I want to thank there publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I also want to state upfront that I did DNF this book at around 20%. I wanted to leave a review, not to discuss the actual story elements as I do think there's an interesting plot, but rather to point out the issues that ultimately lead me to not finishing the story.

The opening chapter was quite gripping and pulled me in initially. However, as I progressed, I found the repetitive exposition increasingly jarring. It felt as though previous events were being restated almost verbatim every few pages, which disrupted the flow and immersion. For instance, even by chapter 6, key plot points were still being reiterated. This left me feeling as though the author was over-explaining or underestimating the reader's ability to retain information.

Certain aspects of the world-building also strained credibility. For example, the explanation for the protagonist's state in the dungeon, given the described conditions and timeframe, didn't quite hold up logically.

Similarly, the use of modern-day allusions (e.g., 'I'm no princess bound in a tower') felt anachronistic and pulled me out of the established fantasy world. I would have preferred comparisons that were more integrated into the unique lore of Miridran, especially given the intriguing stories of Morta.

Furthermore, I noted inconsistencies in the lore itself. At 4%, it's stated that 'everyone takes [Morta's] hand' and 'refusing death is impossible,' yet later (at 16%) Eremis is described as having refused her. These contradictions made it difficult to fully invest in the world's established rules. Is it impossible or is it not?

The overt explanation of dangers, when the performers are welcomed, particularly the detailed commentary on spying risks felt a bit too 'on the nose' and unnecessary.

Ultimately, by around 20% I found myself struggling to stay engaged and was continuously pulled out of the story by these recurring issues. I decided to DNF at this point as the reading experience had become more of a chore than an enjoyment.

Perhaps this book is more suited to a YA audience or those less bothered by repetition and inconsistencies.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the e-ARC!

A Dance of Lies follows Vasalie, who has been in prisoned by her king and most trusted friend for the past two years. Despite the chronic pain that this has left her with, the king gives her a mission: infiltrate a gathering of all the nearby kingdom's leaders as a dancer and a spy in exchange for her freedom.

What works: Illian and Vasalie's fathers are both wonderful villains. They're cunning, clever, and very, very easy to hate. Additionally, the vivid descriptions of the palace were wonderful! Vasalie frequently explores the different performance areas and wings of the court and even the secret tunnels. It made for a wonderful backdrop for the plot.

For what doesn't work: The romances. First, every single person that sets eyes on Vasalie is immediately enamored with her. Within the first 20 percent, she had at least 3 different love interests. One drops off pretty quickly, but then we're subjected to a love triangle that I really did not care for. Neither man seemed like they really KNEW Vasalie and just started reciting poetry for her without a ton of buildup. There were time skips in the middle of days or weeks where I feel we could have used development between the romantic leads, but it was skipped over. Suddenly, the characters had just spent three weeks together all day, every day off page and saying how they cant get the other out of their head. I'm sorry, I can't root for that! Later, each love interest does something to offend Vasalie so she goes and seeks comfort with her other man, and this happened what felt like a couple times!

I really appreciate Brittney Arena's attempt at representation with chronic pain, but in my opinion that representation doesn't make up for the frustration I felt whenever Vasalie interacted with a member of the opposite sex.

Truly such a magical romantasy book. I tend to find romantasy books all seem to be the same, but this one not only stood out but made a stand. I loved it so much

This debut fantasy from Brittney Arena is loaded with good stuff you will love:
😈deception
😈spying
❤️crazy good banter
❤️unclear love interest
💯palace intrigue
💯feminine rage
😈SLOW BURN no spice yet but so much chemistry it’s crazy.

Vasalie is a dancer who’s been in prison for a crime she did not commit, released to spy for the king in a dangerous game…

Once I picked it up it was UNPUTDOWNABLE and I could not guess where the plot was going. The twists kept me guessing all the way to the end.

2.5. Massive like-hate relationship with this one.

It started promising, with Vasalie having been imprisoned in the dungeon for two years for a crime she did not commit. She was restrained with very little ability to move for a large amount of that time, and is left incredibly weak. In exchange for her freedom, she is tasked to spy for the king that imprisoned her by posing as the dancer that she was before her imprisonment. But is seems that her fragility and pain from imprisonment may not be something that she cannot fully recover from, and she may never be able to dance at the level she did before.

All of this sounded promising, but the execution left a lot to be desired. Vasalie comes up with a way to creatively improve her dances, but she's still pushing past her limits regularly, with seemingly no consequences. It felt really difficult to believe that her disability did not impede her in any material way throughout the entire book, despite having to constantly dance and do other physical activity.

She becomes attached to whats-his-face, the master of revels(? i think?) through a time skip that basically says "they practiced a lot together and became close," which felt lazy. She's consistently told to do things for the king or else lose her chance at freedom, and she doesn't even try to work around these orders that she doesn't want to do. She displays little to no personality throughout the entire book, and at least 3 men end up having the hots for her.

That all being said, I did enjoy some of the political machinations going on, and I enjoyed king number 2. The mythology has promise. Unfortunately, I don't think the positives made up for the negatives.

ARC Review of A Dance of Lies by Brittney Arena – ★★★½

I love a fantasy rooted in royal courts and tangled with political intrigue, and A Dance of Lies delivered exactly that—with a compelling blend of tension, romance, and an honest portrayal of chronic pain. Following Vasalie, a dancer turned spy, was such a ride. Her character arc kept me engaged, and I found myself fully invested in both the budding romance and the shifting political landscape.

One of the standout elements for me was how the author portrayed chronic illness and disability. Vasalie’s refusal to be defined by her condition was empowering and refreshing to read.

I found this a little difficult to get into as it was very Throne of Glass-coded, especially in the first few chapters. The characters were well a little underdeveloped in some areas, and therefore I didn’t connect with them in quite the same way as other books. The exploration of disability in a FMC was appreciated as well. Probably more like 3.75 stars in my opinion.

Del Rey took a chance on me when they sent me A Dance of Lies by Brittney Arena to review and oh man am I thankful they did because I really enjoyed this book!
The way Arena created a world with really interesting characters, and a plot that is atually plotting, which is worth your time to read. Sometimes a book get a lot of hype on TikTok and social media and I'm left disappointed, but not here!
The main character, Vasalie, was the favorite dance of the king but then is imprisoned for a crime she didn't commit. She's weak, sick, and feeling hopeless until she's pulled out of her cell to be offered a chance to dance again as a spy for the King. She struggles with a physical disability and I loved that it felt realistic throughout the story.
The banter is good, and the writing is great! There really isn't spice in book, but there is tension for sure. I'd say it's romantasy leaning towards Fantasy for sure.
Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for allowing me access to this book for review!

An absolutely stunning debut! This will have you hooked and more. I think the romantasy genre is getting a bit crowded but this distinguishes itself so well. I can't wait for the next one!

ARC review

It's quite refreshing to have a FMC that is not a fighter. However, I feel like the book is too slow - I started to be fully interested in the story at around 70%. Still, it's a decent start of a series and wonder where the next one will be heading. (Rating 3.5/5)

A Dance Of Lies is Brittney Arena's debut novel.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I absolutely loved this book!
The mistery, the intrigue, the tension, the YEARNING! Everything was perfect.

The FMC, Vasalie, a dancer turned spy had such a strong character development. She went through a lot, but every setback only made her stronger. She was a very relatable character. Powerless, scared, a pawn in the crowns games, but also very very brave.

The story has a beautiful romance subplot with a few interesting men where you can't decide who you're rooting for. There's no spice but a lot of tension and yearning.

The writing style was very lyrical and descriptive. The author created a beautiful world with an interesting history and politics.

I can't wait to read the next book. That ending left me with so many questions and theories!

Thank you to @randomhouse, @netgalley and the author for the e-ARC to read and review.

Tropes:
✨ Chronic pain/Disability rep
✨ Court Intrigue
✨ Spying
✨ Dancer FMC
✨ Enemies To Lovers
✨ Betrayal

4.25☆

This was a beautiful, in-depth exploration of grief and mental health in the first part of the book, which is initially what hooked me. Even as we move further in, the trauma Vasalie endured doesn't vanish, she has to deal with it for the rest of the story, often at inconvenient moments.

Her relationship with her stepmother was quite possibly my favorite in the book, and it's sad we only got to see it through brief flashbacks and references to memories. It really underscores how incredibly blatant her lack of ANY female support system is in present day. She's surrounded by men, both good and bad, who she interacts with on a regular basis. But not one female/NB friend to be found, which seems like such an odd choice, when so many of these men could've been women without changing anything about the plot. Hell, I would've loved if Copelan had just been a tall, muscular woman as her dance partner. Especially given the references to Copelan being pansexual, so it wouldn't have impacted the briefly romantic subplot.

I also really enjoyed the mythos around this book, the personification of death especially.

Unfortunately, the romance plot wasn't to my taste, but I'm just burned out on men being cocky & overprotective as a form of flirting, as well as being "morally grey" or "bad" but secretly being the best good guy behind the curtain. I still think there were some really sweet, realistic moments there, they were just in line with tropes that have been done over and over again.

The ending was lovely, however. I love books with consequences & prophecies, and I definitely enjoyed this setup. The political intrigue kept me going. I live for convoluted plotting.

Thank you to NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was the perfect mix of tension, romance, suspense and emotional pain that I crave in a romantasy!

The story follows Vasalie Moran, a disabled dancer falsely convicted of murder who is forced to turn spy for King Ilian in order to gain her freedom. She is thrusted into The Gathering, where she performs for the kings, royals and nobles of the realm and catches the eye of King Anton.

Although this one started a little slowly for me, at the 25% mark it was quickly filled with betrayal, lies and a budding romance that had me hooked all the way through. Alongside beautifully written world building, the mysteries that were revealed left me with more questions than answers in the most annoyingly great way.

Both Vasalie and Anton were characters I absolutely adored. Vasalie didn’t have the confidence that most romantasy FMCs have, but her ability to hope in the direst of circumstances made it impossible to not admire her. Anton was witty, fun, mysterious and held so many secrets that both Vasalie and I were desperate to know. He slightly reminded me of (our top book boyfriend) Rhysand in the best way. As the story progresses Anton and Vasalie begin to truly see each other and are both dangerously and inexplicably drawn together (damning the consequences). Their slow-burn developed at the perfect pace with them slowly progressing away from being enemies.

And EXCUSE ME?!?! THAT ENDING? I am utterly devastated and need book 2 ASAP!

Accidentally submitted the wrong review for this book. I will update the review once I am able. I am unable to delete feedback sent.

10/10 all around. I loved every single second. I need the next book yesterday and this one isn’t even released yet. Was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and honestly? It’s March and I can already say this might take top read of the whole year already.

This was an ambitious debut fantasy novel, and while I didn't love it, I do appreciate what it was trying to accomplish. I think we need more fantasy with diverse characters, and this is one of the few romantasy I've seen with a disabled character. Unfortunately, I wish we had seen more of it, instead of just being told about it. Vasalie mentions how often she is in pain due to what she experienced, but it never stops her from doing anything she needs to do. As someone who has chronic pain, I wish we could have seen her struggle more, because while you can be strong and push through what needs to be done, sometimes you can't. Parts of the story I enjoyed, such as some of the plot points I didn't see coming, and the descriptions of the places we went. Others I found I didn't care for, such as the multiple love interests, and the repetition of the dances Vasalie performed (along with other repetition found throughout the story that made the writing feel overwritten). Overall, this unfortunately wasn't for me, but I would be interested to see what this author writes after this.

I’ve seen this all over social media and really hoped that it loved up to the hype! And personally, I believe it did for the most part. It was a new take on the romantasy genre, with some great twists included towards the end. The storyline did take a little while to build to anything incredibly engaging, as there was a lot of politics and world building to contend with, but it was still an enjoyable story nonetheless.
Thank you to Brittney Arena, Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is an incredibly captivating story that drew me in from page 1 snd kept me on my toes the entire time. I want to be Vasalie and her growth through out the book was perfection.

2.5⭐️ Thank you Del Rey and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited about A Dance of Lies, which was a combination of the beautiful cover, intriguing blurb, and promise of a disability rep. The disability rep delivered as promised, but overall my experience was not quite what I hoped for.

The setting in which the story takes place had the structure to make for a beautiful backdrop, but for some reason the writing style used by the author just did not work for me. I usually pride myself on my ability to picture characters, events, etc. in my mind, but I just could not do it here. The words used did infer an ethereal quality, but at times seemed too complicated for the effect to come to full fruition. I especially struggled to picture the dance sequences, which was disappointing given that I was excited to read those and they did have symbolical significance. I think I could see what the author intended--I believe it was mentioned somewhere that inspiration was drawn from Eastern Europe, and I was actually traveling in that part of the world while reading this, which did help slightly with setting the vibe.

The characters were just ok for me. The fmc seemed unable to make any of her own decisions and her situation struck me as very unrealistic from the beginning. It is clear that the author did her best to create this disability representation, which I did appreciate for those who felt seen through Vasalie. However, so much of the story focused on her inability to perform like she used to physically...but her entire job is to perform physically. And not just simple tasks, but complicated and exhausting dance sequences. I cannot speak from experience, but maybe I'm being too harsh? The two brothers were too caricature-y and I did not feel a real connection with any of the love interests. I found the story to have entirely too much of Vasalie's inner thoughts and not enough dialogue to drive the story. There were instances that also seemed too convenient for issues that had yet to be revealed to other characters (without giving away spoilers).

Ultimately, this story is good for the disability rep and the unique setting, but otherwise did not quite deliver like I had hoped.

DNF @ 20%

Unfortunately it was a struggle to even make it as far as I did. We are supposed to believe that Vasalie (who I could not stop calling Vaseline in my head) who was released from a dungeon after 2 years and becomes chronically ill, is dancing at an elite level after a matter of weeks? Even if I didn’t have a chronic illness, I think I would have a hard time believing that. I think the author could have convinced us but, the problem here is that there is a lot of telling and no showing. The reader is told that Vasalie becomes friends with someone without showing more than one interaction between the characters. And in the meantime Vasalie has no identifiable personality and the prose very overwritten.

These issues could very well resolve as the story goes on, but I don’t have the patience to find out. What I did appreciate here was the beautiful setting. It is vivid and interesting and unique.