel for me.
still, i can see how this book has its own audience and that other people will enjoy it a lot.

a big thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing this arc!