Name: A Dance of Lies
Series: A Dance of Lies #1
Author: Brittney Arena
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Format: Kindle / Hardback
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Spice Rating: Glimpses & Kisses🌶️(illudes to more)
Rating:
Synopsis: Goodreads
My protector is gone, revealed to be a monster. But I remind myself that I am not a damsel. I’m no princess bound within a tower.
I am a shadow.
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.
Review:
You know, I should really start trusting myself when I buy myself a book because I’m genuinely so excited for it – I should learn to prioritise that over ones that I’m picking up just because it has been recommended or appears a lot on booktok!
A Dance of Lies follows ours FMC, Vasalie, after she is released from a 2 year imprisonment after being accused of murder. Prior to this imprisonment, she was the King’s Jewel – his prized dancer and her release is dependent on her learning again how to use her body and to get into a Political Gathering of Kings, Queens and rulers as a performer enabling her to spy for her King… Unfortunately her imprisonment wasn’t kind and she is having to learn how to deal with chronic pain while trying to get back her dancing prowess…
The author wrote in her dedication about her own troubles with the pains she was facing and how although Vasalie wasn’t a direct translation of her disabilities on the page, it was instead a “declaration that our limitations do not define our worth or limit our ability to live wonderfully romantic and impactful lives.” and whilst I can’t comment on the exact disability representation within these pages – everything felt like it was handled beautifully and respectfully. Thank you for giving us Vasalie’s story, Brittney… because as you’re about to see, I loved it.
My jaw dropped open when I finished A Dance of Lies and I had to stare at a wall. I simply loved this book and this story, and the twists that were embedded within the pages were excellent. Vasalie is one of those FMCs that I simply adore. She’s thrown into an awful situation with no prior experience being a spy or an assassin or anything else she could possibly be asked to do… she’s simply a dancer whose body isn’t what it was before. So, I really enjoyed watching her not only have to figure out how to dance again, but also how to carry out the tasks she’s been given – grappling with the moral implications of them as well as the inner turmoil presented by her past. It was just brilliantly done.
I’ve mentioned a number of times dancing, the fact that our FMC was a dancer who has to again become a dancer so she can carry out her end of the deal that results in her being released from the dungeons… And as someone who really struggles to picture things in her mind – it’s mostly blank in there! – I worried a part of this story would be lost on me if the dancing was too much of a focal point (and yet, I knew it needed to be given the premise…). Thankfully, the writing was beautiful and the dance sequences were written in such a way that even though I couldn’t picture it, I could still appreciate the beauty of those scenes. I was very very grateful for that!
I didn’t actually know if there was going to be romance in this novel or if it was just fantasy when I picked it up, so when I was reading it there were a couple of moments where I was like “Wait a minute, is he going to become a love interest!?” and I will say I was rewarded! I loved not knowing who would be the interest, if there was one; but we did have a number of male characters with main character energy! Along with a cast of side characters that I simply adore – the found family is growing, and it’s possible book 2 will solidify this as one of my favourite found families! And it’s only a duology!!
All in all I loved A Dance of Lies – it was an easy 5 star read. The pacing was perfect to me, whenever I put it down I wanted to keep reading (I almost missed a birthday gathering with my family because I was reading and didn’t want to stop!), the characters felt unique and I loved the many relationships between different onces, and the story held my interest and hooked me in! Believe me, I wasn’t expecting the story that I got but now I’ve read it I can’t imagine it having been any different. This was excellent.
“I am broken.” I say[…]
“You are art.” He says in response.
Reading With Tyler 
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