Alexis Henderson

Academy for Liars

This is a perfect ending, and I’ve read hundreds of them so I can tell you with certainty. This is the most beautiful ending. I didn’t necessarily think it was the best book, but from the “I haven’t decided”. Masterpiece 

Mary Carmona

The elevator doors parted. Lennon stepped through them and turned to see Dante, standing in the street just a few feet behind her, the sunlight bright at his back, burning almost, as though he was on fire. He stepped forward on his weak and injured legs, almost fell but kept going. The doors began to close. Lennon threw out a hand to stop them, but they kept pressing inward, even as she fought to hold them back. Dante staggered—his face screwed with pain, his knees buckling—and fell into the elevator a moment before its doors sliced shut.

“Do you see that elevator across the street?” As she said this, it formed in the plexiglass wall of a bus stop awning.

“I’m going to go to it, and if you want to live, then you’ll follow me.”

Dante looked up at her, his eyes narrowed against the setting sun, which burned hotter and brighter by the moment. “And if I don’t?”

“Then you’ll stay here,” said Lennon, “and I’ll never forgive you for it, but I won’t love you any less either.”

“All right,” he said, which might’ve been yes, or it might’ve been goodbye, but Lennon, bleeding from the nose, didn’t pause to ask the question before turning her back on him.

“You let me hate you. You let me think you’d betrayed me—”

“You would’ve stopped me,” he said. “There was no other way.”

“I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye.”

“Well, I didn’t come here to say goodbye, Dante. I came here to take you home.”

Eileen turned on a heel to look at Dante, perplexed. “You didn’t tell her?” She laughed aloud, and Lennon thought it strange that such a pretty sound could come from such a horrible person. “It was Dante who helped you get out. He attacked Alec and half of the faculty, myself included, to ensure that you were able to flee. Because of him, we very nearly lost you.”

“I feel like you want something from me that I’m not sure I can give you.”

“Then give me what you can,” said Lennon.

Dante cupped the side of her neck, his fingertips carefully aligning with her artery. When they kissed, it didn’t feel like the first time. He lifted her out of her seat, splitting her thighs apart, and hitched her firmly onto his hips. As he carried her to the bedroom, Lennon kissed that moth tattoo on the hard plane of his neck, the corners of his mouth, and the soft hollow below his jaw.

As they approached the island’s shore, Dante climbed out of the boat and into the waist-high water. He dragged the boat ashore, pulling it high up the beach with a rope as Lennon, trying to help, shoved it from behind, her feet piercing deep into the wet sand. She slipped several times in the process, and Dante, laughing, eventually waved her off and told her to wait on the beach.

“This is about what happened in the chapel. You’re punishing me for it.”

He leveled his gaze, was quiet for a long time. “I am your advisor, and you are my charge. We can’t do this.”

“—and I’m not some starry-eyed teen fresh out of high school either. I mean, I’ve been engaged, for Christ’s sake. If something was to happen—”

“But let’s say it does. Let’s say I wanted it to. It’s not coercion.”

“And how do you know? How do you know that I’m not pulling strings? Persuading you to do what I want?”

“What the hell are you on? You pull me from Christmas morning to handle this?” She’d never seen him this angry, and it was kind of, well, hot, though she was loath to admit it. Either way, it was better than the tacit nonchalance with which he’d abandoned her two weeks before.

“I don’t want to study at Drayton if I’m not studying under you,” said Lennon.

“Bullshit,” said Dante. “This is a fucking power play, and you know it. You think you can force my hand by faux-quitting?”

“You have a name?” His voice bore what she guessed was a faint Brooklyn accent, though she wasn’t sure.

His gaze flickered to her. He looked, for the briefest moment, startled. But he recovered himself quickly, extended a hand covered in tattoos. “Dante.”

Those weeks leading up to final exams were harried and miserable.

“You didn’t tell me we were going to be fucking attacked.”

“I didn’t know. That’s kind of what makes the ambush, you know, an ambush.”

The concepts and magic system introduced were intriguing, but the execution fell flat. Put simply: I was bored as fuck.

The book dragged on unnecessarily. I felt no connection with any of the characters. They all felt like cardboard cutouts of people or ideas of people that didn’t get fleshed out. The plot was disjointed and inconsistent. There were scenes that lasted way longer than they needed to while others were rushed where I felt they could be expanded upon. Overall, this was just very disappointing for something I was really excited for.

Nik ✨

The concepts and magic system introduced were intriguing, but the execution fell flat. Put simply: I was bored as fuck.

The book dragged on unnecessarily. I felt no connection with any of the characters. They all felt like cardboard cutouts of people or ideas of people that didn’t get fleshed out. The plot was disjointed and inconsistent. There were scenes that lasted way longer than they needed to while others were rushed where I felt they could be expanded upon. Overall, this was just very disappointing for something I was really excited for.

What an intriguing book. What does it mean to persuade others and how does perception change our world as we know it. 

Monserrat Navarro 

The first half is painfully slow, building the world brick by brick but still remaining the air of mystique. It isn't until after the first half that we actually get to the academia part — the powers, the persuasion, the whole nine yards. 

One thing I have to note is that it is palpable over the book how Lennon changes, the first chapters with the undercurrent of uncertainty and insecurity, before she finds her footing in the walls of Drayton College.

My favorite part of this book would probably be the action scenes — specifically yung bardagulan ni Lennon vs Ian HAHAHAHAHA. The least would be the romance. 

Overall, I did enjoy reading it but I do wish that we had more of the Academia like classes part of it, seeing as it is 400+ pages. 

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

Strong character development? Yes

Loveable characters? No

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

 

3.75

Good lies are rewarded with belief. Great lies are rewarded with conviction. In my experience, persuasion is a great lie, well told.


The first half is painfully slow, building the world brick by brick but still remaining the air of mystique. It isn't until after the first half that we actually get to the academia part — the powers, the persuasion, the whole nine yards. 

One thing I have to note is that it is palpable over the book how Lennon changes, the first chapters with the undercurrent of uncertainty and insecurity, before she finds her footing in the walls of Drayton College.

My favorite part of this book would probably be the action scenes — specifically yung bardagulan ni Lennon vs Ian HAHAHAHAHA. The least would be the romance. 

Overall, I did enjoy reading it but I do wish that we had more of the Academia like classes part of it, seeing as it is 400+ pages. 

This wasn't a perfect book, but I was so charmed by its unique magic. Persuasion. The elevators. The plot moved swiftly and made up for how much relationship development was lacking.

Academy for Liars

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