I received an advance reader’s copy (ARC) of The Lies We Conjure by Sarah Henning. Since this version is just a proof and not the final version, I won’t quote directly and will keep my comments general.

In The Lies We Conjure by Sarah Henning, sisters Ruby and Wren are working part-time jobs to supplement their meager college fund, when they’re approached by a strange woman. She offers to pay them to impersonate her granddaughters at a dinner party. Two grand each, for a single night. The girls, stunned at the too-good-to-be-true offer, agree. Once at the party, however, things take a turn. Within an hour, the hostess has died in mysterious circumstances, the gates of the grounds are locked, and there’s an actual magic spell in place. If the surviving party guests—all of whom except for Ruby and Wren are apparently witches—don’t solve the murder in three days, they’ll be trapped by the spell forever. But for Ruby and Wren, the stakes are even higher, because no one here knows they’re not witches, too, and they dread to know what will happen to them if their secret is uncovered.

Where I live, it’s still way too hot to qualify as being autumn, but my reading is taking on a decidedly Halloween vibe nonetheless. And this book has such a fantastic premise—locked room murder, witches, secret identities. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, too, very eerie and tense, and complemented by the ominous setting that is Hegemony Manor. This place is an excellent mix of Agatha Christie manor house and a magical haunted castle.

The characters are also great. I worried initially when we were introduced to so many people at the party, but keeping them straight ended up being pretty easy. I also think that having the POV alternate between Ruby, a normal teen girl swept up in an impossible situation, and Auden, one of the Hegemony heirs who knows this world so well, was a great choice. Seeing their different thoughts and feelings about the situation was an intriguing way to tell the story, especially because the reader ends up knowing more than both of them combined about what’s happening.

As for the world-building, it was generally quite good. I would have liked to understand in a little more depth how the magic worked, but the lore that was present was interesting. And I liked how Henning established the basics, then revealed limitations to what the characters know. It’s cool when an author knows the rules well enough to push the boundaries, in order to make plot twists and dramatic reveals effective.

I think the story suffers a little in terms of the romantic subplot between Ruby and Auden, however. It just wasn’t interesting at all to me, because I was much more invested in the magic and murder. I know being trapped in close proximity with someone, especially someone who (to Auden, at least) is a childhood friend. On Ruby’s end, I don’t understand how she could bring herself to trust him, considering the circumstances. So this part of the story didn’t really do it for me.

That aside, though, as the plot progresses toward the tense ending, it’s pretty exciting. The final act sweeps in with some wonderful twists and turns, and high stakes that make it hard to stop reading. There are some somewhat violent moments, but nothing that teens couldn’t handle.

In the end, The Lies We Conjure is a dark, exciting read. The setting is amazing, the magic system is decent, and the pacing is great. I really liked a lot of the characters, especially Wren and Auden and even Infinity (though the latter didn’t have quite as much to do as I’d have liked). If you want a good autumnal mystery with an eerie magical twist, read this!

The Lies We Conjure will be published on September 17th, 2024!