A Captivating and Heart-Wrenching Journey
I had the absolute privilege of receiving this book as an ARC — thank you, NetGalley. From the very first page, I was captivated.
The story follows Vasalie, a disabled dancer framed for murder, who has spent the past two years chained and imprisoned. Now, she’s blackmailed by her king and thrust into a web of political manipulation. As the tasks grow more dangerous, Vasalie must rely on her wit and creativity to survive.

What struck me most was the emotional depth woven into every page. Vasalie’s terror and resilience were palpable, and her journey brought me to tears more than once. The writing had a rare quality that pulled me in completely — I found myself desperate to devour the story, yet struggling to leave its world behind. My heartstrings were pulled in, out, up, down, forward, back, and sideways as went along with the emotinal weight Vasile was carrying. i could personally really connect with her.

The details of each dance were beautifully executed, I could vividly envision every movement, with light streaming through the colorful stained glass, casting a mesmerizing glow on the stage, and the strained yet elegant movements of the dances adding to the breathtaking spectacle.

This book is a stunning exploration of survival, artistry, and strength. It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered writing that resonated so deeply. I cannot wait for others to experience the beauty and heartbreak of Vasalie’s story.

Some of my favorite quotes:
“I know the taste of your lies.”
“I am broken.”
“You are art.”

4.5

I'm not even a romantasy fan, but this was so much more than your standard romantasy. The lyrical writing, detailed worldbuilding, and twists drew me in, Vasalie was a fantastic character to follow, and the way Arena writes tension is better than a lot of authors manage full spice. I can't wait for the next book.

“Voices speak to me in the endless dark.”

Vasalie Moran was once King Illian’s most prized possession, his Jewel. She was his favoured dancer and he bestowed tokens upon her, wanted her, even, though he never touched her. And she cared for him. That is, until he framed her for murder and shackled her in his dungeon.

When she has grown so weak she can barely stand, he fetches her again to send her to The Gathering, the most elite performance where all of the nations rulers will be present. Her job is to secure a spot as a dancer (despite her healing body) and spy for him and do whatever tasks he requires of her.

What she can’t figure out is: why her? Why now? Why has he never touched her? And why is he making her do the things he is?

“But though you’ve suffered your own fire, child, you won’t always smell of smoke.”

I was captivated from that very first sentence, and I never stoped being captivated.

Vasalie is such an intriguing character, so contrary and real. She loves to dance, yet part of her hates it. And why? Not to mention she has a backstory that evolves so as to make you need to always know more. Her character development over the book is stunning, to say the least.

“A story worth telling warrants a little destruction.”

The setting is impeccable. Glittering and beautiful, yet haunted and jaded. I was fully immersed in the rich tapestry of settings and dance descriptions. I will never forget Vasalie’s first performance at the Gathering and the images it evoked.

“In order to work with a partner, you must have two things: trust and abandon.”

The politics and intrigue were a thing of beauty and horror. The subtle manipulations and overt machinations during a dance competition made this book absolutely un-put-downable. I didn’t see the twists coming and I wanted to know more, to know everything about the Crowns and the other important players.

“I know darkness intimately. I know the bounds of it, the feel of it.”

The story was an anathema to itself. At all times a contradiction, as you may be able to tell from my review of it. The perfect blend of light and dark, beauty and revulsion, perfection and catastrophe. Because this book was dark and bleak, but it was hopeful. It was laugh out loud funny. It was my heart being absolutely overtaken by the characters. A smile on his face no matter the situation. A few unlikely heroes.

I never expected to laugh so much while reading it, but I did.

“I am sorry that my thighs offend you, Basile.”

This was a stunning story of betrayal and hope, defeat and perseverance. A story that will hold your attention the entire time and that you won’t be able to put down.

“But before you throw in your stake, Miss Moran, think carefully. Get to know your opponents. You may find you like them better than you do your allies.”

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First of all thank you NetGalley and DelRey for the chance to review this book ahead of publication,

OK so this book was absolutely EVERYTHING I hoped it would be and WAY MORE.

Where to start? First of all: the plot. I thought the world building of the book was phenomenal and I really liked the concept of having a Gathering where representatives of all nations meet and there is high security requirements for all staff and performers.

Having a main character who is a dances who struggles and suffers from previous traumatic events is something that I liked (let me explain: as a contrast to your usual bada** FMC who's strong and pretty much invincible from the start).

Something I also enjoyed were the descriptions of the palace and the glasswork - I had such an amazing time putting together all the shapes, and colours and textures in my head while reading the story, without the descriptions being too much.

Of course, I was hooked from page one. The rhythm of the story is quite fast paced, it was very easy to connect with the characters and all they were going through and - bonus point: incredible side characters.

The book will leave you in a cliffhanger - I knew it was going to be the case because the last few pages definitely go in a dangerous direction and the book was almost over for the story to conclude in a conclusive way - excuse the redundant expression.

So I would happily give this book 6, 10, 1000000000 stars - it was perfect. Can't wait for book 2 (even though this one has not been published yet)

A dance of lies was a great book to get me back into Romantasy. It centers around a dancer who was imprisoned and unable to dance for years, now being forced to be an entertainer once more. Little did she know what she really signed up for by going to the gathering.

The book starts off a bit slow, but really picks up for the last 50%. I could not put this book down once they started preparing for their final performance. There is also minimal spice in this book, so it may be more favorable for some. It also gave off some ACOTAR vibes, and you’ll understand why I say this after you read it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers for a chance to read this arc!

The writing is really good and the story is well written. I really liked the main character, she's not so naive and she's resilient. I kinda expected the ending (romance-wise) but it was still good. Also, one point that I found new and enjoyed a lot was the dancing working as a substitute for fight scenes, it was really well done
Looking forward to the next one.

I had a feeling this book is going to be one of my fav fantasy reads this year and how right I was.

I loved everything about A Dance of Lies. I can totally see why it's promoted for fans of Sarah J Maas and Stephanie Garber—the story gave me vibes for Throne of Glass, ACOTAR, Caraval and even This Woven Kingdom, still it was neither of those things. If you love those stories though I think you'll fall for ADOL as well.

The prose was beautiful, it reminded me of some of my fav authors like Hannah Whitten and Kelly Andrew, I connected with it right away. There were so many quotes I highlighted, I was utterly absorbed from the first page.

Beautiful descriptive language created a vivid world and the world building was so interesting and detailed. I loved the myths surrounding the different kingdoms and the one about the Fate of Morta was the most captivating.
Even though there's plenty of political intrigue, A Dance of Lies is definitely very character driven which I adored. I loved Vasalie and her strength, she's relatable and well fleshed out. If you love heroines like Celié (TSV) and Alizeh (TWK) you'll probably love Vas, too.

The romance is very slow burn and one of the reasons why ADOL gave me vibes for TOG and Caraval—for a long time you won't even be sure who the main love interest is—there were a lot of games of deception and tension and lies. I don't want to talk about any of them because I don't want to give anything away but I'm just going to say that I had a favorite from the beginning and I was right about him.

I loved so many of the side characters especially Laurent and Gustav, and then there were some I hated with such burning intensity I wanted to throw the book against the wall so many times!!!

Everything that happened near the end and at the end was just crazy, I was shaking with anger or crying—no in between.
I can't believe where BA left us hanging after everything she put Vasalie through!!! I'm begging for the sequel now!!!

eternal gratitude to netgalley and the publisher for the arc

I really wanted to love this book. It sounded so interesting and had disability rep but I unfortunately did not love it. The main character was very Mary Sue, all the men just instantly loved her. I like love triangles but I can’t stand every man the mc comes into contact just falling in love with her because she exists. There was also modern slang and this is a fantasy book which I can deal with sometimes but when it’s noticeable it’s annoying. This story as a whole just fell flat to me. I feel like romantasy has become a checklist of tropes and that’s not what I want to read

Thank you Netgalley and Del Rey for letting me read A Dance of Lies by Brittney Arena! This was SO SO good. I was skeptical at the start (another heroine stuck in some kind of max security prison, yawn), but this was done differently enough to not feel tired. The romance is top notch, the stakes are high, and the execution is wonderful. Eagerly awaiting the sequel and I’d be shocked if a special edition book box or two doesn’t pick this for their subscription.

This book was easily a 6 star read for me, I was enthralled the entire time I was reading this book. The plot is so refreshing and new, it captured my attention and held onto it so well. The characters were well thought out and weren’t one dimensional. You could clearly see their wants and their goals. Vasalie the female main character is a disabled dancer and I really like that the author doesn’t just make Vasalie’s struggles with her disability just go away with some training and practice. The book does start out a little slow but once it picks it really does get going. The political nature between the three brother Kings is just so interesting and it’s fascinating to see how despite all being raised together they made for three very different but somewhat similar Kings. The banter between Vasalie and Anton is just perfection, the author does really well with writing Anton into this playboy King everyone thinks that he is, so that he can protect his actual image and people in his kingdom. All the characters are just written so well. Even King Illian I found myself riding the line of whether or not he was really the bad guy or if he was just a guy that does bad things like along the lines of Anton.

The descriptions of the world are just so beautifully done that it’s impossible to not imagine this world. I found myself more than once wishing that this place was real so that I could actually go and visit it. The last thing I will say about this book is that, that ending?!!! My jaw was on the floor and I had to pick it up. I was sweating and on the edge of my seat the whole time as the book was wrapping up. Talk about a cliffhanger. This book should be on everyone's TBR when it comes out this June, it was so good.

I am stunned.

A Dance of Lies was everything you could hope for in a Fantasy Romance novel! A strong and determined FMC, a charming, arogant but also kind MMC, really interesting supporting characters and a true villainy villain. I loved absolutely everything about this book! It was incredibly written, making this such an amazing debut novel!

Vasalie's story throughout the book was really inspiring. She remained strong and pushed through all the hard moments, even when she felt like giving up. Her tenacity is admirable. Moreover, her relationship with Anton was so beautiful, I wish there were even more moments with them, I just couldn't get enough!

I was shocked and sad with the ending, but it was so beautifully done that I simply cannot wait to read the rest of Vasalie and Anton's story!! I love them so much, I really hope they get the happiness they deserve!😭💕

This has truly become one of my favorite books and I will be recommending it to everyone!

Many thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow. Truly unique and stunning tale! I was eager to return every time I put it down and thought about it a lot in between readings.

The FMC Vasalie must do what she can to survive, so she acts as puppet for the ruthless King Illian. At the Gathering, she uses her skills as a dancer, but with a twist as she now has a chronic illness. Vasalie comes across other characters who become either, friend, for or love interest and sometimes all three. I really loved the way there was lust and passion and I couldn’t figure out who her end game was!

Then que Anton, charming, bad boy, Prince, who offers her a chance at freedom. The ending had me wishing for more!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book and I can’t wait to read more from this author and publisher!

I'd give this 3.75, but this one was tricky to rate. Half felt like good lore, characters and dialogue, while the other half felt fan-fictiony and a little corny. I'll settle with an almost 4 because it was engaging. Wish the main character didn't have a million love interests. Kind of ridiculous. Also some of the relationships escalated too fast and left me feeling behind.

Copelan was the most difficult character for me to follow. I found his motivations conflicting and confusing. I'm hoping he gets more development in the next book. Anton, on the other hand, felt very real and alive but I wish his scenes with the main character hadn't escalated so quickly. Their relationship felt a little forced (quite literally, haha).

I did like seeing Vasalie grow as a character. Her arc was good and I liked that she was faced with a lot of difficult choices; and when she made the wrong choice, she owned up to it. Overall, I would recommend this to any romantasy audience and I think they'd enjoy it.

Review: A Dance of Lies

I had mixed feelings about A Dance of Lies. While I enjoyed certain aspects of the story, particularly the dancer element, I found that the book ultimately wasn’t for me. The plot didn’t pull me in as much as I’d hoped, and I struggled to stay engaged, which made it take far longer to finish than expected. There were moments where I felt confused, which added to my disconnect.

That said, I do think this book would be a fantastic read for those who love contemporary fantasy, especially if you’re drawn to unique themes like dance woven into the storyline. While it didn’t quite hit the mark for me, I can see how it would appeal to the right reader.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Vasalie was once a very talented dancer, earning praise among royal courts and coveted as her King's prized Jewel. Now she rots in a prison cell, body beyond recognition and accused of a murder she didn't commit by the very King who treasured her. When a chance of freedom presents itself in the form of becoming a spy for the very same King, Vasalie finds herself center stage for the royal courts once more as dangerous politics and political scheming surround her at every turn.

I was absolutely bewildered that this was Brittney Arena's debut because this was fantastic. A captivating plot, incredibly dynamic characters, politics that had me grasping metaphorical pages, and a delicious romance that had me blushing! Oh my god this was great!

What a fucking story! An ex-dancer recruited into espionage at the demands of her King in return for the chance of freedom. Vasalie was such an amazing voice to follow along with, and I loved every second I got to spend with her. Strong and determined, but mournful for life and body she once had, there was not a single second where I wished someone else was the focus. Because for me, it could never be anyone other than Vasalie for this story.

I really loved the conversation around chronic illness, and how it played a major role in her decisions and her progression through the story. She has such a persevering spirit, and while most of the time she was able to overcome her injuries, i also loved that there were realistic moments where her disability got the best of her, and she wasn't able to tough it out. And while others may not appreciate the moments where she does wallow in her misery, for her character who has endured so much, it makes perfect sense for how she would feel. It served the purpose of rounding her out, giving her more dynamism as a character dealing with these issues. All the to say is that It's realistic, and not a single person who has dealt with similar would say they didn't need a few moments to be sad to get it out of their system before moving on.

On to the romance, i really can't say much without spoilers other than that I loved it. The love interest wasn't who I originally thought it was going to be, but after finishing it, it could never be anyone other than him. The two of them had such amazing chemistry and fit together like perfect puzzle pieces; he was smooth and charismatic and he complemented her more slow and deliberate nature in a very satisfying way.

As for that ending, Brittney can expect a nice therapy bill in the mail, but i will also settle for early access to sequel.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for access to the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my god!!! What a read!

The only disappointing part about this was realising it was a debut and that Brittney doesn’t have a backlog that I can be consumed by. But also, on that note what a phenomenal debut novel!

This book, from the moment you start reading pulls you into a world of intrigue. Every part of this is artfully developed, from the characters to the world. We are given specifically curated snippets and insights along the way in a manner that never gives you quite enough to know the depths of what is happening in the shadows, and that is what made reading this book feel compulsive.

Not once did it feel overwhelming or convoluted with details. Even the backstories of the main characters are offered up slowly letting you soak in who these people are. I found whist reading this that my relationship with the variety of characters to be progressively more complex as I read. Some you hate, others you lack trust with, and the rest you love with some deep rooted gut instinct that makes no sense at the beginning but as you move through the story you can recognise that some characters are simply intrinsically good natured. 



We follow the main protagonist Vasalie, who’s narrations switch seamlessly between her navigating the ethical and moral dilemmas of what she must to do survive, whilst also slipping back in time to reveal the full complexity of her situation. These moments were (I found) what emphasised the utter gut wrenching cruelty of both her past and present, whilst subsequently making the junctures in the story fill you with a little anxiety but mostly pride for Vasalie. I found her motivations genuine and understandable, and all round found her to be a very interesting protagonist to follow.



On a very small note and in a vague non spoilery way, I did find towards the end when there was an explanation given from one of the princes as to how something was possible, I found just that bit to feel a little over-explained, and I would say the details are necessary, but I kind of wish to make it seem less ‘showy’ that some of the details were scattered in conversations throughout the book rather than dropped in the one pocket of conversation. However in saying this, by doing it this way you are given nothing throughout the read that would really allow you to piece together what may happen. This will possibly be just a me thing. But the rest is *chef’s kiss*


I really loved this read, I can’t wait to continue this story when future books release, but in the meantime I shall be gifting to any and all of my reader friends.

I was enjoying it until I wasn’t it. It got really boring about 50 percent into it and I just couldn’t bring myself to finish it.

First of all, many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for granting me a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly? I have mixed feelings about this one. The concept had a great potential. Disabled dancer? Courtly dramatics? High stakes?? Count me in. The final result on the other hand? Yeah that’s where the mixed feelings come into play.

The beginning started off very strong. Vasalie was a very interesting main character and I couldn’t wait to see how she would fight her way through the trials that were thrown at her.

But unfortunately at around the 80 pages mark I felt like the story lost me. My biggest struggle was the amount of love interests we got thrown at us. Got to a point where I suspected every male character that got introduced to be yet another love interest.

And don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind purple prose at all but for some reason I really struggled getting through most of the scenes. The story almost felt overwritten and I often grew tired while reading, due to all the details that were overly desrcribed and explained. Almost to the point where I felt like the writer was trying to explain it to a child.

Last but not least. I didn’t really care about any of the characters?? I liked Vasalie at first but she quickly got too repetitive, and I tolerated Anton at best. The author gave us just enough information about each character to vaguely know them and that unfortunately did not motivate me any further to start caring about any of the characters.

After the ending I am kinda intrigued where the author’s gonna take the story though, but unfortunately I don’t think I will be picking it up.

2.5/5

This book had a world that felt entirely its own!

Vasalie was once a celebrated dancer, but betrayal landed her in the dungeons. Now, her only chance at freedom is to become a spy for the very king who ruined her.

The story weaves layers of scheming and tension so effortlessly that every twist feels natural! I loved how characters moved in and out of Vasalie’s life, it made it feel real.

The banter was SO good!

Everything about this book feels fresh and unique, from its worldbuilding to its rivalries and betrayals.

A must read for fans of banter that cuts just as deep as the betrayals!

Thank you Del Rey and NetGalley for the ARC.

I came for the cover, stayed for the world-building and politics.

✔ This was a pleasure to read - though the beginning was a bit slow, as soon as the story got going, I was hooked.
✔ Vasalie’s journey of healing and learning to love her strength absolutely made the story for me. It was so incredible to follow her growth, especially because of how self-guided it was, rather than being because of a love interest/others.
✔ The romance and experience of multiple potential romantic choices was really interesting (Anton my beloved). It read more realistically because it didn’t set up multiple love interests at the same time in the story - instead, people entered and exited Vasalie’s life in a way that was organic rather than competitive in the way love-polygons usually read.
✔ The world is so beautiful and the writing did a wonderful job of conveying that beauty and complexity without becoming too much or taking away from the action of the plot.
✔ The twists actually twist! Political intrigue actually intrigued!

✖ The inclusion of a disabled heroine was lovely and her inner monologue was very aware of her disabilities, however it is a bit disappointing that she rarely “fails” in relation to her disability. It never actually stopped her from successfully doing the things she tried to do. It would have been interesting to see her fail due to her disability and figure out how to overcome it in the moment.

4.5/5 stars!

Reading this ARC was a pleasure - I absolutely loved the ending and I’m very eager to add this book to my collection and read its sequel when that comes around.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.