A review by thenovelmaura
League of Liars by Astrid Scholte

adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I really appreciate Penguin Teen sending me an eARC of this one! I'm a huge Astrid Scholte fan so it pains me to admit that this book didn't live up to my expectations. I suppose a part of it was the framing/marketing, since this is billed as a heist novel. The heist planning and execution only happened in the last 30% of the book, and it was pretty half-heartedly thrown together (Cayder is not on Kaz Brekker's level). The rest of the book was a legal drama, which was at times interesting but not exactly what I signed up for.

One thing I will say about Scholte is that all of her sci-fi/fantasy concepts are super intriguing and distinct from one another. I was so interested in edem and how their society was based around this weird time-magic (I do think the book could have used more world-building here). The characters were also well-written and their backgrounds were gradually revealed in a way that kept me turning pages. So there was a lot to like here in terms of characters and setting; I just wish the plot hadn't taken a backseat to everything else!
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