4 Stars

This story follows Cayder as he works as an apprentice to a lawyer. While assisting him on one case, a boy who killed his father, he discovered his sister is also in jail. After short convincing the war he is working under takes his sister‘s case. He learns his sister is in jail for killing 300 people in town by setting it all on fire using edem {magic}. Why working on that case the boy was pulled away for a more serious case Cayder Who did not accept that there was a case more important than his sister argues with the lawyer just to discover the case was for the princess. After talking with the princess putting together what his sister has told him he came up with a plan to expose the Regency {basically like government}. This story follows along their journey of overthrowing the Regency and they also discover all three cases he was working tied together for the most part.

The only downfall of this story is it does have a cliffing and there is no top of this being a series so it’s just a little confusing. Also did take me a half minute to get into the story but other than that it is a great story.

I'll be honest, I can't exactly pinpoint it, but I am a bit upset by this book because I wanted more. More of the magic, more from the characters and a LOT from the ending. Just more of a lot of things. Honestly, there is a lot of YES in this book, like the courtroom drama, but I find myself just saddened by the things that I wanted from it more.

What I liked:
League of Liars contains some very entertaining elements that make for the perfect Fantasy Thriller. If you have been missing Six of Crews, pick up League of Liars. Served up for you in this story is a Unique magic system, fantastical worldbuilding, sibling drama, family drama, an unexpected crew of misfits, a corrupt government, and of course, a few mysterious secrets being held back. The magic system is based around the shadows of the world being infused with magic, and of course, it is illegal to use it. You can be identified as using cause it leaves a mark on your skin. Courtroom drama plays out throughout the book as we uncover each character's crimes and why they are in prison. Our main character is the sibling to one of them and an apprentice, so we get to see a lot of court politics. The story unfolds as things are changed in the world due to events that have resulted from these characters' crimes.
Final Verdict:
I was on the edge of my seat as I listened to the story play out, and the dark secrets I did not see coming played out. The author has crafted a unique story with outstanding elements to draw you in. In the next book, I am sure we will see a whole other side of this world and the creatures that exist though the government says they don't. What is really on the other side of the mysterious veil, and is edem as bad as they been lead to believe?
Audiobook Review:
A wide cast of characters with the right voices makes this an enjoyable audio read. I had no problem keeping track of who was talking and where the scene was going from the previous chapter. The audiobook is a real treat for this story as you feel like a movie is being acted out, and you get caught up in the story. Well worth it.

Thank you NetGalley and PenguinTeen for an eARC of League of Liars!

Unfortunately, I don’t have a great review to write. I dragged through this book. I was pretty excited to pick it up since it was compared to Six of Crows, but other than being a YA fantasy, the comparisons stop there.

At first, I thought that I was having a difficult time getting into the story because it’s pretty fantasy-based; it takes place in a different world, there’s magic, there’s something ominous going on…but as I read the story, I realized it wasn’t me struggling, but the story. I feel like things are explained awkwardly. The characters are also awkward with each other—I felt like their bonds were superficial at best. (I also couldn’t stand Kema referring to Cayder as “Boy Wonder” the whole time.)

I feel like this story had a lot of potential, but it never really met that potential. The world-building felt confusing and underdeveloped& the characters were stunted. It feels like reading a third draft of a story—better than the first draft, but still has a ways to go before reaching the final draft. I honestly dragged through a lot of it. It’s slow up until the first 25%, then it picks up a little bit, and then there’s even more dragging. Sometimes I felt like I was forcing myself to read it and other times I wanted to keep reading.

Lastly, it wasn’t entirely clear if this was going to be a series or not. I’m hoping for the sake of everybody who reaches the end that it is. If not, that would be even more disappointing because there are a lot of loose ends.

Overall, I gave it a 3/5 stars. I’m glad I had the chance to read it, but it feels forgettable. I won’t be raving about this YA fantasy, unfortunately. I do hope that somebody finds it and loves it, but that person isn’t me.

My review is already live on Goodreads.

Initial Thoughts
I love everything Astrid Scholte writes. She's basically the queen of stand alone, thought provoking, cliffhanger riddle masterpieces and I was expecting nothing less here.

Some Things I Liked
Multiple POVs. I loved the storytelling in this one and I thought the different POVs only enhanced the lies, secrets, and mysteries. Cayder is a perfect narrator but I loved hearing from Leta and Jey as well.
The mysteries and plot twists. They were so good! I felt like I saw some of them coming but then the things I did see coming only veiled the bigger twists. So good.
The Prison Healer meets Six of Crows. I was not expecting such strong heist vibes from this book and I loved them. Again, props to Cayder's narration because he made it all the more fun to read.

Series Value
There's nothing I'd like more than a sequel to this book. Astrid Scholte is so good at leaving me desperate for more so I'm not sure if this one is intentionally open ended or if we will be blessed with a sequel. Fingers crossed.

Final Thoughts
Y'all. This book is so good. Trust me. Add it to your TBRs.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed reading this but the jailbreak doesn’t happen until halfway through so I think putting it in the premise is a bit spoiler-y. It had really good build up, interesting world and magic system. The ending felt a bit rushed. But I'm definitely interested in reading the next book.

I was immediately taken by the synopsis and the cover. There is so much to love about this story and I hope that this becomes a series or at least a duology because THAT ENDING. I have to know what happens next and of course, there is now this group of people who are off on the next adventure and I have become attached.

The setting was great, the characters were hilarious, smart, and well written, I LOVED the plot as well as the magic system. The different POVs did not take away from the story and I found myself loving how each point of view added another puzzle piece to the growing plot. I was surprised so many times and couldn't quite figure Jey out but when his character was finally revealed in all his glory, I was thrilled. This is being advertised as for fans of Six of Crows and I totally get that. It's like a reverse heist with that similar dark and grimy tone that I love in so many stories. I would even go as far as saying this book gives me Caraval by Stephanie Garber vibes due to how puzzle-solving Cayder, as well as the reader, goes through.

I had a lot of theories throughout this book and some of them were right and some of them were not. Still, I enjoyed this book so much and I really hope there is another one because I am not done with the world of Telen.

A split between a worlds leaks Magic into one. This kind of magic can stop time and has magical consequences that can sometimes lead to death. Our main character works for a court that locks up people who abuse the law and use this magic.

From the start we’re thrown into this world and action, bust sadly the world and characters lacked for me. The story seemed a bit underdeveloped and forced in some areas. Even though I liked the idea, sort of reminded me of Fantastical Beasts in that way with the justice system and magic.

Astrid Scholte’s League of Liars was not what I expected. The book’s blurb compares the story to Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows and as such, I expected camaraderie and lots of heists. In actuality, there was only one heist, and I would not say that it was main focus of the book.

My other problem with Scholte’s upcoming release is the ending. The book is not advertised as the start of a new series and yet, the story ends on a cliffhanger. Many plot lines are also left unresolved, so it will be interesting to see if a sequel is picked up. If Scholte does end up writing a sequel, then I will most likely read it. I liked Scholte’s exploration of the injustices within the criminal justice system, and I am excited see what direction a potential sequel could take.

Many thanks to the NetGalley and Penguin Teen for e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to PenguinTeen for the early digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had high hopes for this book as I’m a bit of a sucker for anything with SIX OF CROWS as a comp title. But… I’m not making any direct comparison to SoC as I see how this cook can fall into the very general “heist” category. I thought Scholte’s FOUR DEAD QUEENS was fine so I wanted to give her another go.

I enjoyed the unique fantasy setting and the world the author created, though the first couple of chapters felt like massive info-dumping which I wasn’t a fan of. I struggled a bit to get a real grasp on the setting sometimes as it felt…generic? There were some neat aspects of the world though, like the edem in general and transportation. It felt kind of steampunk-ish. There’s a whole aspect of edem and trying to understand it that made me feel just as confused as some of the characters.

I’d like to understand why the author chose to write one 1st person POV while the rest of the main characters were written in 3rd person. Oddly enough it was a bit of a distraction and not an easy switch for me to make. To be honest, I didn’t really care for any of the characters and seemed very bland.

You can obviously tell that this book has the hope of being a series because it definitely ended on a cliffhanger and left you with a lot of questions, with more to be discovered. With the discussions of the “veil” and how time is manipulated I almost thought the “other side” would be the modern world, almost like a portal fantasy.

Thank you for sending me a widget for this book! I loved it. The sci-fi magic system, the twisty mystery. Can't wait to talk about it on my IG when I get a finished copy!

Where to start with this book? First of all, I wish publishers would stop comparing books to Six of Crows. Other than the rag-tag group of teens doing very un-teenagery things, these two books have nothing in common and it really sets the reader up for confusion.

So, that aside, League of Liars starts off the way all of Astrid Scholte's books start: with a unique world that has rules that seem to make a lot of sense and benefit everyone. As the story progresses, we learn that things are maybe a little more complicated than we first believed. Cayder is main character (the one who gets a first person POV), and we get to discover the problems of the world along with him, which feels really natural and allows for character development. The other 3 POVs (Leta, Jey, and Eleanora) all reveal things over time and their secrets bring some great twists to the story.

The story starts as a courtroom drama with users of the illegal shadow magic that permeates the city being held accountable for murders, but it eventually changes to become a jailbreak, which is when the plot starts really picking up.

I liked the story, but I found it hard to really connect to any of the characters. This might be because there were so many points of view, while it wasn't actually that long of a book. I also thought that Cayder's romance storyline was a little out of the blue and I wasn't feeling it all all, while the other romance storyline was much more believeable and I wished there was more of that one (I won't say more because...spoilers!

I think this book would be great for fans of this author's previous books, and anyone who likes YA fantasy novels.

I enjoyed the premise of this book. I thought that it was a very interesting concept and fairly different than other fantasy books I have read. However, I wish the pacing and the storyline had been written differently. After finishing the book, I understand why all of the characters were introduced the way they were so early on in the novel, but having almost 100 pages of basically exposition was not fun for me. I like how their stories came together in the end, but I wish that Scholte had introduced them to the story differently. There were a lot of twists in this story, and the characters were pretty enjoyable, however I feel like there is a LOT to be explored in this story and I hope that there is a sequel purely just to make the rules of the world more clear.

I was so excited to start League of Liars when I heard fans of Six of Crows might like this book. However I was left rather disappointed. There are some beautiful world building aspects that the author paints in such a gorgeous light but I found the element of plot dragged a little. The beginning was a little slow to get in to and then I felt the middle of the book was very rushed with the trail as well as bringing down the Regency. The pacing just felt rather off to me especially because there seemed to be so much crammed into the last 20% of the book. It didn’t captivate me as much as I had hoped and I found the book to just drag a little bit. It also felt messy switching from the different POVs because to me it didn’t flow that well.
That being said I did love getting to know the character’s personalities as the book progressed. And I love the relationship between Jey and Leta. As I mentioned before the world building was very well done and I liked how thoughtfully crafted the magic system was.
The writing definitely has a lot of potential and I’m excited to see what else the author has to offer.

First thoughts...
Now, now, now...wait just a minute. You cannot just end it there! Why you gotta do us like that?!

Now, the more composed thoughts...
Wow, this book! If you ever wanted to read a more fantastical version of Law & Order, this is totally one to check out. It's this insane mix of fantasy/murder mystery with plenty of unexpected twists throughout. Astrid Scholte has a way of telling these really crazy mashed-up stories and I am completely here for it. The worldbuilding felt seamless, I instantly was engrossed in Telene and it's unique magic, edem, and the court hierarchy.

The story is set up so you get to know each character in their respective chapters and their individual stories as they slowly start to weave together as the mystery unfolds. Creating a greater depth to each character and also adding in more shock-factor for some of their actions later in the book.
"...Turns out, it's hard to talk after your jaw falls off your face and turns to dust." Jey was by far my favorite character! :)

I can definitely see this story as one you either love or hate. There's a lot going on and there's a lot of concepts intertwined into the plot that you have to just hang onto and go with. I personally found it so fun and unique! It held my attention easily from the first chapter, a definite five star read for me! And that cover is just the most eye-catching.



Big thank you to PenguinTeen via NetGalley for the e-ARC to read and honestly review. I cannot wait to see the art that might be included in the finished copy!

It is so rare that I just 100% don’t get along with a book, and unfortunately this was just one of them. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the review copy, but this was a DNF for me, I’m sorry!

*I received an e-ARC from Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an honest review. *
League of Liars is described as How to Get Away With Murder meets Six of Crows, and I definitely got those vibes while reading. It leaned more heavily toward the HTGAWM vibes versus Six of Crows. It was a really unique fantasy, in that it’s more of an urban fantasy than a traditional one. I enjoyed the world building, and it was refreshing to find a world more similar to ours depicted in a fantasy.

The book follows Cayder Broduck as he starts his summer apprenticeship with a public defender. He soon gets more than he bargained for as he finds out his sister is arrested for a horrible crime. The majority of the book revolves around Cayder trying to help his sister and her case. It was interesting seeing a YA book focused on a legal system and court hearings. The jailbreak part takes place towards the end of the book and definitely was more fast paced.

I enjoyed this different type of YA Fantasy, however would have loved more action. I also hope they expand on the magic system in the next book and give more explanation. The characters are great and I loved getting to know them. I have a feeling the next book will be more eventful with how this book ended.

Thank You Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an arc, here is my honest review.

3.75

League of Lairs is honestly a fun read that had me guessing what would happen next. The best thing about this book is the characters and how they are connected.

A few cons I found with this story is the world building at times was more information dumb, especially at the end. Everything felt like it was happening very fast. I also wished that magic was used more instead of talked about. And though I liked all these characters, there wasn’t much development except for Cayder. Hopefully if this becomes a series we will have more development.

Overall this is a fun read and I’m looking forward to the next book if there is one.

Incredible!
5/5 stars!

*Big thanks to Penguin Teen for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

This book pulled me in from the very beginning. From the world building to the courtroom drama to the amazing group of characters. I really connected with them and grew to care about what happens to them.

The format for this book was awesome. I love the inclusion of the official documents. I thoroughly enjoy when a book has multiple storylines and this book did not disappoint. It was so much fun theorizing as to how each story would come together. I just love how this story unfolds. Things would be introduced and then later down the line there would be a callback to it.

Ok, so back to the characters. I love this ragtag crew so much. It was so easy to get to know them, sympathize with them and understand their motivations. I am obsessed with Jey. All it takes is a few sarcastic and witty remarks and I just melt ha!

"I know what it feels like to take a punch. Now I need someone to help me fight back."

The whole concept of the Edem and how people can wield it super interesting. This world is so fascinating.

Multiple povs, fantasy/crime mashup, League of Liars kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat throughout the entire story. Trust me. Once you start reading this book, you will not be able to put it down.

I would LOVED to see this adapted as a tv show. Somebody please get on that ha!

4.5**

This was SO GOOD!! LOVED everything about this book!! The only reason it’s not a full 5 stars is for the pacing! It was not the best pacing at some parts of the book. BUT that’s such a minor detail compared to all the goodness that’s in the book. Characters were amazing, plot was amazing, setting was amazing. Excited for book #2...?