Armor for Liars
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jul 21, 2026
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A brilliant girl risking it all to infiltrate a secret society of enchanters gets unexpected help from one of their victims—now a vengeful spirit—in this historical dark academia novel by New York Times bestselling author S. E. Grove.
In a world where magic is drawn from the realm of the dead, enchanters—always men—go to great lengths to steal it. Voyaging to the spirit realm, an enchanter will claim a dead woman’s spirit as his own and make her a servant, a tool for his own magical ends. Enchanters maintain great secrecy around their practices, so only a wealthy elite have access to this power: members of a secret society shrouded within Commonwealth University, the nation’s premiere institution for the study of enchantment.
When Sam—the son of islander immigrants of modest means—dared to use magic to blend into the blueblood world of Commonwealth, it cost him his life. Now a spirit, he’s determined to avenge his murder and uncover the secrets of the Cisneros Society from beyond the grave.
When Sam encounters Clementine Quinn, a young woman disguised as a male student at Commonwealth, he quickly sees that Clem is putting herself in grave danger at the school. But as he tries to warn her of the peril, it becomes clear that his past and her fate are inextricably entwined. To avenge his murder and prevent hers, they’ll need to help one another and thereby prove, ultimately, that friendship and love can transcend everything, even death.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Grove (The Waning Age) spins a historical dark feminist tale set in a patriarchal society built upon secretive necromantic magic. In 1882, tenacious teenage Clementine Quinn, who reads as white, secretly trains as a female enchanter during a time when only men "of the correct education, station, and background" are given license to practice magic. Disguising herself as a male student, Clem gains entrance to Massachusetts Commonwealth University, a school dedicated to the study of enchantments. She aims to free her late mother's soul from the Cisneros Society, a group of powerful magic users and the most elite of Massachusetts society, who have a history of murdering and binding women's power to their own as "spirit chained to another man's will for eternity." Meanwhile, restless Latinx-cued ghost Sam, an aspiring enchanter recently murdered by the Cisneros Society, keeps a watchful eye on Clem, who seems unaware that the further she digs into Cisneros, the more precarious her situation becomes. Letters written from Clem to her mother punctuate Sam's sharp first-person POV. As the protagonists join forces, their pursuit of justice and vengeance coalesces into a cunning, high-stakes adventure. Ages 12–up.
