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emmanotfrost 's review for:
An Academy for Liars
by Alexis Henderson
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
After liking two books in the dark academia genre and loving them, I thought I should read some more from this genre. Unfortunately, I did not love <b>An Academy for Liars</b> as much as I loved the other two books I have read from the same genre. (Which are not many, but still.)
I will admit my mixed feelings towards this book have more to do with my own preference rather than the quality of the book itself, because I find that there is a little too much romance for my taste. I don't care for this whole will-they-won't-they vibes between Lennon and Dante, and I wish the book had been more about Lennon and her friends rather than Lennon and Dante.
Lennon is also not my favourite main character. She started out as this woman who used to follow a man around because she felt trapped, which I sympathised with. Then she found Drayton and thought she found her purpose, but the moment she got there, I feel like the cycle repeats itself, and Lennon followed Dante around like a puppy, insisting that she wanted nothing to do with Drayton if not with Dante. Sure, Dante is her advisor, and she is meant to spend time with him, but her feelings towards him sort of irk me. Again, this might be more about my preference rather than the plot being bad. I started the book expecting dark academia, not a relationship between a student and her mentor. Based on the blurb I thought it would just be a crush and curiosity rather than romance.
My favourite bits about this book are when Lennon is actually doing something for herself, studying hard, proving her worth, and spending time with her friends, which I am more interested in than her relationship with Dante. Her friends are also a very interesting bunch: Blaine, Emerson, Sawyer, and Kieran, who, like everyone else in this book, are rather morally gray. Each of them is kind of eccentric in their own way, but also incredibly intelligent. I wish the book had told more stories about them, and I would have been more invested. Their parts in the end were very memorable and also my favourite moments in the book.
If I put what I disliked aside, the book is actually great. I love this concept of a school where people learn to persuade with their will, and how it is also kind of wrong that something actually interferes with free will. There are parts of the book that are violent, but it is written so well that these are also my favourite parts of the book. It's just so much fun to read about.
If I had liked the romance bit, I think I would have thought the book was perfect for me. Unfortunately, I did not, and I ended up with mixed feelings. However, I still think that dark academia fans would love this book. It's not one of the best ones, but still a lot of fun to read.
I will admit my mixed feelings towards this book have more to do with my own preference rather than the quality of the book itself, because I find that there is a little too much romance for my taste. I don't care for this whole will-they-won't-they vibes between Lennon and Dante, and I wish the book had been more about Lennon and her friends rather than Lennon and Dante.
Lennon is also not my favourite main character. She started out as this woman who used to follow a man around because she felt trapped, which I sympathised with. Then she found Drayton and thought she found her purpose, but the moment she got there, I feel like the cycle repeats itself, and Lennon followed Dante around like a puppy, insisting that she wanted nothing to do with Drayton if not with Dante. Sure, Dante is her advisor, and she is meant to spend time with him, but her feelings towards him sort of irk me. Again, this might be more about my preference rather than the plot being bad. I started the book expecting dark academia, not a relationship between a student and her mentor. Based on the blurb I thought it would just be a crush and curiosity rather than romance.
My favourite bits about this book are when Lennon is actually doing something for herself, studying hard, proving her worth, and spending time with her friends, which I am more interested in than her relationship with Dante. Her friends are also a very interesting bunch: Blaine, Emerson, Sawyer, and Kieran, who, like everyone else in this book, are rather morally gray. Each of them is kind of eccentric in their own way, but also incredibly intelligent. I wish the book had told more stories about them, and I would have been more invested. Their parts in the end were very memorable and also my favourite moments in the book.
If I put what I disliked aside, the book is actually great. I love this concept of a school where people learn to persuade with their will, and how it is also kind of wrong that something actually interferes with free will. There are parts of the book that are violent, but it is written so well that these are also my favourite parts of the book. It's just so much fun to read about.
If I had liked the romance bit, I think I would have thought the book was perfect for me. Unfortunately, I did not, and I ended up with mixed feelings. However, I still think that dark academia fans would love this book. It's not one of the best ones, but still a lot of fun to read.