An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson is a captivating tale that delves into the idea that the most challenging lessons often originate from experiences beyond the confines of a traditional classroom. Once I started reading, I could not put this one down! I can't wait to read more from this author.

"An Academy for Liars" by Alexis Henderson is a gripping tale of dark academia that leaves you yearning for more. Although this is my first encounter with the author's work, I will certainly be on the lookout for future writings.

Lennon's life is unraveling, yet a glimmer of hope shines through when she receives an enigmatic invitation to sit for Drayton College's entrance exam—a magical institution in Savannah. Selected for her innate gift of persuasion, Lennon seizes the opportunity. Upon acing the exam, she embarks on honing her abilities to manipulate mind and matter. Reveling in her studies and newfound power, she feels a profound sense of purpose. Under the tutelage of her mentor, Dante, her powers intensify, and as she delves deeper into his history and that of Drayton, she discovers that power comes at a price—corruption. The dilemma remains: can she amplify her strength without succumbing to its darker side?

I was immediately engrossed by the book, drawn to the characters, and intrigued by the unique portrayal of magic. It's a definitive read for aficionados of the genre.

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in return for an honest review.

this was SOOO good. i have been wary of many “adult gets to go to magic school” books but this was fascinating. i loved the idea of persuasion as something between magic and science especially because it’s an ability anyone can have. this story was classic and unique in all the right ways!!

SPOILERY STUFF AHEAD:
blaine has my whole heart end of story. the dante and lennon relationship was treated perfectly i think and i won’t lie i loved them. blaine you are everything. i loved the idea that in this case our chosen one just got to fuck off if she wanted to. again such an interesting take on this genre!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review of An Academy for Liars!

This book starts with our main character Lennon being at the absolute end of her rope, looking for a sign that she should live. And so you enter the world of Drayton Academy.

There was a lot to like about this book as it has all the makings of dark academia greatness. I loved the setting, concept, and general eeriness of the whole book.

I often felt frustrated by Lennon as she couldn’t seem to get out of her own way and I felt parts of the story were told rather than shown, mainly her relationship with her advisor, but I thought the ending perfectly encapsulated the feel of the story. 4 stars.

As a huge fan of Alexis Henderson, I was so excited to receive a copy of An Academy for Liars. Unfortunately, this one just didn't do it for me. The book didn't pick up until the 60% mark. which was when I started enjoying the story.
The writing was great, and the premise was very original. I'm sure this book will be a hit for many readers.

If you’re squeamish about blood, gore, or anything gruesome, this is definitely not the book for you. But if you, like me, can talk about blood and bodies all day long (in a perfectly normal, healthy way, of course), then An Academy For Liars is a dark academia delight you won’t want to miss!

As someone who loves books like The Secret History, If We Were Villains, and The Basic Eight, I found An Academy For Liars to be a fascinating blend of horror and psychological thriller within a dark academic setting. The story plunges you into a twisted magical school where students, each with the gift of persuasion, push their abilities to the limit—often with bloody, bone-breaking consequences.

The writing far exceeded my expectations, and the plot kept me hooked from start to finish. By the time I hit the 60% mark, I was fully invested, my jaw dropping at every turn (literally in public!). The tension between the characters, especially the way the male figures challenge the protagonist’s strength, had me glued to the pages. Although I felt the ending was a bit rushed and some character relationships could have been better developed, the plot more than made up for it. This was a wild, unexpected ride that I’m glad I took, especially as I prepare for another school year of teaching.

Overall, An Academy For Liars was a thrilling way to kick off the fall season and a new academic school year!!

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got a copy of this on ebook to review through NetGalley..

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this dark academia novel. It reminded me a bit of Bardugo's Alex Stern series but not as quite as gritty. There is some intriguing mystery and magic in here, and a lot of characters that are somewhat "broken" that are using this magical school of Drayton to find a place for themselves.

This story follows Lennon, she has struggled with panic attacks and mental health issues her whole life. She thinks she finally has some stability and is engaged to be married. Then, she finds her fiance having sex with her best friend and flees the scene to an abandoned shopping mall. There she gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to attend Drayton College, a school that is hidden outside the bounds of society. In Drayton, she starts to learn the art of persuasion and gets drawn in to some darker secrets surrounding the school.

This book is full of "broken" characters who are trying to thrive at Drayton despite all of their past trials and mental challenges. It is also full of characters that regularly make questionable decisions. Lennon is no exception to this. I enjoyed watching her grow and gain confidence as the book progressed but also struggled with a lot of the decisions she made. This does have a relationship between a teacher and student; both are consenting adults.

I also enjoyed unraveling Drayton's dark secrets and delving into this strange in-between school. The writing here is absolutely engrossing and magical. The descriptions allow you to picture everything perfectly, and the situations the characters get themselves in to are intense and desperate.

I ended up completely engaged in this book and struggled to put it down. I loved the dark, gothic atmosphere and the complex, wounded characters. This really is a perfect dark academia read, and I adored it.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I absolutely loved this. It is an intriguing premise, and our characters are deliciously conflicted, with real struggles that you can't help but cheer them through. There is a romance in here, a lot of mystery, and some strange commentary around reality. This is the first book I have read by Henderson ( I have "The Year of the Witching" on my wishlist but haven't read it yet). This book makes me want to bump that book up on my reading pile; I loved Henderson's moody writing style.

<i>“You know, I used to thing God’s greatest gift was his love for us. But I’m not so sure anymore. I think that maybe his greatest gift to us is free will. The ability to choose who and what we are.”</i>

I don’t think I’ve fallen head over heels for an author so much as I have for Alexis Henderson. The way she crafts a story and characters with such precision and skill is unmatched. I was extremely excited to get an early copy of this book, having absolutely loved her previous 2 novels, with “the Year of the Witching” being next to perfect in my eyes.

Our story follows Lennon, a gorgeous woman who is just at her wits end with life, after being pushed to her limits but just as she is about to make a drastic choice, she received a phone call informing her that she has been accepted to Drayton college, to study persuasion, the act of changing the will of others and time. There she meets people who got the call as well, as well as her devilishly hot advisor, Dante. This power comes with great cost and could cost her everything in the end.

The title of this book is SO accurate. You will never know who to trust. The characters and the magic system are insanely great. I don’t know how Henderson came up with this story, because it is very unique and is not like other dark academia books. She will hands down always be a Author buy for me. What a good time….P.s its VERY gory and bloody!

Thanks to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group and Alexis Henderson for providing me with a digital review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

So what grabbed me with this one was the dark academia label. I LOVE dark academia. While it did involve academia, and it was dark, there was also a good bit of fantasy, which isn’t my favorite.

I think it’s perfect for fall/spooky season.

I am very impressed with the story that Alexis Henderson has created in An Academy for Liars. Hidden in Savannah is a special school where only very special students can find and be admitted. The dark academic setting is a perfect backdrop for this gothic horror and its paranormal elements. The author has created a detailed world with expertly crafted characters and backstories. Teaching the art of persuasion, the school is a minefield of betrayal, academic politics, and secrets. Lennon Carter finds herself at Drayton College. She seems to be able to use her mind to make things happen and possesses a very special ability that ties her to the very formation of the school. The story is complex and messy as there are several morally grey people and situations.

This is a perfect choice for lovers of dark academia. Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publisher for the advance reader copy.

An Academy for Liars will be an all time favorite of mine for years to come. It's a mixture of so many things I love in books - dark academia, psychological magic, memory manipulation, secret societies, hidden agendas and time travel - all carefully crafted together as a meditation on truth, love and free will.

In the midst of Lennon Carter's life falling apart, she receives a phone call that draws her to Drayton College's campus, which exists in a secret square in Savannah. She discovers that she has the gift of persuasion, and is able to force people and things to do what she wants. She learns alongside her classmates how to strengthen her skills, and grows close to her academic adviser Dante.

As Lennon's skills strengthen, she learns disturbing facts about the history of Drayton College, and why she was brought to Drayton in the first place.

I was hooked by this book from the beginning. My brain just clicked in immediately with Henderson's writing style. This story is richly atmospheric, stunningly cinematic, and darkly twisted, while exploring big moral questions about free will, suffering and use of power. Lennon's journey through Drayton is compelling, empowering and satisfying, and the secondary characters are distinctly lovable. The final 20% is absolutely riveting, and multiple story lines converge in a high octane finale. I was glued to the finale pages, and without giving away spoilers, LOVED the way Henderson wrapped up a thematic question in the final scene. I will be yapping about this book for the foreseeable future!

Fans of Ninth House and Their Vicious Games will love An Academy for Liars.

4 stars. This is the first book I've read from Alexis Henderson, and I'm really impressed. I enjoy dark academia, but it's something that I especially enjoy reading in the Fall, so the timing could not be more ripe for this release. An Academy for Liars has everything that I love about dark academia. A university setting that's steeped in history... but also secrecy (the university, is in fact, hidden from society); a protagonist that's more than a little in over her head; and lots and lots of mystery and betrayal. Henderson does a great job creating the suspense, which was probably buttressed by the fact that I kind of had no idea what was going on for the majority of the book. The protagonist would definitely qualify as an unreliable narrator who keeps making terrible decision after terrible decision. There's also a really unique magic system, that's not necessarily magic, but also isn't necessarily not magic. Basically, Drayton is a secret school for gifted students who have the skill of persuasion. Not the used car salesman type, but the I can get into your head and manipulate your body/ brain to get you to do what I want type. But turns out some super powerful people can manipulate more than just living beings... they can also manipulate space and time. Tripy. Beyond the story itself, An Academy for Liars definitely poses some philosophical questions (good vs bad, important of free will, etc). Although it's not dark academia, I could see fans of The Night Circus finding a lot to enjoy about An Academy for Liars. And the writing quality itself was top notch. All in all, I really enjoyed An Academy for Liars. Dark Academia fans should flock to read this one. It's very very good.

Thank you so much to Henderson, Ace/Berkley, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well, I don't really know how to star this, because I am not going to finish it. I can do morally grey, but this main character is really just depressing me. I don't read to be depressed, and she's self-destructive to the point of utter foolishness. I do like the idea of a magic school essentially just sitting in a pocket dimension in Georgia, and I think the entire book has an interesting concept, but I have yet to come across a character that I actually like, and that includes the narrator. Cool, no thanks.

Lennon is not happy with her life. It does not help that she finds her fiancé with another woman. She leaves at once and cannot produce a good reason to keep living. That is until she stops at an abandoned mall and the phone in an old phone booth rings. She hears that her application to Drayton College was accepted, but she must show up for an in-person interview in the morning. There is only one problem, she never applied and has no idea who did. But it is a puzzle and a reason to live through the night.
At the ripe old age of 22, Lennon is going back to school. Yep, somehow, she was accepted. She is immediately drawn to her advisor, Dante. It is a good thing too, since this woman who could not stand up for herself, suddenly is questioning everything about this magical college. She’ll need all the help she can get from Dante.
There is a lot to unpack in this story. The history of the college, its purpose, an eclectic group of fellow students, and the professors, who may or may not be trustworthy. As I was reading, I checked to make sure that this was not the beginning of a trilogy. Nope. I swore I’d never read another trilogy until all three books were published.
Things changed quite a bit in 464 pages, and while I was still a bit confused about some of what happened, I thought it wrapped up nicely. I am not saying more about the plot because it is best to go into this one with as little information as possible. As always, I wish that I had been accepted into a magical school.

Enjoyed this one a lot. Fascinating concept, interesting plot, and just close enough to our reality to be creepy. No traditional protagonist - everyone moving through the story was a little bit awful - but that can make for a good read in the right hands and in this case, Henderson’s were definitely the right ones. I would have liked to see a little more DEVELOPMENT in Lennon’s case but, at the same time, she acted the way an actual person likely would thrown into the circumstances into which Lennon was thrown at Drayton so she also works quite well as is.
The mental health angle does sort of disappear about half way through; I would have been interested to see how it integrated with later story developments. I would also vote for the novel to be about 50 pages shorter but I have that quibble with most books these days and that’s more of an editing issue than anything else. I do, however, as a former nurse, beg authors and editors to get a medical read through on any MS with injuries or body trauma.

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable read. It’ll be great for spooky season!

Among the darkest of dark academia I've read in some time.

Eep.

Dante tells Lennon, "You did what you needed to do." And I think that pretty much sums up the book.

An Academy for Liars has the potential to work as a series or duology because there was so much more to be explored and I felt like the author only touched the surface. The author's signature lush writing and atmospheric storytelling shines through but I needed a bit more from the plot. wanted this to be darker and more macabre but this just felt very straight forward and I wanted to feel shocked and more uncomfortable like I did with the author's previous novels.

I did like the author's unique take on time travel and the concept of "persuasion." And calling down elevators with your mind was a very cool idea. The murder mystery and all the secrets is what kept me turning the pages. The overall story felt like it could have been more fleshed out but it's probably because this was a very ambitious novel. It had interesting ideas but I think it needed more time to explore all the concepts in depth. I liked nearly every single element of the story separately, but wanted to understand those things more deeply. Ultimately, I found An Academy for Liars was a fascinating exploration of a young woman's yearning desire to be significant at any cost. I really, really hope we get a sequel.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Vita Nostra, Catherine House, or The Atlas Six.

Rating Breakdown:

- Writing -
Alexis Henderson's prose is lush and atmospheric. I expect nothing less.

- Character Development -
The romance with Dante did not work for me. This felt like a student-mentor romance with only the dark academia elements as the background.
I wanted more from the supporting characters. Based on the title, I expected there to be more backstabbing. Sure, Lennon made a couple of enemies but I felt like the line between their morals was very black and white.

- Plot/Pacing -
The concept way intriguing but the pacing gave me whiplash. The author takes us from Denver to Oregon to Savannah to Amsterdam to New York (or was it Boston?) in less than 400 pages. Instead, I think Lennon should have stayed on campus and focused on the other students and why the elevators were so important. The murder mystery was interesting but I felt like the suspense could have been built up more.
My favorite scenes were with the rat, Gregory, and when one of the students thought he had a psychic connection to him. That was pretty funny.

- World-building -
Arguably, the setting was the most unique element but not as utilized as I had hoped. When I read dark academia, I usually expect that the school itself is going to be the focal point. But we are constantly moved around so I didn’t feel very rooted. But I loved the idea of the elevators, the art of persuasion, and time travel!

Okay, this dark academia is what Gothikana wishes it was. It is hard to find good dark academia books, but this one certainly fit the bill.

The magic system was so unique and it constantly had me wondering and questioning everything. This idea of “persuasion” was very fascinating. The romance was important, but not overwhelming in a way that takes away from the creepy factor of the book, which is definitely a plus.

There were so many crazy twists that had my jaw dropping and the last few chapters of this book are absolutely insane! They definitely stick with you.

Thanks to Berkley - Ace for the copy of this book!

AN ACADEMY FOR LIARS is one of my favorite genres: dark academia. But WHEW this is like dark dark.

Lennon Carter gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to take an entrance exam to attend Drayton College, a secret magic school in Savannah, Georgia. Instead of a bunch of letters through a fireplace like Harry, she has a series of written and oral tests that test her gift of persuasion. As she continues in her studies, her understanding and control over her gift increase, she learns more about the history and expected future of the College, and more secrets and tests start coming out of the woodwork.

This is one of those books where I am left wondering how I really feel about it days later. I did enjoy this read, but it was really dark with a lot of horror elements, extremely bad choices made by every MC, and a bit of a feeling of "WTF" at the end. The synopsis says the FMC is "...increasingly disturbed by what she learns" and I mean, me too, honestly. I did have a bit of an issue wondering what the magic system and ability of persuasion looked like outside of Drayton College because it seemed very cultlike -- they go to the school, work at the school, and only really use their gifts at the school. Can they use this gift for anything good?! This was entertaining and a great fall read, but probably check the trigger warnings before reading this one.

This was my first book by Alexis Henderson and fantastic for the fall season.
An Academy for Liars is a seductive, dark, atmospheric read, perfect for readers who are drawn to the mysterious and suspenseful side of dark academia, portraying the seductive yet frightening allure of power, where the line between truth and deception blur.
AAFL is dark academia at its finest — corrupting power, sex, lies, deception, privilege, betrayal, deliciously flawed characters with questionable morals— it has it all!

Now, it's been weeks and I'm still thinking about it but something was missing to be a 5 star read.
The book is so ambitious, there is so much world building and layering of the plot, it feels like Alexis was trying to contain everything in this one book that some aspects of the story suffer because of it.
One of my biggest problems was the romance which didn't feel fleshed out enough and neither did the relationships with Lennon's friends.
It takes more than 350 pages for Lennon and Dante to get together and it's a bit anticlimactic.
I wasn't expecting an overly descriptive sex scene but what we got just felt . . . summarized? It would've been better if there was more emotion in the scene—that's what it should've been expanded on.
At the end you can't help but question whether or not it's just Lennon falling into her pattern which I don't think was the point given everything that's hinted at and foreshadowed between the MCs.

Lennon's relationship with her friends also didn't feel developed enough especially for what happened at the end , to a point it felt weird how her friends defended her since we don't really see her being that close with most of them.

I loved the ending and it definitely looks like Alexis is leaving the door slightly cracked in case she wants to come back to this world and give us a sequel but I did message her and found out that so far it was sold as a standalone and there weren't plans for more at the moment. To be fair, when I started it I thought it was a standalone BUT there is just so much to be explored here especially with everything that was revealed in the last 30% of the book that I'll lose my mind if we never get answers to some questions I still have. My questions are definitely spoilers for the plot so don't read them until you've finished the book —
**SPOILERS***
so I still don't understand how Lennon dreamt of young Dante from the beginning and that whole thing with when she used the elevator for the first time and she ended up in the past and she interacted with him as a boy???? Like what?? And there is no way it wasn't him if his reaction wasn't enough of an indication the boy gave her a moth, so how are they connected and why what does that mean??? That was never clarified. Also, the very first time Lennon meets Dante and she introduced herself I thought their connection was foreshadowed in the way he reacted when he heard her name and I'm still not sure what that was exactly about. For all we know it could've been something about him seeing her in his past, at this point I don't even know what to think because there are so many possibilities and this is why I'm losing my mind lmao. And Dante's name??? We learn so much about his past right at the end and yet not everything, that whole thing with his name being erased from everywhere - what exactly was that indicating? What did it mean and why was it done exactly?? OH and one of my biggest curiosities is the moths!!! What did they mean!!!???? The tattoos, where we see them in the past, the gift he receives — what exactly did they mean for Dante ??
***END OF SPOILERS****
It definitely feels like Alexis left all of this unanswered on purpose and not just to add to the mysterious air of the book.

I really hope we come back to the southern gothic atmosphere of Drayton college and explore more because the questions I still have will be haunting me for a while.

Eternal gratitude to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC