A review by libraryoflanelle
An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson

3.0

I had such high hopes for this book after having loved Alexis Henderson’s previous works, but unfortunately, this one did not live up to her earlier books in my opinion. 
 
Henderson’s talent for creating complex yet digestible world-building, her captivating atmospheres, and her skill for writing realistic, unstilted dialogue are what ultimately carried me through to the end. That, and my determination to find out what happened next as I’m not sure any of us could have predicted some of the directions that the book went! 
 
Although I’m not a big reader of book series, I found myself wishing that Lennon’s character arc had been stretched across multiple books. While it’s impressive that Alexis managed to pack so much into this single story, I would have preferred more time to get to know Lennon, her peers, and her associates, as well as to spend more time at the College itself. Personally, I didn’t feel particularly connected to Lennon, and I suspect this was due to the rapid pace of events escalating before we had a proper chance to understand her outside of the chaos. This left me feeling frustrated with Lennon and the characters around her, rather than rooting for them. 
 
Echoing the sentiments of other reviewers, I found that the relationships—both romantic and otherwise—left a lot to be desired. These relationships felt underdeveloped, possibly due to the rushed and frantic circumstances under which they were formed but they had so much potential! 
 
Overall, while I found the book engaging enough to see the story through, it didn’t quite meet my expectations. I will definitely continue to read and recommend Alexis Henderson’s past (and hopefully future) works, especially her more horror-oriented stories, as I feel that’s where her characters and narrative skills truly shine. 
 
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC. All opinions are my own. 
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