Literally Dead Book Club discussion

For November we're reading the fantasy horror An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson.
This area is for discussing the final 20 or so chapters, and to discuss the book as a whole with full spoilers.

What did you rate the novel?
Will you read from this author again?
What themes did you recognize?
Any favourite scenes or quotes to note?
What was successful and not successful for you?

My GR review for this book was as follows: ”Was this sort of trying to be Harry Potter? Yes. Was the main character an insufferably annoying Mary Sue? Also yes. Was it still entertaining? Yup, lol. I’m typically not the target demographic for a fantasy novel, but I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit more than I thought I would! 3.5 stars, rounded down!”


I would check out other works by this author if I were ever feeling like getting into fantasy. For the most part, I found the book fun and enjoyable. However, virtually all of the characters in the book were unlikable, and this didn’t work for me. I also didn’t like how rushed and chaotic the last third of the book was, and I think the author could have slowed the story down here to better flesh out what was happening. I was also frustrated by how ambiguous the ending was—I wanted more. Overall, this wasn’t a bad book though, and I’m glad I was pushed out of my preferred genres with this one!

DNF at 17%. The writing is atrocious! The protagonist's actions make no sense. She's apathetic and annoying. Everyone else is pancake flat. It's insanely heavy-handed about trauma. Yet devoid of emotions or atmosphere! Already super repetitive! Reminds me of reading The Magicians and I don't need to put myself through that torture again!

I have no feelings about this book. The main character was unlikable, whiny, and childish. Me, me, me! The characters that sounded like they might be interesting were one dimensional . The concept was good, this could have been a great trilogy with the world fully built out, and characters fleshed out. It would have been nice to see the main character actually grown instead of remaining so narcissistic.

⭐⭐ I really didn't like this.

This book read like it was written in 2x speed the way it rushed through everything. Maybe it could've been better as a duology or trilogy to give enough time to world build and let the readers get to know the characters. I would've really liked to know more about the school and it's history. What do these people do after they graduate? All we know is that they make a lot of money.

Also...growing up I would get nose bleeds often. From experience I can say that blood doesn't pool in your cupids bow, it tends to follow gravity and run either straight down over your mouth or down the side, so every time a characters nose bled and it pooled in their cupids bow I would imagine them with giant bowl-shaped upper lips. 🤷‍♀️

What did you rate the novel? 2.5 stars
Will you read from this author again? yes, but one more that I don't like and no
What themes did you recognize? Family and Trauma mostly
Any favourite scenes or quotes to note? nope
What was successful and not successful for you? I really loved the gothic atmosphere of this book. The story line was unique and something I haven't read before.
I did NOT like the characters at all and felt no connection to them therefore this was a fail for me.

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I think this may have functioned better as a trilogy rather than one book. The ending wrapped up everything and explained things so quickly it was a bit jarring after the first two thirds. I also think they could’ve explained things more with more books than the rapid fire explanations we did get. All the relationships in this book were confusing and surface level, and I think they could’ve done with some more filling out too. The characters also were so pompous and irritating, or so bland, I’m not sure there were any I liked by the end. Also, everyone was sooo pale and thin, they could have been sickly, in case anyone missed that, lol. Overall, the concept was really intriguing and I was definitely hooked on finding out what happened next and couldn’t put it down, but I don’t think this would be a strong recommendation from me.

I rated the book as a 3. Lennon was constantly petulant and self-centered. The book could have been shorted by 100 pages or expanded to form a series. The pacing was rushed. I never cared for the romance as a driving plot point. I wanted more about the school, more about learning the art of persuassion, more of the aftermath of the fall of Elieen.I think the atmosphere was fantastic. I enjoy visiting Charleston and Savannah and reading about them in the book. I would read another novel from this author. My favorite scene was when Lennon and the other students were trying to save the school and I really liked learning about the gatekeepers. I think the author should create a sequel due to the ending. I don't think they would leave it so vague.

As the finale was starting my interest perked back up and I thought I might rank this higher, but as the conclusion came, I was disappointed again. The last chapter was especially disappointing. The characters were barely there - and Lennon was very irritating. The atmosphere I liked so much was present only in the beginning and then disappeared and instead we got some dull “action” scenes and even duller romance.
If I had to compare it to then it’s like you combined old teen paranormal romance with Catherine House.
3/5