It has been a very long time since I read a Dark Academia book that felt so rich, so deep, so real.
Lennon Carter's life was going from bad to worse. Until she got the mysterious call from Drayton College, in a late night abandoned phone booth. She felt she had nothing to lose in showing up for the unusual entrance exam, so she followed the directions that led her to a world she had never known existed.
She learns things about the world and about herself she never would have believed, and comes face to face with a fight against evil like nothing she could have imagined.
This book is unique, and the writing is beautifully done. I've not read a book in many months with characters I've rooted for - and characters I've hated - quite as strong. I will be reading all of this author's past work and waiting in anticipation for more in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of this book

Loved the book! For me personally it was a little difficult to get fully invested at the beginning but once a few questions were answered I was fully invested.
A perfect spooky season read!

I am forever hunting for a good fantasy standalone! An Academy for Liars promises a rich dark academia read with morally gray characters, unique magic systems, and mysteries on mysteries. It certainly delivered! It very much reminded me of Olivie Blakes’s types of fantasy books like The Atlas Six series.

My favorite aspects of this book were its horror elements, tension, and characterizations. Standing out in this genre is really tough and Henderson crafted an incredibly compelling read. Despite being on the longer side, I could not put it down. I love the way everything came together and felt very satisfied with the ending. While I love a standalone, I wouldn’t mind revisiting this world again.

Highly recommend to all fans of dark academia but with adult characters rather than YA.

I loved the premise of this book, but it needed more character development and world building. I will still read the sequel because I think this concept has great potential, but overall I was a bit disappointed in the this book.

An Academy for Liars reminded me a lot of the Magicians at the beginning – Lennon gets an invitation to take the entrance exam for a college she never applied to. Her life is in shambles, so why not? The exam feels strange and nonsensical, and at the end she is told she passed and welcomed to Drayton, a strange school hidden in the heart of Savannah, secret and shielded from the outside world. AWESOME.
It turns out that some people can wield the power of persuasion in a mystical way, and everyone here is learning how. There’s a hot, young, broody professor and secrets behind every door, of course. Nothing is ever the way it seems at first, even Lennon’s powers. And some of those secrets pose her a very real danger.

I’m giving this a 3.5/5. It was very engaging and I sped through it. I love the secret school, the powers, and the mysteries were set up really well. The romance felt a little flat to me, and I didn’t really see where it came from, other than two hot people together. What did they see in each other that they loved? Not sure, but I AM a sucker for hot professor trope, so ok, I’m here for it! I think what I most wanted was more exploration of the implications of this kind of magic. What do students do once they graduate? There’s a couple lines about how no one who does this kind of thing is really a good person. I’d like to read more about the ethical concerns here. Is this an entire school of selfish, terrible people? How are they affecting the world at large? I’d have loved a duology to allow this to breathe a bit and reach out into those areas, and I think that’s where the comparison between this and The Magicians really falters. I think I’d call this dark-academia-lite, only because the magic and world outside of the direct story seem vague.

Even if this doesn’t get that full world building treatment, the story at the core of this is highly entertaining. Lennon is a great flawed protagonist and a good way for the reader to enter the story and experience Drayton. If you like morally gray characters, then rest assured, there’s pretty much nothing BUT morally gray here! I enjoyed this, and would recommend it to others looking for some dark academia.

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group for an advanced digital copy of this in exchange for my honest review!

3.5/5

This was an incredibly interesting book with a lot of good ideas, but at times, I felt the execution fell short. I wanted to love this book with my whole heart. I really did.

The prose is very different than a lot of other books, which was big plus. However, because of this, sometimes I did find myself quite confused with the places and people (and there's a lot of characters to remember). I loved the idea of a secret school nestled within a big city, hidden away but easily accessible. The secluded school, the secret society, the student rivalries and friendships - it's all there and done pretty well.

Lennon was a good protagonist, though she certainly wasn't without her flaws. I liked her well enough and I found the dynamic with her family one of the most interesting (and honestly, heartbreaking) parts of the book. Dante was our other main protagonist, and while there was plenty to like (young but hot professor! takes a keen interest in Lennon! somehow is almost always where she needs him to be at the right time! heroic but secretive!), it's also where the story started to feel a little flat. I wish I could say the romance elevated this book, but actually to me, it brought it down a little. The conversations between the two were often odd and the whole house/island storyline felt so jarring compared to the rest of the book.

There were plenty of side characters and really liked (or at least, found interesting) a lot of them. They grounded the story and kept it totally from being the Lennon-Dante show.

The ending was exciting. A little rushed at times but overall, a good conclusion. It was a nice change that this was a standalone.

Overall this was a good back that had me barely wanting to set my Kindle down. However, at the end of the day I felt a little underwhelmed and wished a few things had been written differently.

This was deeply unsettling right from the start. The best dark academia book I’ve read in a long time. Henderson creates atmosphere unlike any other author I’ve read. This really solidified her as an auto-buy/favorite author for me. Detailed settings, complex characters and unique, but familiar, plot devices make every one of her books addictive. The tension in this was thick, the mystery engaging, the romance was forbidden and the end was perfect. I really loved this.

An Academy for Liars
by Alexis Henderson
Pub Date: Sep 17 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Lennon Carter’s life is falling apart.
Then she gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to take the entrance exam for Drayton College, a school of magic hidden in a secret pocket of Savannah. Lennon has been chosen because—like everyone else at the school—she has the innate gift of persuasion, the ability to wield her will like a weapon, using it to control others and, in rare cases, matter itself.

After passing the test, Lennon begins to learn how to master her devastating and unsettling power. But despite persuasion’s heavy toll on her body and mind, she is wholly captivated by her studies, by Drayton’s lush, moss-draped campus, and by her brilliant classmates. But even more captivating is her charismatic adviser, Dante, who both intimidates and enthralls her.

As Lennon continues in her studies, her control grows, and she starts to uncover more about the secret world she has entered into, including the disquieting history of Drayton College. She is increasingly disturbed by what she learns, for it seems that the ultimate test is to embrace absolute power without succumbing to corruption...and it’s a test she’s terrified she’s going to fail.

The thing about me is, I live for dark academia. Unfortunately this dark academia book wasn't for me.

While meant to be a dark academia setting, it felt much more horror or gothic to me. I was looking for something a bit more magical and atmospheric and that isn't what I got at all. I can look past that though for some amazing characters, but the characters fell flat and overall were one dimensional to me (other than the FMC).

I can see someone who is much more into a gothic style novel enjoying this one, but it missed the mark for me!

Dark academia, mind powers, rivalry, questions of morality, murder, romance.

In this novel, we follow Lennon as she finds herself pulled into a mysterious university that teaches the powers of persuasion. She finds herself with a natural but unreliable talent for persuasion. What follows is a wild ride with schoolmate rivalries, faculty alliances, and dark secrets.

I could see the character arc, but I never knew where the plot was going, making for a thrilling read. The persuasion powers and class exercises in persuasion were so fascinating.

This reminded me so much of The Magicians (in a good way) with the hidden/cloaked university and our main character learning how to harness her powers while figuring out her own sense of morality.

4.25

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I have really mixed feelings about this book. It has such great potential, but I was left wanting so much more.

The premise:
Students are mysteriously offered placement at a school that teaches a skill that may or may not be magic. The entrance exam and school remind me a bit of Brakebills from The Magicians, while the rather unlikeable characters remind me of The Atlas Six. The MC is powerful in ways her classmates are not, and she is both targeted and protected for reasons she does not understand. This is all perfect for me!

The good:
I love this genre as well as the tropes found in this book. I read it quickly and found the ending exciting enough to want to read the sequel. I especially enjoyed the tension that builds as the MC becomes desperate to prove herself despite having the creeping suspicion that all is not as it seems. I love when academia *is* the darkeness.

The problem:
The book is just…vague. We don’t see much of their studies. I still have no idea how they train this power. Months pass and they are more skilled. Relationships appear with no real development. Time passes and suddenly they are friends. More time passes and now there is tension and mistrust. The author wrote a compelling beginning, brought the story threads together for a solid ending, and just hand waved away the middle 75% of the book. I wanted to know how they were studying this power. I wanted to see friendships form and loyalties shift. I wanted to feel something (anything!) for the side characters, but they are given no depth.

I ended up giving this three stars because of my ambivalence.

I am a huge dark academia girlie. You put academy in the title and I'm going to read it. This book grabbed hold of me from the beginning and did not let go until the end! Fantasy, horror, a bit of science fiction, magical realism, and of course dark academia were blended together expertly to create the most captivating atmosphere and story.

When you think it can't get darker, it just keeps going. This is a haunting book that will not let you put it down or leave you after finishing it. Lennon has a self-destructive nature and I kept rooting for her (while also wanting to have a strongly worded conversation) as she grew more powerful and dangerous.

The characters are ruthless, you don't know who to trust, the tension and rivalries on the surface are nothing compared to what's building beneath. The power these persuasionists wield is extreme. The setting is so unique and interesting, and the dark academia aesthetic is in every bit of this book - clothes, meals, schedules, and "extracurriculars" included. I loved it. Alexis Henderson absolutely knows this genre.


Thank you so much to NetGalley and Berkley/Ace for the ARC!

This was a phenomenal book, I can see it being the next big dark academia novel for sure. The world was expertly built, and the magic system within was complicated but still easy to grasp. I loved the school setting, it was unique as far as magic schools go, and I liked the societies within and the classes that the students took. The writing was incredibly vivid, it was so easy for me to picture the settings and characters while reading, it just felt so real. Lennon was a really interesting character, she had a lot of layers to her and her motivations made sense throughout the novel. The focus on race, gender, and class within really elevated the reading experience for me, taking the book into an interesting and critical direction. I could not get enough of this, it was all consuming and I literally couldn't put it down when reading.

4.5

To start off, I’m obsessed with this book and story. Alexis Henderson does it again and her stories just speak to me on a different level, so I’m so grateful that I was granted an e-arc by the publishers in advance of the publish date on September 17th, 2024. Run don’t walk to grab this one on the shelves. Now onto the review-specific bits -

An Academy of Liars follows the journey of our heroine Lennon Carter as she receives an invitation to apply to a secret university called Drayton. Nestled in the ether of Savannah Georgia, Drayton has housed the world’s greatest minds in the art of persuasion. Think of the ability of Greek mythology sirens x 1000. Every admitted student of Drayton has their own backstory of creeps and haunts that lead them to Drayton’s steps and the horrors continue on campus and under the tutelage of Drayton professors. After a series of tests and classes, Lennon is acknowledged as a prodigy of natural talent but her sense of morality and guilt hinders; themes that permeate throughout the story. Running (or as Lennon puts it finding solace) from her past in the campus of Drayton has been her lifeline. Despite being subjected to concerning situations that lead her to gain further control of her abilities, Lennon attempts to create community with other students and encourage a relationship with her mentor Dante. At times I yearned for more about the supporting characters, but given how Lennon operates (and the point of view 1st person) it’s to be expected. I also have been wrestling with even calling Lennon a heroine; she definitely tips into anti-hero status for me but that makes her so enticing and “dangerous” in all the best ways. At times she frustrated, but often I was more in awe of her. She is a fantastic character to wrestle through the themes with and explore the environment. A tense and horrific foray in dark academia, Henderson creates an enticing and dangerous world that keeps the reader second-guessing at every turn.

Henderson is so apt at generating images and setting the mood with her writing it’s so refreshing for me because the visuals feel so tangible in my mind’s eye. This skill was evident and felt in House of Hunger but she can take it to a new level here. Each scene has a smell, a taste, and a sound that centers the reader in these delicious and thrilling moments. There’s one particular moment that comes at one of the major turning points I believe 70%-ish way through the story that I cannot get out of my mind. With each description Henderson added, that image got more visceral and blinding in a sense. In this book, that type of skill is doubly useful because a lot of the violence and harm is mental. There is not always physical strain from the assailant so to feel embodied in the assailant’s mind or body through these descriptions is amazing and makes the story that more heavy of a read. Reading this was as exhausting as the characters felt because you felt like you were put through the spin cycle as they are.

On top of the visual language Henderson employs, her ability to generate atmosphere is commendable. The biggest aspect that is shared between HoH and AAFL is the sexy, dark, and twisted compounded by the themes of morality, guilt, grief, betrayal, and racism. Drayton has a feeling unlike I have ever experienced from another book. The campus’ isolation from the real world allows Henderson to focus on the dark corners in the hallways and the ghosts of past Drayton students. Using the plot structure of a mystery puts a haze on the plot for the reader in a delicious way because it allows Lennon (our driver) to uncover information with each progression and at the same time allows Henderson to manipulate the conventions of the drama to her benefit. We have red herrings, misunderstandings, miscommunication, etc. that is employed in a way that keeps the engine running on the story. Also using the genre expectation of mystery, it is easy for it to live underneath the umbrella of horror with it’s imagery and manipulation of the reader’s expectation here as well.

For me and I think it’s understated but purposeful, how this book tackles racism in academia in a real way despite the paranormal nature. Dante is a Black professor on the campus and is an incredibly gifted persuasionist who was mentored by the Chancellor of the University. He is a much sought-after professor (not just because of his enthralling aesthetics) but because he is known to mentor the best of Drayton. When Lennon is put under his care because of her proclivity in the study, Dante is firm, challenging, and demanding with Lennon, but he is also incredibly protective of her. It resonated with me how Black professors in academia can be both the greatest advocates and harshest credits to Black students. Also given Lennon’s tumultuous sexual history, she falls into this seemingly one-sided attraction with Dante but given the power imbalance and the secrets he keeps to himself that’s a part of Dante, he does not release into Lennon’s possession. I will not go into spoilers but once you have the pieces of Drayton’s history and its secret keepers and mirror it to Dante and Lennon’s relationship everything takes on this incredibly painful and poignant level that made me want to hug and care for these characters.

I took the day to absorb the ending and wrote this review 24 hrs after finishing there were a lot of painful questions answered and explored with the mystery. The exploration of themes at each instance feels like a gut punch; whether it comes in the form of Lennon’s relationships with her classmates, professors, and her family the answers to Lennon’s morality questions and conundrums feel like hard questions I have avoided myself in life. It’s a book that’s seductive in prose but poignant in story forcing you to ask hard questions of your life and your own morality and dark desires. It feels necessary in a lot of ways. I’m excited to re-read this and extract more out it as I feel knowing the ending there is much to uncover of breadcrumbs sprinkled throughout.

An Academy for Liars is a gripping and imaginative novel that skillfully combines elements of mystery and fantasy within an intriguing academic setting. The novel's intricate plot and well-developed characters create a compelling narrative that keeps readers engaged and guessing. With its clever twists and rich world-building, it offers a fresh and captivating reading experience.

Another spooky season must read. It was giving Vita Nostra realness but with more of a focus on the romance. it felt like Alexis jumped in my head and with the information she got, made a book that was CATERED for me.

An Academy for Liars is a gripping and complex dark academia fantasy with elements of horror and romance. The intrigue begins right off the bat when Lennon finds out her fiancé is cheating on her and a mysterious phone call stops her from doing something she can’t come back from. She then finds herself accepted to a hidden magical school where she learns to wield her power of persuasion over others and even reality itself.

The dark atmosphere of this book was great - it’s definitely creepy at times and also a bit violent. The magic system was pretty different from anything I’ve read previously and the act of persuasion was used in really clever ways. There were constantly things to uncover about the school and the characters and I really didn’t see any of it coming.

I wasn’t sure how to feel about the romance for most of the book but I did enjoy the way it turned out. Some minor complaints I have are that it started to drag a little maybe 2/3 of the way through, and some of the side characters were hard to differentiate from one another. Overall a compelling story that I’m sure dark academia fans will love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I definitely will have to grab a hard copy of this book.

It starts off pretty cliche and slow. However it does pick up as secrets and mysteries are introduced and once everything started rolling into the Academy, it was easily very fast paced and intriguing. It sort of gives me the vibes of Hogwarts but in the south. It is very violent so be mindful if you don't care for those kinds of stories. I do think the ending was a very nice twist but not over the top. A nice blend of horror and fantasy if you don't mind!

I devoured this book so quickly—it was the perfect mix of dark academia, fantasy, and horror. This book is dark and captivating, set in a world where magic and manipulation intertwine in the most intriguing ways. Lennon Carter, our protagonist, is whisked away to Drayton College, a secret school hidden in Savannah, where students master the art of persuasion through mind manipulation. The plot unfolds with eerie beauty as Lennon grapples with her new powers, the school's dark history, and her mysterious mentor, Dante.

Alexis Henderson’s writing pulls you into the spooky atmosphere, blending suspense and academia with a touch of romance. Lennon's journey is both haunting and enthralling, making this a must-read for fans of dark academia. I couldn’t put it down and found myself completely absorbed in Lennon's story. I highly recommend this book if you're into dark academia, dark fantasy, or spooky reads in general. This will make the perfect fall read during spooky season.

This was my first Alexis Henderson book, and it definitely won't be my last.

If you're looking for a darker, more grown up version of a magic school like you had in Harry Potter, this isn't a bad place to start.