After discovering her partner is cheating on her, Lennon Carter is looking for an escape from her life. That’s when she gets a strange call saying that she’s been invited to take the entrance exam at Drayton College, a school in Savannah, Georgia that Lennon never even applied to attend. Sure, she will have to drive through the night to get there for the exam, and, yes, she has no idea how Drayton College got her name. But the mystery is part of the appeal, and so is the idea of getting away from everything and starting over again. So without any further thought, Lennon packs her bags and leaves without another word to start her life over again.
At Drayton College, Lennon learns that she has been chosen because she has the innate gift of persuasion, a power so strong that she has the ability to control people and even matter itself. All she has to do is learn how to wield it. The process of learning about her powers will wear Lennon down both mentally and physically, but the appeal of Drayton College, its charismatic teachers, and its brilliant students is too much to refuse. And then there’s her advisor Dante, who draws her into his orbit, despite how intimidating he can be. More than anything, Lennon seeks Dante’s approval and tutelage, especially when she learns she might have the opportunity to become his apprentice.
But the longer Lennon spends at the school, the more she learns the disturbing secrets of Drayton College and Dante’s disturbing and violent past. As Lennon delves deeper into her studies, she sees how the powers of persuasion can be used for evil. And the more time she spends learning how to control her powers, the more she worries she will spiral into the web of corruption that has entangled so many before her.
Alexis Henderson is quickly becoming an author that I will trust with any kind of story. She tackled witches in The Year of the Witching, vampire-like creatures in House of Hunger, and now this. An Academy for Liars is the quintessential dark academia story. It’s literally everything you could ask for from this genre, from the atmosphere to the characters to the twisted magic and dark secrets. If you love dark academia and read it all the time, you have to pick this book. And, frankly, if you only read one dark academia book ever in your lifetime, you should make it this one.
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