A must read of 2025!!! I have a feeling this book will remain one of my Top Favorites of the year!

After being imprisoned for two years for a crime she did not commit, a dancer that was once known as the King's "Jewel", is told by this same King to become his spy to earn her freedom. But it's not as easy as it sounds, since she's no longer in dancing shape after being locked in a tight cell. However, even with the challenge, she earns a spot to entertain at the Gathering. An event that takes place for a few weeks every year hosting all dignitaries. While planning new dance routines, making new friends, and doing tasks for her King. She quickly starts to doubt who to trust/love and wonders how she can stop doing the King's bidding with her life.

Love, mystery and fantasy, This book leaves you wanting more. I need book 2!

Vasalie Moran was once a dancer in King Illian’s court, until he framed her for murder. Barely surviving her two years in the dungeons, she’s suddenly called to face her king. He offers her a deal: become his spy at the six-week royal Gathering and he’ll grant her freedom.

This was such a great romantasy and I really enjoyed reading it! I love anything that is even remotely enemies to lovers so this was right up my alley. I am excited to read more from the author in the future!

I love Anton. Had some interesting world building and mythology that I'd like to learn more about. Liked the representation of a dancer with chronic illness, and how she learns to dance again. A little too much court politics for me, or maybe just too many courts and characters to keep track of. The pacing felt a little weird at times and didn't love the first person POV. But it definitely has elements people will love and will be very popular.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Four star review for A Dance of Lies.
While I am not typically one who likes a very prosaic writing style, A Dance of Lies was a very intriguing and captivating read. I enjoyed how the author portrayed chronic illness, along with crafting a very unique story line.

Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Author: Brittney Arena

Where do I even begin??
I am thankful to be given a chance to read this book as an arc, and I am immediately pre-ordering the physical copy! This book held me in a grasp that I haven't felt in a while. The imagery that the author used painted a perfect portrait beneath my eyelids as the world she created unfolded. The pages are filled with rich details and a world full of lore. It amazes me that the author created this unique universe. I found myself unable to put my kindle down and wanting to stay up all night.
This story is unlike anything I have read and I cannot praise it enough. I'm left gasping at the ending, one to promise an outstanding sequel to this book. Brittney Arena, you are an exquisite writer.

This book earned points for its stunning cover, but the story itself didn’t fully work for me. The disability representation was a refreshing addition to the romantasy genre, and I appreciated the political intrigue, but the execution fell flat. Vasalie’s emotions felt muted, the love triangle was unclear for too long, and the tension of the setting didn’t quite land. The slow pacing also made it hard to stay engaged. While the dance elements and vivid imagery were highlights, the way her disability was handled didn’t always sit right with me. Definitely not a bad read, just not for me.

A great romantasy. Different from anything I’ve read before, had me hooked very quickly. I really enjoyed the plot and the unique elements of the storyline.

3.5 Rounded down

A Dance of Lies is a fast paced romantasy about a dancer turned spy in a fight for her life. The main character, Vasalie, had originally been the main dancer for the king, but after he framed her for a murder that she didn’t commit, she was kept in the dungeon for 2 years. She grew weaker, and weaker until the king presented her with an opportunity: spy at the royal gathering, and earn her freedom. Here’s the catch: Vasalie is in no condition to dance (her “disability”) and she begins to see the kind isn’t who she had thought
I truly did enjoy this book, but somewhere along the lines I got a bit lost with her disability. This book is marketed as a romantasy book with a disabled main character, which I guess is true, but she is still able to dance and perform with it. It sounds a bit petty almost, but I thought it was going to be a more prominent than that. I did like Anton however. I was #TeamAnton from the beginning. Overall, this book is filled with betrayal and lies as well as a slight bit of romance.

Features
- betrayal
- enemies to lovers
- prophecies
- cliffhanger
- mentions of rape and abuse
- dancing…
- YA

Full disclosure - I absolutely judged the book by its cover when I selected this ARC to request!! So, so stunning. For about 50% of this, that choice delivered! Things I loved - the political world building, the portrayal of the fmc’s disabilities + her imaginative ways to persevere, Arena’s detailed prose and description. The slow start + the romance aspect unfortunately took away from it all for me, and I was genuinely surprised by the ending as I had thought it was a standalone. A fun read and a new author to add to the list!!

Thank you so, so much to Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore & NetGalley for their investment into readers in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited to get an early copy of this from NatGalley because Brittney Arena’s A Dance of Lies has been on my radar for a while. I was especially interested in reading a fantasy with strong chronic illness representation written by a chronically ill author. I really ended up loving the representation and the way that chronic illness was woven into the plot, the wound, and the backstory. I liked that it actually affected the plot and didn’t go away as some sort of quirk. It felt respectful and nuanced. As for the story itself, it was very interesting - the dance/spy aspect of it felt unique from a lot of fantasies that I’ve been reading lately. The topic of the love interest was also intriguing because it took me a while to figure out who the love interest was supposed to be, as there were two candidates and I was torn between who to ship, and a good amount of teasing and heartbreak a long the way. The book had a lot of plot turns and twists that I wasn’t expecting, which was great, and it’s filled with lush writing and memorable characters.

3.5*

A novel of a broken dancer who must pirouette her way through a world of scheming, spying, and betrayal.
The story itself is quite captivating and often hard to put down. However, it tends to be overly descriptive and occasionally points out the obvious, which might not appeal to everyone.

Labeling it as a fantasy romance seems a bit far-fetched, given that the only somewhat fantasy element appears in the final chapters.

Despite this, I would still recommend the book for its compelling characters and the abundance of twists, turns, and tension that keep you curious throughout.

Thank you Netgalley and Del Rey for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review

Wow. Wow. I was not expecting this, in all honesty. This book overwhelmed me in a good way. I was not expecting it to be this gorgeous.

Vasalie was a dancer. King Illian’s prized Jewel and friend. Vasalie loved him. Then she’s accused of murder, a body found in her room. She was with Illian at the time of the murder and yet he does not defend her. Two years she rots in a cell, unable to move, which damages her body. Then he frees her and offers her a deal— perform and spy for him at the Gathering, an event to which all the kingdom’s leaders come to, to earn her freedom. She meets King Illian’s brother, the flirtatious and charismatic King Anton of the East and the Master of Revels, Copelan and finds herself entangled in a political scheme that threatens to reveal her past.

Anton had me giggling, kicking my feet and twirling my hair. He was so funny and so charming, yet so dedicated to helping Vasalie. Copelan was….. there, I guess. Not much to say on him. He bored me. Anton, on the other hand, is the love of my life. Even if he’s not real, that doesn’t matter. The representation of Vasalie’s disability and her pain had me crying. Illian really did take everything from her!!! The cliffhanger at the end has me screaming, crying, throwing up. I need the next book in my hands as soon as humanly possible.

For fans of the Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith, the Cruel Prince by Holly Black, and fans of romance in a magical world mixed with high-stakes politics.

“I cannot protect you…… But I can arm you.”


“I am broken.” “You are art.”

“‘Your laugh,’ he breaths, ‘I could drink an ocean’s worth.’”

Thank you to netGalley and Del Rey for the advanced eARC.

I gave this book a 4.75 rating on storygraph, but it will sit as a 4 star here.

I'm going to start off by saying that I wasn't sure if I was going to like A Dance of Lies as much as I did as I am not the fondest of the romantasy trope. Thankfully, this story focused more on the plot and the dilemma of the character rather than the romance, which at some points I'm going to be honest, I wasn't even sure who to root for, there were a lot of people who were making eyes at the main character. The world building was interesting, and showing a wide range of cultures in a converged gathering situation was a smart move to make the world feel more full and real, while adding some interesting political intrigue.

I thought the writing was pretty well done across the board, there were stakes, people had consequences doled out to them, and Vasalie had to make hard, and sometimes awful decisions. I think the attention to writing about the character's disability was a better rendition than most other attempts by bigger authors, and it comes from a pretty genuine place. Though at the end there was some small discrepancy, but that might have been in more part due to the story needing to wrap up, and the special element being revealed.
The main gripe was the instant forgiveness and understanding of the side characters when Vasalie did something wrong, there could've been more resentment or consequence there, and the pacing was dragging a little bit, but I know it was more to set up some exposition that played out later, which was fine to see the scaffolding, but there was a lot of coincidence involved as well.

Overall, I think this is a great debut from the author, and I would love to read the next one.

i loved this book SO much. the setting was such a blast. i loved how the romance wasnt just with the first guy she meets, i was so invested in the political conspircies. can't wait for the next one.

You know what? I genuinely enjoyed this one. There are a few quirks to the writing that seemed sort of silly like the separate sentence/separate paragraph sentence frags for emphasis and an excess of italics but there is an interesting story here. The MC suffers from critical "everyone loves her at first sight" disease but it's not really her fault so much as the author's and I'll allow it because that's what the genre is, that's what the book is.

It does reach the point of hilarity here and there as she betrays people over and over and they forgive her over and over without ever needing an explanation, because they love her so so much. It would have been nice to see it cost her something. But again, the story is lovely, evocative. The world is quite beautiful. The plot is tight and the twist at the end genuinely had me floored. It pressed believability but I was turning those pages, man.

We get a couple solid love interests, some super evil dudes, plots within plots. Oddly, the weakest portions of the book are the dancing scenes. I think we could have done with a little more showing and a little less of telling the audience over and over what the dance should be making them feel. I was turning pages in those parts for a different reason.

A good showing, all in all. Definitely set up for a sequel and I'll probably be reading.

3.75 ⭐

This book was an enjoyable read with a lot of promise! The characters were well-crafted, and I found myself especially drawn to the secondary ones. Copelan and Laurent, in particular, were so fascinating and complex that I sometimes cared more about them than the main character, Vasalie.

While the plot kept me engaged, I did feel that the book could have been shorter. There were moments that seemed a bit drawn out, but overall, it was still a solid read.

My main reason for not giving a higher rating is that I felt the story, especially with Vasalie and Anton, could have gone deeper. The ending definitely made up for it, leaving me excited to see where the series goes next!

Really enjoyed this, the world building part of the book was really easy and quick to get to grips with. The FMC Vasalie was really likable, seen as weak and feeble however she proves that she’s getting stronger throughout the book and starts to stand up for herself and the people she starts to care about.

The development of the book was brilliant the twists throughout truly shocked me, the ending was incredible I’m hooked, desperate to know more!!

I quickly highlighted this to our subscriptions team as a go to fantasy read for the summer.
What a suspenseful, well built world and lead character. A 5 star standout amongst the barrage of fantasy books being released currently.

I was drawn to A Dance of Lies’ beautiful cover, but stayed for the even more beautiful writing! I think I broke a personal reading record with this book, as I completed it in two days!!
Brittney Arena is a brilliant story teller who has so beautifully transported me into the world of The Crown’s Syndicate and Miridran in particular. Brittney crafted a world that is so beautiful and rich in history that I wanted to board a ship and set sail for the isles myself!! I found her writing to be descriptive and attention grabbing, causing you to just stop and completely immerse yourself into the world, dance, the fights, the politics, everything!!!!! I also found it to be somewhat of a lament for Vasalie, who has been through so much, goes through so much, but miraculously is still standing.

Vasalie Moran, once a dancer in a King’s court is now but a shadow. She is framed for murder by her so-called protector and has barely survived her two years in the dungeons. Unexpectedly she is called before the King and given a task – become his spy at the six-week royal Gathering and he’ll grant her freedom. But as they say, “not all that glitters is gold” and “if it seems too good to be true, it usually is. Vasalie is led into a very dangerous game of deception, political intrigue and dalliances, where alliances are formed, bonds are made, secrets kept and hearts broken. She is forced to do all she can to not only complete the tasks given but also survive the gathering itself, where she must repeatedly perform for the court, given the fact that her years of imprisonment has left her disabled and riddled with pain.

Overall, ADOL is a wonderful start to what I believe will be an Epic duology. My only issue is that, with ADOL releasing June 10th, there is still a very far to go until Book two is released. But, I wait on bated breath for the conclusion of this lovely story.

Vibes? Immaculate. Who doesn’t love a story with lots of villains, spies, and complicated plots?

I had a BLAST with this one. Never once did I know where it was going to go and I was nervous the *entire* time.

The character arcs were so good, the world sounded so cool, and Vasalie had so much growth. Her relationship with [name redacted for no spoilers] had me kicking my feet so much.

BUT ABSOLUTE JAIL FOR THAT CLIFFHANGER.

Thank you endlessly to Del Rey for the arc!