Vasalie Moran was a dancer for Illian, the King of the West. She was his Jewel before he framed her for the murder of one of his ministers. Yes, he purposely put her in the dark prison. Until two years later, he gets her out and sends her to dance in the royal Gathering to spy on his brother, the King of the East.

Her mission is simple: report to him about what the King of the East is doing and planning, then Illian will give her freedom. But then, everything escalates quickly when she suddenly also needs to be an assassin as well. How would she survive and get her freedom if all the three kingdoms were ruled by evil and wicked kings like them?

A Dance of Lies starts with mysterious storytelling and the FMC, Vasalie life tragedy. The tension between her and Illian is very strong. The political affairs are also really strong and mysterious that I have never found it in another story.

I feel it is presented like a variation of a puzzle piece on a picture of a puzzle. There is also a mysterious lore which is presented in an abstract way. As for the vibe, this book is paranormal mixed with fantasy in approach semi-medieval gothic.

I never imagined a dancer could become a spy and an assassin. I mean, Vasalie is in a vulnerable state. She is malnutrition and ill, became one of the most important people in history according to this story. She is a very strong female and has become one of my favorite female main characters now.

In the beginning, the villain starts to be introduced in an abstract way and makes the reader wonder who the true villain is. It is lovely mysterious and I adore it! Also, you must be prepared when you read this book because the more chapters you read, the deeper tension you feel.

Plus, suddenly you dance in a ballroom and the next someone tries to kill you. Wow!

The political and war strategy is very great, and also the propaganda is meticulously smooth. Plot twist plus deep sharp betrayal adding this book richer in flavor. I love this book so much, but I warn you, this book has a super-high level of emotional damage and will still haunt you even though you have already finished reading this book a long time ago.

4.5-5⭐️

Okay, I loved this one! It had me completely captivated from beginning to end. It is full of secrets, lies, manipulation, betrayals, scheming, and lots of twists that you don’t see coming! (Okay, I did predict ONE twist/reveal, BUT even that didn’t play out how I had expected it to lol). There are hidden identities, fates and prophecies, court politics, romance, espionage, and suspense! It also is super immersive with beautiful imagery and descriptions that really bring the world and dancing scenes to life.

We have a FMC who was once a King’s prized and pampered dancer before being framed for a murder and thrown in prison for two years. As a result of the treatment received during her imprisonment, she ends up with chronic pain and disability that she has to live with daily. This is particularly a challenge when the King pulls her out of prison to be a dancer at a political summit where she makes a bargain to spy for him to in exchange for her freedom. She is so strong and resilient in overcoming her traumatic past, her wrongful imprisonment, and her resulting disability. She is very resourceful and shows a lot of grit in overcoming her barriers. She is a bit of a morally gray character—there are many moments where she is put in the position of having to betray or hurt others she has come to care for in order to ensure her own survival, even then, she continues to surprise us! It’ll keep you on your toes! When the king’s demands become increasingly dangerous and discordant with her morals, she finds an unlikely ally in his brother.

There is a love triangle (quadrangle? lol)—we have an angsty dance partner full of passion, a charismatic, mysterious, and rakish King who loves to flirt , and another King who is secretive, possessive, and entirely obsessed with her. The story will have you questioning who the main love interest is for a while which is so fun! There is definitely some fun flirting and banter and some steamy chemistry and slow-burn tension.

I think fans of Throne of Glass, particularly the first book, will really enjoy this one as definitely it has some similarities! (Though, this FMC feels very different from Celaena).

I thought the disability/chronic pain representation was done well as far as the internal narrative about it as she adjusts to and has to come to accept and work with her new limitations and overcome barriers. I appreciated her resilience, grit, and resourcefulness! I also loved the beautiful author’s note at the beginning!! (I do feel like the toll on her body and the required recovery between tasks/performances after pushing her body to the limits could’ve perhaps been explored a bit more though).

I thought whole twist with the prophecy towards the end was brilliant. Emotionally devastating in the best way. I’m definitely excited to see where things go in the next book!!

Also, the cover is SOOO gorgeous! 😍
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The only small (somewhat nitpicky) complaints I had that would make me consider bringing it down from 5⭐️ to 4.5⭐️ were:

-I felt like there were some uncommon word choices (eg. “fettering me in place”, “snarled” hair—like snarled as an adjective rather than a verb, “after the ablutions”) especially in the beginning that felt a little off-putting as far as the writing went (like it just felt like she definitely had a thesaurus handy when she wrote that part lol), but I felt like this got better as it went on and it did not continue to bother me throughout the book.

-I felt like there was opportunity for Illian to have been a bit more of a complex villain—I could see that she tried to add some complexity and have us sympathize with him a little, but then toward the end, she just made him completely unlikable/irredeemable and he just went full villain. I think I would’ve liked to have seen more of a softer side to him… more of a push and pull where you start to think he might be redeemable or question how much we hate him, rather than having him just consistently suck lol. I just feel like that would’ve made his character just a bit more compelling. 🤷‍♀️

-I wasn’t quite as swept away by the romance as I would’ve liked. It felt like there was an abrupt shift in who I felt like I was supposed to be rooting for a little over halfway through the book. For love triangles, I generally prefer to really be torn between who I want her to choose and have them both be pretty compelling love interests for most of the book, rather than focusing on one then pivoting to the other about halfway through. But that’s just a personal preference with that trope. 🤷‍♀️

- I don’t really understand why he picked the nickname “minnow”—that was never explained unless I missed something. It’s it because she’s a little fish in big water or something? Or is it a nod to her resilience since minnows are generally considered resilient and adaptable? (My guess is the latter). 🤷‍♀️


Thank you so much to Del Ray, Random House, NetGalley, and Brittney Arena for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

this almost made me not want to touch another romantasy book for a good while. imo, this didn’t fully deliver as much as i had hoped. our fmc lacked dimension and didn’t really fit well with what the author was trying to seemingly portray.

vasalie is disabled after two years of confinement for a crime she has been wrongly accused of. and while i commend arena for the disability representation, it doesn’t translate well through the fmc. she seems to kind of just go through the motions, no tension, no rightful anger towards her king, nothing. i’m given flowery prose that gets me nowhere.

sometimes i wish we got a good, solid plot with a SOME romance and not the other way around. the premise had so much to work with but it lost my attention with the lack of dialogue and a feeling of telling versus showing me. i’m sure there are other readers which this will definitely cater to but it’s not gonna be me today.

𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 -

This took me longer than I expected to get into but once the twists and turns started coming I was hooked. The authors writing and the lies and deception from all of the characters kept me on the edge of my seat for a good majority of this book. I absolutely devoured the last 15% of this book and am looking forward to the next one after the cliffhanger book one leaves us on

While I'm still not sold on the love interest just yet I'm holding out hope that the second book will add a little more depth to the romance aspect of this story.

In 'A Dance of Lies,' Vasalie was framed for a murder and imprisoned for two years. She is released by the king who framed her if she will be his spy. Vasalie suffers from chronic pain from her imprisonment. Having a MC with a disability was refreshing. As she gets further into the political intrigue, she must decide who to trust. I really enjoyed Arena's writing style and might continue the series. 4 stars.

✨Review✨ A Dance of Lies by Brittney Arena

Brittney Arena’s debut delivers everything I love in a fantasy—high stakes, a heroine with grit, and a world dripping in danger and secrets.

Vasalie Moran is fierce. Once a court dancer, now a shadow forged in survival, she’s pulled into a deadly game of espionage and power. Her strength doesn’t just come from physical survival—it’s her unbreakable will, her sharp mind, and the way she fights for freedom on her own terms.

Arena weaves a world filled with political intrigue, ancient grudges, slow burn romance and chilling revelations. The writing is rich and immersive, with tension that builds. It’s emotional. It’s fierce. And it’s impossible to put down.

–S x

Thank you for sharing a piece of your heart with the world Brittney, I will treasure it 💗

I wish I loved this book.
I really think that my mindset when reading it was the issue for me and not the story it's self. I loved the premise but my attention was not holding. I plan to try a re-read in a few months. I will update my review based on that.
I did love the idea of dividing the counties rulership up by 3 children

I took some issue with the disability rep in this book and it really affected my ability to like it. The writing improved throughout the book but even then, not so great.

⭐️ Rating: 3.75/5
📚 Tropes: disability rep, betrayal & secrets, dancer turned spy, rival kings, court intrigue, low spice but heat & tension
💌 Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC!
(I also have the Fairyloot version, which is absolutely stunning)

I struggled to rate this one. There were a lot of things I loved, the banter, the world, the disability rep. But there were also things that made the experience less enjoyable for me: the pacing and the lyrical writing.

Vasalie, as the main character, was interesting. Her resilience is admirable, and her having ups and downs make her more relatable. Especially how she uses dancing as her creative outlet and comes up with ideas was interesting to read.

I mostly struggled with the pacing and writing. Multiple times the lyrical writing just confused me and took away from the overall flow of the book.
" A discordant melody winds around me, low and vibrating. Textured, like the brush of snakeskin. Like the hum of chapel bells during a storm, and there’s no set tune ."
I'm still not sure what this actually means. :(

The book hints at multiple love interests, but it wasn't as annoying as one might think.
I usually hate love triangles, etc., but I didn't mind it here. I just wish we had gotten to know the final love interest more. There were a lot of teasers for a backstory, but we never really learned all of it-just bits and pieces, which made me care less about him.

There wasn't any spice in the book but lots of tension and banter, which I really enjoyed.
" He kissed me like it was inevitable. I suppose we had been dancing around each other all this time, and yet we moved like it was a challenge. "

Overall, I enjoyed the book and will definitely read the second book. I just hope we get less of the lyrical writing in that one.

I sort of panicked when I realised I'd requested a romantasy book, because I have not the greatest track record of enjoying them. This one did surprise me, however.
In particular I really loved how this was written. Arena does such a great job at choosing the right words for whichever description she's trying to, well, describe, and it always evokes just the right emotions. I could clearly picture everything she was trying to show and it was a super easy read as well.
I was entirely behind the plot for the first 50% or so, perhaps a bit further than that. I was intrigued about our main characters circumstances, and she wasn't starting to irritate me just yet. When she starts jumping to conclusions and making very strange decisions that she randomly makes up in her head is when I started to lose her. Everyone is also very obsessed with her, despite the fact that she is merely one dancer amongst many. There was some cool world building elements as well, such as the focus on one particular deity with a very cool twist to her, but it doesn't dive much deeper than that into the world and religious elements.
I think there were simply too many men in this book. I really yearned for our main character to make some more female friends, because the ones she talks about are either left behind or dead, and there really were too many men to keep track of. It didn't help that I didn't care for many of them, and the ones I did like were sidelined for the love interest that I really did not like at all.
The writing was on the wall for which love interest she would choose; there really was not a compelling love triangle here at all. I found it very obvious who she would prefer and, unfortunately, I was correct. He did a lot of talking and not much doing, and as soon as he came out with a cringey nickname for her I was so over him. There's some good side characters here that I would've loved to have explored more in this almost 450 page book.
The plot was interesting when we were being drip-fed information, but I did find it fairly easy to guess plot twists and subversions in the narrative. Absolutely nowhere near the worst romantasy plot holes galore that I've seen before.

I have tried to read this 3 times over the course of a few months and I keep soft DNFing.

I can’t explain HOW excited I was for this book. I have POTS and other chronic illnesses and was soooo excited to see myself in the FMC.

The first chapter - obsessed. I love a good prison/ surviving vibe. However; the writing was really hard for me to get into. It was very flowery and just too much for my brain to process. I also found the plot, mentions of the past and symptoms to be repetitive and confusing. I also don’t understand the need to throw flour while dancing …

It was great to see her push through her struggles with chronic illnesses for her freedom, but overall the plot could not hold me interested enough to watch it play out.

I absolutely loved this book!! It did take a couple of chapters to get into it, but after that I was hooked. I loved the plot twists and I loved the representation for disability that the author provided. Definitely worth the read

What an amazing debut from Brittney Arena! I devoured this book in a couple sittings. Don't be fooled by the gorgeous cover - this book isn't a romantasy. I would categorize this as a political fantasy with romance.

The main character, Vasalie Moran, is forced to encounter and play the game of politics in every chapter of this book. She was held unjustly imprisoned for over two years by the king she thought would protect her position in court. She danced to his every whim (literally) and he unforgivably betrayed her. Then he calls her back out only to dangle her freedom in her front of her only if she acts as a spy for him. She has to go against everything she believes in and push her body to limits it can't reach anymore to win her freedom back. However, she begins to realize she was doomed to failure from the start.

I couldn't predict most of the political plots in this book and I loved that. I was learning and reacting with Vasalie as she was learning throughout the book. I found myself gasping with every new reveal. The climax and plot reveals, especially in the last 30% of this book, had me so hooked and on the edge of my seat.

Brittney Arena created such a magical work with interesting characters and political plots so deep it's going to take that second book to unravel it all and I'm so excited for it! She captured the strife of a woman with a disability and chronic condition who has been harmed at the hands of all men who have encountered her.

I am so excited to see how the Vasalie takes on her enemies in the next installment! Thank you so much Del Rey for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Not going to lie here... She deserves all 5 of the stars I have to give. This book GRABBED me from the start. I don't always love politics in books but the politics in this were actually worth picking the book up for! The drama is ADDICTIVE. While I do not like drama in my own life, I am obsessed with it in this book!!!
The fates are super interesting- we love to see some good book lore. It felt developed but left me with so many questions - and I loved it!! This book had a lot of twists and turns and I loved when what I'm reading has me thinking and making hypotheses- and I end up completely wrong. Even with the love interests! I was changing my mind every few seconds on who I was shipping.... Until like 2/3rds in AND THEN I WAS OBSESSED with just ONE MAN! The absolute way this certain love interest be saying the most swoon worthy things!! THE SLOW BURN we have been crying out for-this is what we wanted!!
If you're not sure if you'd like this still, to compare it to something, it's giving Throne of Glass meets Caraval.
Also this book is spice free but don't be mistaken. She is spicey!! I didn't notice until I was thinking back after finishing the book that yeah, there was actually no spice! A few moments where you knew stuff was happening (not even with our FMC) but even she walked away from it. And there was lottssaa tension

every bit worth the hype, wow. i need a part two asap! this book was phenomanel, absolutely breathtaking and i cannot wait to see where the author will take vasalies story!

LOVED THIS SO MUCH!! Amazing development, world- building, romance, everything! Highly recommend to everyone!!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey for this ARC!

Such an amazing story with fairytale vibes. The author had a beautiful way with words. They were able to spin a story of lies and deception into one with love and hope in the end. I cannot wait to read more.

I loved this book so much. It was such an excellent depiction of the balance folks with chronic illness have to have between taking care of themselves, recognizing their limits, but then somehow still having to “do the thing”. Loved all of the different characters. Some of the twists were so surprising. I also had no idea this wasn’t a standalone so now I’m needing book two like yesterday.

A Dance of Lies definitely stood out to me with it's beautifully described political intrigue, slow burn romance, and detailed world building.

The book follows our FMC, Vasalie, who is a dancer and used to perform for one of the three kings of Miridran, Illian, until she was imprisoned for a murder she didn't commit. While Vasalie does have some tricks and secrets of her own, she quickly becomes pushed into a world of betrayals and deceit.

The romance in this book had me screaming and kicking my feet. I absolutely love a slow burn romance with a questionably morally grey men and this one was no different. The world building as a very slow one but definitely one that feels rewarding by the end. The one story that intrigues me the most was Anton's and his court. He quickly became one of my favorite characters with his charm and wit, alongside the others in his court- Laurent and Gustav (and I cant forget about Basile). The court intrigue is the focal point of this book with the three king brothers that all hate each other at it's center.

I think an important thing to highlight here was the disability representation as it's often not shown in books. Our FMC throughout the book experiences chronic pain. I think Vasalie shows readers that disabilities don't define who you are, what defines you are your actions. Throughout the book, Vasalie struggles with herself to keep true to herself and her morals even if it means risking herself in the process.

I cant wait to see what is next in Vasalie's story and will be patiently waiting for the next book. Thank you so much to Del Ray and Brittney Arena for giving me an e-arc!!

A Dance of Lies is an impressive and emotional debut that blends political intrigue, slow-burn romance, and rich world building with a refreshingly unique heroine at its heart. Brittney Arena delivers a fantasy tale that quietly defies convention—and in doing so, stands out from the crowd.

At the center of the story is Vasalie, a former court dancer whose life and body have both been broken by betrayal, false imprisonment, and chronic pain. When her king forces her into espionage, she must infiltrate a court of rival kingdoms under the guise of a performer and uncover secrets that could change the fate of a continent. Vasalie isn’t a sword-wielding rebel or a chosen one destined to lead an army—she’s a disabled woman navigating trauma, pain, and politics with resilience, intelligence, and quiet strength. Her character is compelling, vulnerable, and deeply human.

What truly makes A Dance of Lies shine is its thoughtful disability representation. Inspired by Arena’s own experiences with chronic pain, Vasalie’s condition isn’t sidelined or treated as a plot device—it shapes her every action and thought, and yet never defines her entirely. Her perseverance doesn’t come from superpowers or grand magic, but from grit, vulnerability, and emotional endurance.

The courtly setting is lush with tension—alliances shift, masks are worn (sometimes literally), and every interaction carries layers of meaning. The prose is elegant, especially in how Arena writes Vasalie’s dancing. Despite the physical pain, her movements on the page are vivid, graceful, and often heart-wrenching. It’s rare to see dance written with such fluidity and emotional weight.

The romance unfolds slowly, full of longing and mistrust. There’s a tangled web of affections—possibly a love triangle (or square)—but it’s handled with care. The growing connection between Vasalie and King Anton, the charming and morally ambiguous younger brother of her king, is filled with banter, tension, and emotional nuance. He’s untrustworthy in all the best ways, and their dynamic kept me turning pages.

If there’s one caveat, it’s the pacing. The novel favors emotional and political buildup over high-stakes action, especially in the first half. But if you enjoy slow-burn intrigue with strong character development and immersive worldbuilding, it’s a rewarding experience.

A Dance of Lies is a powerful debut with heart, craft, and something to say. It's not just about espionage or forbidden romance—it’s about survival, recovery, and reclaiming agency in a world built to break you. I can’t wait to see where Brittney Arena takes us in book two.