I'm a big hit and miss with dark academia as of late, but I'm pleased to say this was a hit. It was an interesting dive into the idea of free will and the power of persuasion with some deeply flawed characters. Secrets, murders, and a backdrop of magic. There were also mystical elevators, which admittedly made me a little confused at times, but I enjoyed what it added to the story. The ending was also really satisfying and I like where the characters all ended up. I confess that I prefer Henderson's horror novels to this, but I'm still very much a fan and look forward to what comes next!

This book sort of shocked me with how much I loved it by the end. The beginning for me was a bit torturous as our protagonist, Lennon, finds herself enrolled in a magical school and is in a constant state of shock, awe and confusion at the things transpiring around her. I understood her confusion but the narrative tended towards info-dumpy dialogue as the main mode of exposition and I struggled to connect with the characters or register the bonds that were meant to be forming amongst the characters because of the relatively stilted and almost interview like cadence of every conversation. Now, I won't say this issue fully went away, in fact the sort of stilted dialogue is my main gripe with the book, but eventually I truly can't say that I cared. Alexis Henderson totally won me over with this plot and the general atmosphere of this story. The third act stepped on the gas and went so crazy I was almost breathless turning the pages. I loved the way the magic worked and the intensely psychological aspect to it all. It was very trippy and unnerving, loved it! One other gripe I have with the story was the fact that the progression of Lennon's power skills at any given time seemed sort of inconsistent but whatever. The cool, powerful, gifted girl is cool and powerful why not? It was a deeply entertaining read for me. I can see it being divisive among readers, but I had fun.

3.75 stars

Atmospheric and enthralling. I loved the setting, perfectly dark academia with a magical/psychological twist. More than a lot of books that have claimed to be, this felt very much so like a grown up Harry Potter with lots of wish fulfilment, found family, and a magic school you wish you could attend, while adding some sophisticated explorations on the nature of power and the darkness of this cruel and corrupt magic society.

I was so freaking excited for this book that I practically begged for an ARC. I’m a fan of Alexis Henderson’s writing style & was thrilled to see this dive into dark academia!

So I got the arc - Woop! And then life got absolutely insane, I lost my kindle, and I didn’t finish it. I regularly forget that I can read kindle on my phone because I just don’t enjoy it that way, so I found my kindle and snagged the audiobook (it’s got great narration, I couldn’t resist) and I started over this month after never finishing and ate it up.

Academy for Liars follows Lennon from a messy breakup that lead to her lowest point to a hidden academy of magic located in Savannah’s 25th square. I am a sucker for anything set in Savannah… being from Georgia, it’s the place I call my second home & I visit often. There are 22 squares but when Savannah was originally built, there were 24. I really love the little tidbit that there were secretly 25 and that Dayton College sits on the 25th square, hidden from time and the world. I don’t know, y’all. That just made my southern heart happy.

Dayton College is a unique magic school that teaches the complex act of persuasion. It’s a type of magic that can be used to force your will upon other people but persuasion, when wielded by someone powerful enough, can influence the very folds of reality. And you know our girl Lennon is one of those super powerful ones because, what else did you expect?

Lead by her advisor and tattooed love interest, Dante, Lennon explores the depths of her powers and trains her abilities to do things she cannot yet comprehend, things that will shape every moment of her future.

I really enjoyed this book. It opened with a creepy mirror scene that lives rent free in my head because I have a thing about my reflection anyway. We get some spooky undertones but for the most part the story is more of a true fantasy dark academia than horror. Henderson is great at dipping her fingers into the horror genre and sprinkling it throughout her books so if that’s your thing, definitely check out her other work- House of Hunger is a yummy story of Dracula’s brides.

I mentioned it was set in Savannah - this gave me high hopes for more involvement in the city but the aforementioned 25th square lace in is about where it stopped. We get a visit to River Street and a couple comments but that’s it. I also don’t feel like the majority of the characters were fleshed out - they felt two dimensional - with the focus really sitting on Lennon and Dante. This was also true for some of the scenes and plot lies - like the secret society within the school - I just wanted.. more. More of all of it. I feel like Henderson writes with this air of aloofness and mystery that can pay off, but didn’t necessarily for me in this case. I really appreciated having bipoc main characters in the world of dark academia lit that doesn’t always feel diverse.

That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy it. Because I did. And if Henderson ever drops a sequel, I’ll be there on the pre-order list. She just writes with this… I don’t know, oomph… that I really enjoy. She’s bold. She’s dark. There’s always angst and blood and insanely flawed characters. I’m here for that.

I couldn’t decide on a rating- I feel like I always fall around 3.5 and round up but when I think about how much I enjoyed this one (when I finally had a proper start to it), it’s definitely a 4.

A great big thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the opportunity to review, with heaping apologies for the tardiness of it.

This started off so intriguing! My favorite thing about this was the atmosphere and the way it was built up perfectly from the beginning with vivid descriptions and a macabre vibe that gave me literal chills. There were so many elements I found interesting and couldn’t get enough of and overall the creepy vibes were perfection.

There were however some things that took away from my enjoyment. For one thing the character development didn’t really resonate with me the way that I had hoped it would. While I understand what the author was doing with the characters it seemed to develop in a way that fell flat. A lot of what I found appealing lost its momentum as the story continued and the things being presented weren’t interesting enough for me to care.

In short, while the premise of this was promising and started off great the narrative ultimately veered into one big chaotic mess that didn’t make sense. I’m left with more questions than answers and overall slightly disappointed with how this turned out.

This genre is fairly new to me. I haven’t read much of gothic/dark romance but this was a solid start! I had the chance to meet Alexis via zoom thanks to Berkley. This book was such a vibe. I could not put it down. The plot as a whole worked really well and I will definiltt be looking out her other books!

Dark academia meets gothic mystery in this haunting, twisty read. Henderson’s lush prose and razor-sharp tension make it impossible to put down!

I've always enjoyed Alexis Henderson writing and this book was not an exception. Henderson has a wonderful dark writing style and manages to make readers stay in suspension. Once I started reading, I felt myself hooked until I was done.

WHERE IS THE HYPE FOR THIS BOOK!!!!

Dark academia? MAGIC BRAIN PERSUASSION POWERS!?

Welcome to my top ten of 2025.- you belong here.
I regret that I need to spend more time trying to create a review that does this book justice.

So lets just scream into the void about a few things:
1) Dark academia (!!!)
2) Found family, but everyone is actually academic rivals
3) The chosen one who doesn't want it (bc being the chosen one is bad lololol)
4) People with complex backgrounds that overcome challenges making them all likeablee?
5) Characters who have the academic rivals frenemies vibe who you sort of hate but also love.
6) Gave If We Were Villains
7) Horror, Gore, Violence
8) Completely world that is explained thoroughly and appropriate amount of information
9) admittadly weird side quest but I'm not a road trip (ish) in boks person
10) idk but there should be 10.

An Academy of Liars is everything that defines Dark Academia: dark and slow while also being intriguing. Alexis Henderson has created another gothic tale that if you love Dark Academia, you need to read this.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.

I want to like this more than I actually did. The magic system of persuasion - and the morality and consequences that come with it - is really unique and fascinating, as is the dark secrets surrounding Drayton's. It's a dark academia fantasy that leans heavily into horror, and I really enjoyed that aspect. I wish the characters were stronger, though. Lennon was initially a sympathetic main character, but made increasingly terrible choices and refuses to understand why others would want to cut ties with her for those decisions. Dante is an intriguing love interest with a bit of taboo as her teacher (they are both adults), and it does bring up some of the deeper issues with that relationship, and the connections to Dante's past relationships, but I dont think it's explored far enough because Lennon doesn't really care beyond what we get. The ending doesn't sit right with me because it depends on us believing that Lennon has these really close friends from her time at Drayton that are willing to risk everything for her, and we really don't see much of that; partly because of the length of the novel, but also it's strongly suggested that these friends don't fully like her for various reasons throughout the book. Overall, I do like it. It's a really strong concept and plot, but those do suffer from some weak characters bringing it down.

Lennon hasn’t ever felt like she fit in. After catching her fiancé with an another woman, she escapes to commit suicide only to get a call from Draycott College and have her life changed. ARC from NetGalley.

This book was not a typical read for me. It definitely reminded me of Max Berry's Lexicon, which I loved. This was an okay book for me. I was hoping for more conflict in the real world as they used their gift of persuasion to change society but it was closer to home.

There is a lot of world-building in this book. I thought there was more time spent creating the world they live in rather than the plot.

I'm not sure I really like any of the characters. I felt sorry for a few of them as they seemed to be manipulated. They didn't have a lot going on in their lives, were considered black sheep in their families, or lacked confidence/direction so this school choosing them was the first time they felt special. There is definitely some lying going on.

I didn't like how the book ended. It seemed to be rushed to wrap it up. If I hadn't been reading this for review, I might have DNF'd the story. I was pretty engaged in the story up to about two-thirds in. The last third of the book lost me. Perhaps it is the set-up for a trilogy or a series, though everything seems pretty wrapped up in the end.

I'm not much of a fantasy reader, but this book isn't the realm of witches and vampires. I thought it might be more magical realism and to some extent it is. It is set in our world though there is a secret world (or maybe dimension) that they can access.

You can tell some parts of it were intended for the Harry Potter fan who has grown up. It is new adult but there is no sex in the book. I've always equated sex with new adult (probably because so many new adult novels are romances) so it was nice to see a book in the genre that just indicates the preferred audience. And there is a lot in the novel that college-age/20 somethings will identify with.

I thought MK reviewed this book as I think it is more her style of reading. It didn't really hold my attention. The plot of sort of all over the place and none of the characters were to my liking.

But I think it is largely due to my taste in reading genres rather than the book itself. There has been a lot of hype around this book so that might have played into my dislike of the book. I had built it up to be better than I thought it was.

My review is published at Girl Who Reads - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2025/03/an-academy-for-liars-by-alexis.html

Thank you, NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group | Ace, for the chance to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

Lennon Carter's life is falling apart, but everything changes when she gets the call inviting her to take the entrance exam for Drayton college, a school of magic. Lennon has the ability to persuasion, to wield her will as a weapon, controlling others and matter itself. After being accepted and while learning how to use her power, Lennon starts to realize the heavy toll persuasion can have on her mind and body, but she can't help but falling in love with the college and her classmates, like her adviser Dante. As her power grows, Lennon will soon learn disquieting things about the college and how to embrace absolute power she should succumb to corruption and that's something she's afraid to fail.

An academy for liars is a brilliant, intriguing and well written stort about a powerful student, the secrets in her school and what she would be willing to change in order to attain power. I loved reading this book. The setting is amazing and I loved Drayton college and how slowly Lennon starts to embrace her power, loving her school and classmates, bonding with Dante and such.
I loved the secrets, the mysteries and the whole persuasion power, that I find really intriguing and compelling, besides being well written in this book.
I totally recommend this dark academia!

I will always pick up an Alexis Henderson novel, but this one wasn't my favorite. It's the most confusing of hers so far, and a bit of the body horror got to be too much for me. I will definitely recommend it to my friends who don't mind that as much though!

Definitely wish I had got to this sooner. This is the dark academy that I look for. I love college age MCs. I loved that our FMC was messy from the beginning and was able to still stay messy but grow from it. I don't know how necessary I found the romance aspects, but I didn't hate them.
The violence though, loved. The tense parts were thrilling, and I was scared at all the right times.
I'll read anything Alexis Henderson writes.

I love dark academia, and this book fit the bill nicely. The world building and magic system were both wonderful. I enjoyed Lennon and Dante, though I felt like some of the secondary characters blurred together. This definitely fell on the violent side of what I would prefer, but it wasn’t too scary. The setting was great. I would definitely recommend this for that “brick building/ivy” feeling.

Thank you to the publisher - I received a complimentary eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An Academy for Liars has such a unique "magic system". I love that its all about persuasion and that most of the world runs on this. Lennon really grew into her own by the end and had great growth. The world of Drayton is one I'd love a sequel to.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson!

This book was an atmospheric and intriguing read with rich world-building and a captivating storyline. The characters were well-developed, and the mystery kept me engaged, though the pacing was on the slower side. Despite that, the tension and eerie vibes made it a worthwhile read, and the payoff was satisfying. A compelling story that lingers long after the last page!