REVIEW: The Lies We Conjure by Sarah Henning

I have received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book through the publisher. This has not affected my rating or review in any way.

Thank you to Macmillan/Tor Teen for sending me an Advance Reader’s Copy of The Lies We Conjure!

Sarah Henning, author of The Princess Will Save You trilogy and the Sea Witch duology's new standalone lives up to its comps- Knives Out meets The Inheritance Games with magic and witches. It's the perfect spooky mystery for this upcoming autumn.

Ruby and Wren Jourdain are ordinary sisters working the falafel stand at their local Renaissance faire. That is, until they're approached by an elderly woman with an offer impossible to give up: impersonate her two estranged granddaughters Lavinia and Kaysa Blackgate at her family reunion, for $2,000 each. Though, when the sisters arrive at the Hegemony manor, not everything is as it seems. The family- or should I say, families- possess magical powers, make up a coven of witches, and their matriarch has been found dead.

Thus begins the spooky and magical locked-manor mystery, and Ruby and Wren must keep up with their not-so-mortal appearances to make it out alive.

I absolutely adored this novel, so much so that I devoured it all in one sitting. The characters were well written, and all of the twists and turns had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I loved the relationships between all of the characters, and how quick they were to forget them and turn on each other made for such a wonderfully dramatic and high-stakes mystery novel.

My only faults with this book would be, for starters, the pacing. We kind of jump right into the action after a very short first chapter just barely introducing the girls. After that, it's up to the reader to figure out who the girls are, as there's no development before the actual plot kicks in. My only other issue is that this is a standalone! I want more from this world, and I hope that one day Sarah Henning revisits it. (I'd love a Wren and Evander spin-off novel, please!)

I'd highly recommend this novel to anyone who loves a good mystery, like A Good Girl's Guide To Murder, and doesn't mind a touch of magic with them. I give The Lies We Conjure 4 out of 5 stars.

The Lies We Conjure by Sarah Henning will be available on September 17th, 2024.

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