An Academy for Liars Published by Penguin on September 17, 2024 Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy, Fiction / Fantasy / Historical, Fiction / Fantasy / Paranormal
Pages: 464
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Goodreads
A student will find that the hardest lessons sometimes come from outside the classroom in this stunning dark academia novel from the acclaimed author of The Year of the Witching and House of Hunger.
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.
Review:
It is an outstanding, dark academic story! The world-building and magic systems are unique and interesting. Persuasion is the name of the game. An entire school is full of those with the power to bend others to their will. There are dire consequences for failing!
Our main character comes into power as the story goes along, and there are some surprising twists and turns. You never can tell who to trust. Our main character spends her whole life running from various situations that she doesn’t want to continue in. The latest is her impending marriage to a man she finds cheating on her with a friend. Instead of having it out with him, she chooses to go to an abandoned mall to end her life. Oddly, though, on her way, a phone rings and offers an opportunity to attend a college she never heard of but soon finds out she is very sought after to attend. I like how this book sucked me in, as I knew little more about Dryden than the character in the book. I hope we learn more about the powers of persuasion and the open gates.
About Alexis Henderson
Alexis Henderson is a speculative fiction writer with a penchant for dark fantasy, witchcraft, and cosmic horror. She grew up in one of America’s most haunted cities, Savannah, Georgia, which instilled in her a life-long love of ghost stories. When she doesn’t have her nose buried in a book, you can find her painting or watching horror movies with her feline familiar.
