Book Review: A Dance of Lies

Book #81 for 2025: A Dance of Lies by Brittney Arena, 4/5 ★
448 pages / published June 2025 / available here

Goodreads blurb: 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. As Illian’s orders grow bloody and dangerous, forcing her to harm and betray those around her, Vasalie discovers that the monster she serves may be aligned with a bigger monster—one far closer to home. With her world threatened, Vasalie enlists the help of Illian’s brother and greatest adversary, the infamous King of the East. As the rivalry between brothers escalates, with Vasalie caught in the middle, the horrifying truth of her past comes to light. If she wants to survive, she must decide who to trust, who to fight for, and how much of her soul she’s willing to damn in the process.

My review: What a debut! Arena’s writing style is lush and achingly beautiful, capturing a richly imagined world for all it’s beauty and darkness. I found this one hard to put down and, while slightly disappointed to realize at the end that it isn’t a standalone, I still really enjoyed 90% of it. There are a couple places where I struggled to understand the protagonist, but I won’t say more because #spoilers. Like most romantasy, it falls a little too far on the romance scale for me, but with only mild spice and an intriguing cast & premise, I was still hooked. I really wanted to see more of a lot of the secondary characters – Arena did a fantastic job giving interesting hints of backstory and details to many of the peripheral cast. I didn’t adore the supernatural element to the ending, but for the writing style and to find out what becomes of many characters, I’m well likely to try book two.