A brilliant girl risking it all to infiltrate a secret society of enchanters gets unexpected help from one of their victims—now a vengeful spirit—in this historical dark academia novel by New York Times bestselling author S. E. Grove.
In a world where magic is drawn from the realm of the dead, enchanters—always men—go to great lengths to steal it. Voyaging to the spirit realm, an enchanter will claim a dead woman’s spirit as his own and make her a servant, a tool for his own magical ends. Enchanters maintain great secrecy around their practices, so only a wealthy elite have access to this members of a secret society shrouded within Commonwealth University, the nation’s premiere institution for the study of enchantment.
When Sam—the son of islander immigrants of modest means—dared to use magic to blend into the blueblood world of Commonwealth, it cost him his life. Now a spirit, he’s determined to avenge his murder and uncover the secrets of the Cisneros Society from beyond the grave.
When Sam encounters Clementine Quinn, a young woman disguised as a male student at Commonwealth, he quickly sees that Clem is putting herself in grave danger at the school. But as he tries to warn her of the peril, it becomes clear that his past and her fate are inextricably entwined. To avenge his murder and prevent hers, they’ll need to help one another and thereby prove, ultimately, that friendship and love can transcend everything, even death.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy! This in no way impacts my review.
This was a fun read! It was so interesting to be in Sam’s omnipresent point of view, and I loved seeing his thoughts about Clementine evolve. The magic system was fascinating! For those who follow me, there are talks of seances and the magic is spirit based, so maybe not something everyone is interested in, but I didn’t have much issue with it as it doesn’t seem to be meant to be dark magic. :) I’d be really interested to see another book set in this world!
Thanks to Simon for the ARC of this book. I previewed it for potential sale in my children's book store.
I would not recommend this book for kids younger than 14-15, unless they are comfortable with heavy themes of death. All magic in this fictional world is 'dead weight' or pulled from artifacts belonging to the dead.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It's very deft at handling some difficult topics. I highly recommend.
Using a fantasy Ouija board to talk to a ghost boy and solve crimes was not on my bingo board
Armor for Liars is a YA historical fantasy standalone with hints of dark academia and mystery woven throughout. In some ways, I considered it a lighter version of R.F. Kuang's Babel, but I'm sure there are more appropriate comps out there. The premise of this book was especially intriguing to me because I've been in the mood for vengeful ghosts lately, and I thought the use of a ghost narrator was particularly interesting given our POV character could do little to influence the world around him. I do want to mention that despite a portion of the story taking place in an educational setting, I still don't know that I have a grasp on the worldbuilding as a whole. Magic can be performed using equations of sorts, but more powerful magic comes from the use of thews, who are spirits returned from the realm of the dead and essentially enslaved to an enchanter. Everything logically made sense for the most part, but I struggled a bit with understanding the consequences of the magic system because certain characters felt completely overpowered.
Samuel May died for Commonwealth University's insidious Cisneros Society, so when he spots Clementine Quinn, a young woman disguised as a man infiltrating the school, he knows this is his best chance for revenge. But Clem has motives of her own: her mother is a thew somewhere in the school, and Clem intends to free her. Sam and Clem's paths may be intertwined, but as a spirit, there is little Sam can do to protect Clem from the dangers of the Commonwealth. This book is marketed as dark academia, but I would argue that academia actually plays a very limited role in the plot itself (I think the school stops being a common setting by a third of the way through). Instead, it takes on more of a mystery approach, as there are a handful of mysterious deaths that need to be investigated throughout. The mystery plot would have worked better for me if Sam weren't the narrator. As much as I enjoyed his POV, his position as a spirit gives him a lot of knowledge that he can't easily bestow upon the living characters, who would be able to act more impactfully. Sam's overall knowledge took away some of the suspense for me, which contributed to the overall slow pacing of the plot. A large portion of the plot felt like a transition to me, though the pacing did pick up toward the end...almost too much so, as I found the ending a bit anticlimactic. I enjoyed the plot a lot; I just wish it didn't take so long to reach the extra fun parts.
The book focuses on two primary characters: Sam and Clem. Sam is the narrator, though, as I already stated, he can barely influence the world around him. Despite his initial lack of impact in terms of the plot, I found him to be a compelling character. His loneliness made me want to like him, and the way he clearly cared for Clem made him a respectable narrator. I really appreciated the strength of Clem's character as well. She's arguably the protagonist, and she plays her role well. I liked how self-assured she was and her stubbornness when pursuing her goals. Rosetta, Clem's sister, was also a fun character. I was surprised by how relevant she was to the plot, but I was glad she and Clem got to work together in many scenes. I was also shocked by how much I liked Maxwell, a constable who can communicate with Sam. He reminded me a lot of Stanley Forbes from Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson. The antagonists were all written well because I hated them, and their arcs reflected the themes of exploitation demonstrated throughout the book as a whole.
Armor for Liars is a YA historical fantasy featuring a female enchanter and a vengeful spirit on a mission to bring down the institutions that harm them. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!
Book vibe: Secret societies, stolen magic, and a friendship powerful enough to reach beyond death.
Rating: 4 ⭐️s
My thoughts:
Armor for Liars is a YA historical fantasy with mystery, secret societies, and dark academia threads woven throughout. And that premise? Immediately intriguing. Magic is taken from the domain of the dead, but the way these men gain their power is especially disturbing: they claim the spirits of dead women and force them into service. It gave the entire magical world a sinister edge before the story had even truly begun.
The early chapters at Commonwealth University were probably my favorite part. I loved watching Clem disguise herself as a male student and quietly work her way into a realm that was never meant to include her. Add in the secret Cisneros Society, suspicious deaths, and powerful men guarding generations of secrets, and I was fully invested. I do think readers looking for a true dark academia novel may be a little surprised, though. The university setting is mostly limited to the first third of the book. The atmosphere and themes remain, but the story eventually stretches well beyond the school.
Sam and Clem were what kept me emotionally connected to the book. Both characters develop so much, and their relationship slowly becomes the heart of the story. Sam particularly touched me. He is angry, and understandably so, but his heart shows through everything he does. His need for fairness is tied up with grief, loneliness, and an earnest desire to protect Clem from suffering the same fate. I loved watching their trust grow because neither one of them entered this partnership expecting to need the other quite so much.
The magic system is fascinating but also very complex. Sometimes too complex for me, honestly. Sam possesses an enormous amount of knowledge about enchantment, history, politics, and the spirit world, and there were occasions when all that information began to steer the story rather than the characters. I could feel the pace slow whenever the explanations took over. My brain occasionally wanted to raise its hand and request a diagram. Possibly several diagrams.
Still, the combination of mystery and magic works incredibly well, and the story explores strong themes of privilege, power, gender, identity, colonialism, and access to knowledge. There is a lot happening here, maybe more than the plot could always carry smoothly, but I liked how ambitious the story was. It gave me plenty to think about while still making me care deeply about what happened to Sam and Clem.
Armor for Liars wasn’t quite the dark academia story I expected, but it was an imaginative and emotionally layered historical fantasy. The magic occasionally knotted itself, yet the characters, mystery, and haunting premise kept pulling me back in.
Floral Verdict: 🌸 A Peony Beautiful, thoughtful, and ambitious, but its intricate magic system and slower sections may not work for every reader.
“It had been four months and eleven days since my death, and I was here to watch my murderer attend a party.”
I truly don’t think I’ve ever read a book with this type of narration style/POV. Armor for Liars was a unique, creative, and atmospheric historical fantasy with a magic system that immediately stood out. The idea of drawing magic from the realm of the dead (and the ethical questions surrounding it) made for a fascinating world that felt original and unsettling in the best way.
Clem and Sam were both engaging characters, and I especially enjoyed their unlikely partnership as they worked to uncover the secrets surrounding Commonwealth University. Sam’s perspective as a spirit added an emotional element to the story, while Clem’s determination kept the plot moving forward. The themes of power, privilege, and exploitation were woven throughout the story in a way that gave it more depth beyond the mystery.
That said, I do think the marketing as dark academia set different expectations than what the book ultimately delivers. While the university and secret society are central early on, the story quickly shifts into more of a historical fantasy mystery, which wasn’t a bad thing! I just found myself wishing we’d spent more time in that academic setting. The pacing was also a bit uneven, with a slower beginning before the story picked up in the second half.
Even with those minor issues, I really enjoyed the originality of the world, the haunting atmosphere, and the fresh take on magic. If you’re looking for a historical fantasy with ghosts, mystery, and a unique magic system, this is definitely one to check out!
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for this eARC!
Armor for Liars follows our two main characters, Sam and Clem. Now a ghost set on seeking revenge against those who were involved in his death, Sam monitors the Cisneros Society, a secret society woven into the elite academy for young enchanters, Commonwealth. At the arrival of a young woman disguised as a male student at Commonwealth, Sam’s focus shifts to her peculiar actions. He soon learns that she also seeks revenge against an enchanter apart of the Cisneros Society who has imprisoned her late mother’s spirit to draw power from. As Sam continues his own investigations into the Cisneros Society from the spirit realm, he finds himself teaming up with Clem to help expose and take down the Cisneros Society.
This was such a fun read. This book blended together the plot, characters, and setting into a story hard to put down. I loved our two main characters, Sam and Clem, as well as their dynamic. I also found the writing of the Cisneros Society and Commonwealth to tie together very well with the topics spoken on in this book such as difference in race, class, gender etc. The setting had to be my absolute favorite. I enjoyed the academic setting and magic system quite a lot, and found myself sucked right into this world. Overall, this was an incredibly fun read, and I would recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of dark academia- based fantasy books with supernatural elements.
The writing was so interesting. I don’t think I’ve read a book with this type of point of view and writing. It’s definitely very descriptive and detailed. At first, I was confused trying to comprehend, until it was clearer that the point of view I was reading from was from a spirit. With that said. The beginning was confusing but once you grasp it, things get more fast-paced. Meeting Clem was a mystery you can’t quite put together but seeing that side of the school was so valuable for the whole story. Once we know Clem’s real identity things start becoming clearer and clearer. I enjoyed hearing Sam’s side of the story, very tragic but I really liked the timing where that is revealed to us as a reader. Then, we have Clem who wants to free her mother and prove that women can practice magic too. 💯 plot. I loved Clem for being this daring, it was sad seeing her sisters’ fate, I do think that scene missed more emotion. After that, sam and Clem proved to be a great team. Very much enjoyed the ending. I only wish I wasn’t so confused in the beginning it made me read slower than usual
Armor for Liars by S.E. Grove is a wildly original and mesmerizing dark academia fantasy that perfectly blends historical mystery with a haunting magic system. I was completely spellbound by the unique concept of magic being drawn from the realm of the dead, especially with Clementine risking everything in male disguise to infiltrate the elite Cisneros Society. The dynamic between Clem and Sam, the vengeful spirit of a murdered student trying to protect her, adds an amazing layer of emotional depth and high-stakes tension to the plot. While the pacing is definitely more of a slow burn as the secrets of Commonwealth University unfold, the themes of privilege and corruption kept me completely hooked. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it to anyone who loves feminist historical fantasy, ghostly mysteries, and plenty of academic intrigue!
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for giving me an ARC of this book via NetGalley! These thoughts are my own.
I unfortunately DNF'd this book. I really wanted to like it, and there were some parts I did enjoy. The atmosphere of the school was amazing, and I think the plot had a lot of potential. I found the characters to be very unique and interesting to read about.
However, the plot just moved too slowly for my taste. I made it about 20% of the way in, and barely anything had happened. That is great for some people, but it was just too slow for me to enjoy.
If you like slower-paced fantasy books with academic flair, this book is worth checking out. It just wasn't for me.
This book is a pleasure to read with an engaging plot, likeable characters, and a really interesting world. It is truly a YA novel that is just as enjoyable for adults. That being said, it is a little too quickly paced in the second half; it feels like it would be better as a duology.
Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher as a Goodreads Giveaway. A review was requested but not required and the content and star rating are both my own. The edition I received was an Advanced Reader Copy and may differ from the published version.
Thank you Simon Teen for the e-ARC!! 💗 This was such a cool and unique story! I really enjoyed this a lot. It did take me a bit to get into this, but once I did I was invested. The writing is beautiful and very detailed. I absolutely loved our main character Clem and her personality, as well as Sam. Also loved that it was set in the late 1880s! This kind of reminded me of a V.E. Schwab book, so if you enjoy their work I’d especially recommend this. The world-building was so cool and easy to understand as well. I would definitely read a sequel to this or more from this author!
Lyrical prose and third person point of view are not my cups of tea, so I knew getting through this book was going to be a challenge for me. Ultimately, I made the choice not to continue. I am sure this book is great and many readers will enjoy it, but sadly I can’t be one of them! Just my personal preference.
While I thought the characters were likable, I just couldn’t connect to the plot. I found myself dragging to finish this and it’s probably more of me problem. I think this has wonderful potential but for whatever reason I just couldn’t get into it like I wanted to. I think I’d still recommend to others because I do believe this has a lot of ingredients people look for an academia fantasy!
This book meshed together the plot, characters, and setting into an exciting story. I enjoyed the two main characters, Sam and Clem. I was intrigued by the academic setting and magic system. Overall, this was a fun read.