Astrid Scholte can do bo wrong. League of Liars has been on my Must Read TBR since March of 2020 and it DID NOT disappoint! I am fully obsessed!!

I am such a huge fan of Astrid Scholte! Loved this title as much as I loved four dead queens. The atmosphere was dark but captivating. I loved the dynamic between the characters and the development. The way the author weaved this world together was amazing. I can't wait to read more!

While this book was really intriguing in the beginning, I had a hard time with the middle. It was an interesting read and while League of Liars has a lot of promising aspects, it ultimately fell a little short for me. That being said, I hope to read more from Scholte in the future.
Full review to come on YouTube.

I thought League of Liars had great characters. It was fast paced and had a lot of potential. I just wished there was more to the ending. Overall all it was a good read.

This one has left me mildly confused. Usually I like open ended books but I’m just wondering if this is going to be a series because I feel like there was a lot left to be determined by the end of the book and a lot of plot and answers still needed.

What is great about it is that it is unique! It’s a murder mystery/trial fantasy and I haven’t read anything like it before. I just wanted more out of it. I really did like how each of the characters were connected but I feel like there was so much going on that this should have been a start to a series so the readers got a more fully fleshed out experience! I have more questions about the magic system, the characters themselves and the world building.

All in all it was fine. I just wish I knew if there we going to be more.

3.5 star review.

A combination of fantastical law drama that becomes a heist drama in its final 100 pages, League of Liars begins with lots of interesting world building and character development and ends with a rushed plot.

In a world where shadows have power but are outlawed for anyone to use, Cayder and Leta are both handling facing the world in their own unique ways. Cayder decides to pursue law, specifically with an all-star public attorney in the most well-defended prison. Leta wants to look into the mysterious Veil and how it's influencing the world. Both characters trying to understand the mysterious shadows around them, and both of them will wind up pushed together under tragic circumstances.

I had so much fun with the first 2/3rds of this book! I cleared around 200 pages in a couple of hours. However, once we shift to the heist portion of the story, that's when the story begins to crumble apart for me.

League of Liars works best when we focus on the characters and the world. I think that is what Scholte thrives in, but her execution usually leaves much to be desired. I could overlook the pacing when it isn't a plot driven story because the characters are SO rich. Cayder's gently shifting moral system, Leta's unfortunate circumstances, or Jet's reasoning for secret keeping, left me invested in their lives. But I couldn't understand some of the story beats the plot kicks into high gear.

By the end of League of Liars, I get the impression that this book is the beginning of a duology or trilogy. I'm still deciding whether I'll be continuing, but would be interested if we focus more of some of these characters!

I really enjoyed the charecters for this one and thats about it? the ending was way too fast and unresolved and it doesnt appear to be a series? and i wanted more worldbuilding and the like.

A rather fast paced and exciting journey i just wish it was more thought out.

Overall, League of Liars was an interesting read. The dialogue felt a bit awkward at times and I found myself reading a page and then having to go back to the previous page because I felt lost. I never really connected to any of the characters or the overall plot. I feel extremely lukewarm about this book and felt like the book was a bit overhyped.

From the first paragraph, I knew this book would be a good one. I immersed myself into the book from the first chapter and I cannot say enough good things about this book! Honestly amazing! The writing is incredible and the plot is just one to die for. I am absolutely obsessed with this book. My favorite part would have to be the character development throughout the book. Character development is something I look forward to and this book did not disappoint.

Ever since attending Vardean Reform School as punishment for using Edem, Cayder has been fascinated by the legal system. On his quest to become a lawyer, he takes up an internship with one of his family friends, but when his mentor is assigned to Cayder’s own sister, Leta’s, case, everything Cayder knows about the legal system starts to unravel.

There were several promising things about this book when I first started. The magic of this universe was really unique, something called Edem that was only accessible through shadows. I was also interested in the mystery of Leta’s crime, and how it was committed. Unfortunately, that was the only interesting thing about this book. There are many, many plotlines in this book, and some felt completely unnecessary. While the main focus of the book appears to be Leta’s case, two other criminal cases are thrown in around halfway throughout the book, and their reason for existence doesn’t come into play until later. The book attempts to weave an interesting narrative that connects all these different cases, but it falls flat.

First off, the characters were really unengaging. So many important character traits were just told to the reader, leaving me feeling disconnected from both the plot and the characters. I disliked Cayder, the main character of the book. He started the book off by thinking extremely highly of law enforcement, which was already a red flag to me, and his realization mid-way through the book that "law enforcement bad" just had me laughing at the book because yeah no shit!!! Leta and Jey were equally unlikeable, with Leta just being an annoying character, and Jey’s only personality trait being “snarkiness.” The only character I can say I liked was the princess, mainly because she was the only one who actually thought things through and had a working plan.

I hated every single attempt at romance throughout this entire book. Cayder and his love interest had no development at all and each romantic moment between them felt unearned. The whole time I was thinking, “Why are these two strangers so enamored with each other? Just, why?” Jey and his girlfriend’s romance was also really forced, and I kept forgetting he even had a girlfriend before the narrative would shove a random reference in my face and I would be reminded of her. The plot twist regarding his girlfriend also felt unearned, and all the romantic moments between Jey and his girlfriend were honestly creepy.

There were other general aspects of the book that I disliked. The only queer “representation” in this book is one character shoe-horning in that she has a girlfriend, but we never get to see this girlfriend or hear anything about who she is as a person. Certain plot points just didn’t make sense, such as why a teenage intern was allowed to counsel two of the highest security cases in this universe, and also just how the main character knew things. There was some guesswork that was just accepted as fact, and in a book centering on court case drama, that raised a lot of questions in me.

Overall, I just wish this book was handled better. The premise and plot could have been interesting, but the way it was executed just had me wishing it was over.

I'm not generally a big fantasy reader, but this book was really entertaining. I think YA fantasy is usually easier for me to stay engaged with because the world building isn't generally as intense as it can be with adult fantasy. I enjoyed the fact that the description of the illegal magic was simple enough to make sense but also interesting enough to push the story forward. The relationships between the main characters was not all that deep, but I still enjoyed seeing their connections. The end felt like it was setting up for a series to continue and I'd probably continue with another book. I had a lot of unanswered questions about the magic and the world they live in so I'd be interested in seeing where the story goes next.

I have tried several books by this author and I have come to the conclusion that her writing just isn't for me. I found the story to be unbelievable and I couldn't relate to any of the characters. I really didn't like the way the dialogue was written and the story didn't hold my attention at all. I probably won't try any of her books in the future.

The ultimate YA heist novel. This book has the found family trope and all of the heist energy you will ever need.

This had such a great premise and I really thought I would enjoy it but it fell flat for me. The story was just anti climactic and I just could not get engaged. Disappointed in this one.

Do you enjoy court room drama with a fantasy twist? Then definitely give this book a go. However, with no sequel planned, if you don't like an open ended ending, you won't enjoy the end of this story. I'm hoping for a book 2. I would love to see where the author takes these 5 outlawed teenagers.

This is written in multiple POV, which I love. I love seeing through the eyes of different characters and the unraveling of the cases. Throw in a few plot twists, and I was hooked. The second half of the book was fast paced and I flew right through it. Definitely recommend you give it a go.

This is tough to review as the line “perfect for fans of Six of Crows and How to Get Away with Murder” likely effected my expectations but did not quite deliver. I found it difficult to connect to the characters and the info dumping was confusing. The ending also needs a sequel but to my knowledge it hasn’t been announced.

I absolutely loved this book! It gave me six of crows vibes but was way better. I was invested the entire time, didn’t see plot twists coming! I couldn’t put it down and now I can’t stop recommending it to everyone! Plus new fictional crush 😅

Oh no! I went into this book thinking I would love it because I've loved the rest of Astrid's books. But no no it didn't make it on my list to own. I don't know why but I kept getting confused, some of the time I didn't know what was going on. And that ending like what!? It's a standalone are you sure? I'm over here questioning it because the ending didn't seem so clear to me.

Thank you to PenguinTeen for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!

It was giving procedural crime show from the POV of the public defender and I ate it up. The analysis of the justice system and corruption was so poignant. The character growth! Wow! League of Liars is fast-paced, high-stakes, and shrouded in mystery. I stayed up all night to finish it and I am desperately hoping there will be a sequel.

Quick Stats
Age Rating: 14+
Over All: 4 stars
Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 3/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 3.5/5

Special thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.

From the moment I saw Six of Crows as a comp title, I was intrigued. The plot of the book was very different from Six of Crows, the characters were nothing like the crows, the writing style wasn’t similar to Leigh Bardugo… There is nothing that I can directly and explicitly pinpoint that is similar to Six of Crows, and yet I totally understand this comp. There is just some vibe that is so Six of Crows. Like, I’ve read other books that are similar to Six of Crows and often compared to it when it comes to tropes like heist, found family, and gangs, and I enjoyed them, but they never captured the essence of the book like this did.
I think that it has to do with the political aspects of the book. This book is intensely political in a way that doesn’t feel YA at all to me, and Six of Crows had a similar feel to me.

I think this book has a strong appeal to adult readers, and I think most of the aspects that I wasn’t able to really get into—the romance(s), especially, and the way the characters acted and spoke—felt forced and were only there to help the book appeal to teen readers. I think if this book had been rewritten for an adult audience, or just not tried to cater to teens, it could have been a five star read. And I say this as a teenager (19) and as someone who predominantly reads YA.

I want to dive into the plot a bit. So much happens in this book, I don’t know what to do with it all. The plot and Cayder’s goals change so much from page one to page 50, and then they do another 180 at the 50 or 60% mark. And I think that it is done very well, but the tag line of the book got in my head and didn’t really mesh with everything that happened. It ruined a lot of the tension, because it tells you things that would have been so much better, and the book would have read so much smoother, if you found them out as the story happened, instead of being confused because what’s going on doesn’t match what the story was pitched to you as, and then having one of the biggest moments of tension be underwhelming because you knew what was going to happen from the start. It also kind of spoiled Cayder’s character growth for the same reason and made it and his decisions later in the book underwhelming.
Also, another issue I have with the tag line—it says four teens are charged with murder and illegal use of magic, but there are actually only three?

Screw it. I’m rewriting the tag line.

League of Liars is a dark and twisty mystery set in a richly drawn world where nothing is as it seems, rife with magic, villains, and danger. In this political fantasy thriller, three teens are charged with murder and the illegal use of magic, band together with a goody two shoes law apprentice to expose the truth, no matter what.

Now it’s not spoilery, has the correct facts, and has an oxford comma—since the original one didn’t.

Anywayyyy I got a little off track.
The tension and intrigue of this book (if you ignore the whole tag line fiasco) is spot on. I truly never knew what was going to happen next, but I always knew it was going to be shocking, and draw me in even more. Astrid Scholte weaves an engaging story of magic, politics, and intrigue that had me gasping out loud more than once.
I have so many questions about the magic system of this story—which is like the whole point—and I can’t wait to watch it all come together in the next book. I’m quite sure this will be a series, though I don’t know how many installments, but I don’t doubt that the revelations about the Edem at the end of the book will masterfully weave together with the drama and politics of the world.

I really enjoyed the characters. Each character was strong and distinct. I liked that though Cayder was the main POV character, we got to see a bit from Leta, Eleanora, and Jey’s point of view as well. I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that Cayder’s chapters were in 1st person, and the other 3 were in 3rd person. It was hard for me to get used to, and I think the story may have been more cohesive if the whole book was in 3rd person, butI did eventually get used to it, and by the last half I barely even noticed it.
Cayder went through a lot of character development throughout the book, and it felt very natural and well done. He started out as kind of a prick, and I found him annoying, but as he grew as a person, I too grew to like him and connect with him. He was always a strong character, he just started out as an annoying one.
I must admit that Jey was my favorite character. I couldn’t figure him out. He was funny and full of charisma and vibrato, but there was something genuine and vulnerable about him as well. I think we got just enough of a look inside his head in the couple of chapters we had in his POV to really connect with him and start to get to know him, without giving anything away. We got a taste, and that got me hooked as I tried to figure him out.

The only thing I truly disliked about this book (aside from the tag line. Ugh.) was the romance. It was so unnecessary. I can’t say much, because I don’t want to spoil anything, but I felt absolutely no chemistry. The interactions that were supposed to be romantic just felt awkward and out of place, and I just cringed. It was only a few lines here and there, but I still feel like the book would have been so much stronger without it. It felt as if it was just there because “YA books need romance to sell”. I just felt nothing, and I feel like that lack of chemistry just undermined every interaction between those characters, because when they were supposed to be flirty or connecting romantically I just felt like cringing.

All of that is to say—whoever came up with the tagline sucks, don’t expect romance, read this book whether you’re a teen or an adult, and I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait for book 2!