League of Liars by Astrid Scholte

League of Liars by Astrid Scholte
Narrator: Graham Halstead, Susan Bennett, Raymond J. Lee, Emily Shaffer
Published by Allen & Unwin
Published on 22 February 2022
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Social Issues, Young Adult
Format: Audiobook
Source: my local library
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RRP: $24.99

In this fantasy thriller, four teens charged with murder and the illegal use of magic band together to devise the ultimate jailbreak. Perfect for fans of Six of Crows and How to Get Away with Murder.
Ever since his mother was killed, seventeen-year-old Cayder Broduck has had one goal—to see illegal users of magic brought to justice. People who carelessly use extradimensional magic for their own self-interest, without a care to the damage it does to society or those around them, deserve the worst kind of punishment as far as Cayder is concerned. Because magic always has a price. So when Cayder lands a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to apprentice under a premier public defender, he takes it. If he can learn all the tricks of public defense, the better he’ll be able to dismantle defense arguments when he’s a prosecutor. Then he’ll finally be able to punish the guilty without mercy.
But when he meets the three criminals he’s supposed to defend, it no longer seems so black and white. They’re teenagers, like him, and their stories are . . . complicated, like his. Vardean, the prison where Cayder’s new clients are incarcerated, also happens to be at the very heart of the horrible tear in the veil between their world and another dimension—where all magic comes from.
League of Liars is a dark and twisty mystery set in a richly-drawn world where nothing is as it seems, rife with magic, villains and danger.

League of Liars is not what I was expecting, but I still really enjoyed it.

I thought the book was very well plotted, with distinct and well-rounded characters. I really enjoyed the chaos of the magic system and I thought it was more of an original take than what we usually get in YA fantasy: rather than giving magic powers to people, anyone can access this magic but the results are often unpredictable and dangerous. I also thought the book was very well written in general, with good word choices that impacted engagement and entertainment, as well as a mystery that once it kicked in, I became invested in. It definitely didn’t feel like a thriller to me, more straight-up fantasy.

I will note that I don’t really care for any of the characters except for Cayder, and I’m not sure if it was because the first two prisoners were very clearly lying about the details regarding their incarceration so it made it hard to sympathise and empathise with them and thus, difficult to get attached to. It wasn’t until a VIP was introduced and the hint of a conspiracy arrived that I felt myself getting invested. I will also add that the story kind of revolves around a bunch of rich and privileged kids, so again I did find it a bit hard to empathise with their plight.

I also really loved watching Cayder’s characterisation progress, from self-righteous prosecutor to being willing to break the rules for entirely personal reasons. It was kind of fun watching him unravel a bit but pull himself back together.

However, I personally am just not that interested in the legal process, so having the book spend rather a lot of time on that before it got to the heist just means that I don’t feel like I was the target audience – which is fine! Not every book is going to be for every person. I was considering quitting at about 20%, but I’m glad I kept going because when the truth came out, I was happy to have stuck with it.

I listened to the audiobook and I think the narrators did a fine job of their reading.

I think this book is very well written and I’m very excited to read the other books by the author that I already own. I’ll shout from the rooftops that this is a fantastic book for those who do love legal processes, politics, mysteries, and jail heists in their fantasy, with really interesting magic systems and great world-building and characterisation.

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