Alexis Henderson and I have an interesting relationship when it comes to author and reader. I thoroughly enjoyed her debut novel, The Year of the Witching, from the plot to the setting, to the sheer atmosphere that her writing enveloped the story in. So you can imagine how disappointed I was that I just couldn't get into her sophomore novel, House of Hunger, and basically just DNF'd the whole of it. And that brings us to here, with her third novel, An Academy of Liars, which sits somewhere in the middle of that DNF and that unanticipated but utterly gripping debut. 

To start, nothing about the characterization, world-building, relationship dynamics (especially the friendship dynamics) or execution was exceptional. But something about the writing was. It didn't quite capture the hauntingly pervasive tone of her debut, but the premise was enticing and the dark academic vibes were strong and the psychological queries that were raised were speaking my name.

Granted, I did take a hot minute to finish it, which means I did put it down.

Because while the plot had the groundwork to grow into something spectacular, none of it ever really came to fruition. A lot of this novel starts out so well, but doesn't really build into more. The characters never really amount into anything more than their foundations - Lennon comes into her powers but never really changes or develops as a person, Dante is so mired in his past that he never really feels rooted in the romance he's supposed to develop with Lennon, and literally every other side character feels like an afterthought; a means to an end that never really enacts any sense of finality. The world-building was serviceable; I never felt like I could step into the world that the author was creating but I wished that it was developed more because there was definitely potential. 

The relationship dynamics were easily the weakest point of the novel; Lennon and Dante felt inevitable, but forced, Lennon and her supposed friends never had any depth to their connections and felt disposable other than for their contributions to further the plot, and Carly was a disappointment because she was tether for Lennon towards her past and she was cast aside the moment her usefulness was extracted.

But I think my biggest disappointment in the story was how cavalierly death was treated. Murder was rampant which wasn't the issue, but the loss of life never really registered as anything more than plot-service. The plethora of deaths meant nothing in the grand scheme of things, and more importantly, there wasn't any value in them.

And yet, overall, despite me having an overwhelming number of qualms with this read, I can appreciate that Alexis Henderson had a great idea for a story. I just didn't enjoy much of the execution. And I can still see myself reading from her again, because something about her writing does call out to me. 

I just wish I enjoyed this more than I did. Which means Alexis Henderson and I still have quite an interesting relationship when it comes to author and reader. And I look forward to exploring it further, maybe if her sequel to The Year of the Witching ever comes into being.