Reviews - Dance of Thieves

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11.3k reviews for:

Dance of Thieves

Mary E. Pearson

4.1 AVERAGE

audacityspork's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I still love this book. It’s not perfect, but it’s an oldie and a goodie. It’s the book that made me realize I like political fantasy stories!

~~~Below is my review from my first time reading the audiobook~~~

Tl;dr

In general, the political fantasy / kingdoms genre isn’t my favorite, but this book is making me re-evaluate how much I like it. The world building is excellent, layered like an onion and paced perfectly. I felt like I was reading a mystery, just with unusual packaging. The romance isn’t the Main Thing™, but it’s well done.

Pros

I have no major reservations about this book. When I read fiction, I usually find something that I wish were different, but I don’t have that with this book. It’s good, just the way it is.
This is a master class example of well-paced world building. The way the story unravels bits and pieces of the larger political landscape is so impressively sprinkled in that I didn’t even notice how it was pulling me in. The story peels its layers slowly, patiently, at a Goldilocks pace that manages to give neither too much nor too little, match the reader's growing interest, and scaffold the real-time plot. Bravo. *chefs kiss*
This book is also excellent at dramatic irony. We get information from both main characters, so we have pieces of the puzzle before our first-person protagonists do. There were moments I was glued to the story because I needed to know when the other character would find out the info! There were a lot of times I was waiting for the shoe to drop, and I was extremely satisfied whenever it happened.
The romance plot sometimes relies on misunderstandings and a lack of communication, BUT the stakes are so high (they’re literally part of disputing kingdoms) that it didn’t feel contrived. I had moments of really wanting the main characters to do something differently, but it wasn't because the book was bad – it was because it was good, and I was invested!
Both main characters were very likeable, warts and all.
The audiobook is really good!

Cons

This isn’t a fair criticism, but this genre isn’t my favorite, so this book isn’t my favorite book.
I’m frustrated that I have to read another book in this duology!!! This book was so good, and there were enough mysteries left unsolved that I actually feel like I have to read the next book — immediately.
The beginning of the book introduces a lot of people all at once, so I was confused and a bit unmotivated at the start. Even so, I thought the story started in a great place.

sarahgreenhood's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

It’s a really slow pace and a lot of world build up at the beginning. Took me 2 days to read 150 pages as I wasn’t hook straight up. But I read the other 350 pages in one sitting. The story and characters relations are interesting and conflicting.
I really enjoyed it and I ordered the next one straight away. Can’t wait to read it!