To Dance With Death, by Brittney Arena - Book Review
To Dance with Death, by Brittney Arena
Published Aug 03, 2026
Review by Aubrey Hay | October 7th, 2026
To Dance With Death, by Brittney Arena concludes the story that began with A Dance of Lies, an epic fantasy romance (a romantasy, if you will). Our heroine, Vasalie, is on a mission to restore her lover's memories and prevent her father's ruthless conquest - a mission that brings her into the realm of the dead and face-to-face with Moranya, the goddess of death.
Our key players are Vasalie, a dancer and daughter of a nobleman who is determined to conquer all neighboring countries; and Anton, king of one of those countries and Vasalie's one-time lover, before his memories were altered by a deal he made to save her. Believing he has been betrayed by everyone he trusted, Anton is hiding in the underworld, and presumed missing by the land of the living. However, Vasalie's ruthless father has set a deadline - the missing king, Anton, must appear at the end of a month, or he will invade to depose the sitting Regent...
Setting aside the fact that romantasy is not a genre I typically read, the prose is well-crafted and the story easy to follow, even if you haven't read the first book in this duology. The characters are relatively nuanced and believable, though sometimes the supporting cast is a little flat. That's not a detractor though, when the focus of this book is primarily on the emotional connection between Vasalie and Anton.
However, there are a few things I struggled with while reading. The pacing was a little odd, as there was an initial sense of urgency that wasn't really carried through - although the looming deadline was brought up on occasion, the passage of time was not clear and so it never quite seemed like the characters really felt the urgency that readers were told to expect. Rather it seemed like time was not passing until it was plot-convenient, and then suddenly a large chunk of time had passed, presumably during the previous narrative pages. Additionally, some of the story beats seemed to come out of nowhere, or the lead-in was lacking, such that moments that could have been extremely impactful and emotional instead felt forced and unnatural.
This book shines during romantic scenes and moments of emotional import related to love for family and friends. Fans of happy endings and tidily-resolved storylines will also be pleased with the conclusion to this duology.
In short, if you are looking for a quick read where the world's plot is secondary to the romance, this book is for you.
To Dance With Death on Amazon
Check out Brittney at brittneyarena.com
Brittney Arena will be a guest on Epic Realms - November 24th
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