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A review by kfriend
The Dancer and The Masks by Bea Paige
5.0
Seductive, ensnaring, and mysterious, The Dancer and the Masks is a brilliant dance in the darker side of Bea Paige. It’s alluring and engaging but also psychologically complicated- an intoxicating, page-turning concoction that tintilates and intrigues.
I won’t say much about this plot, because truly this story is best experienced going in blind. Coming into this story I knew to expect something different, darker, more twisted than Bea’s more recent work. The blurb, the trigger warning, the cover and all the reviews will tell you that. Even so, I wasn’t quite prepared for what this story was going to be- not because it is so dark (for me, it’s not the darkest I’ve read). More so, it was the unexpectedness of the narrative- and these characters. This story was unpredictable from start to finish- and like our heroine, we never quite get our footing. Bea keeps us on the edge of knowledge the entire story- teetering on the edge of reality and allusion. The truth, or the totality of it, is always just out of our (and our heroine’s grasp). It does make the story feel like a particularly extended exposition in places- but a really compelling tense, and intriguing one. Bea has always been such a meticulous and creative world builder- and she invests in that here. The Masks, the Menagerie, the politics of the castle, all the mysteries and secrets are deftly created- and the realities and truths slowly meted.
Unlike Bea’s other stories, this is not a story heavy on plot or action- though we have a few high adrenaline moments. More so, this is a psychological character study- and she smartly keeps the action minimal, the proximity tight, to force us to SIT in the complexities of these characters, to really unravel them. Their emotional juxtapositions, peculiarities, their buried truths and evolving identities. And not just out anti-heroes, our heroine Christy too- as we soon find her confronting the unrealized parts of herself. And given what she’s up against, I loved how Bea has given us such a clever, strong, fierce but empathetic character in Christy- a perfect foe and love for the masks because she has the fortitude to challenge them but the emotional courage to also try to understand them. And Bea also forces us to sit in the discomfort of what she learns as she examines them- the Masks are intriguing but not lovable, tantalizing but unsafe, depraved but loyal.
At its core, this is a story about characters that wear masks- and not just the literal kind. Good or bad, depraved or innocent, every person in this story is covering some aspect of themselves. Past pain, failed dreams, insecurities, emotional imperfections, longing, proclivities or emotional intelligence- all securely hidden behind their painstakingly constructed artifice. Christy, the Masks, the Menagerie- they’ve all hidden pieces of themselves so convincingly for so long, they’ve convinced themselves those pieces are carefully guarded or dead- because they have to in order to survive the very thing they’re masking. Secure until being thrust together starts to crack, then shatter, their ability to mask themselves, or perhaps even more compelling, their will to do so. But it’s not even the characters that are allusions- their world is too. Their world darkness itself becomes an illusion- so much so that the more we wade into the murky waters of the Masks and their Menagerie, the more we ourselves are struggling to discern what is a facade and what is truth, perception vs. reality. And that’s where the psychological intrigue of this story excels in its intensity- our characters themselves don’t know their truth anymore. Because Christy is just now discovering herself, and because the Masks are rediscovering. Because they’ve all hidden pieces of themselves for so convincingly for so long, they thought they were dead.
Masking isn’t just about repression- it’s about survival. And it’s also about power. And Bea explores and tangles with both themes so brilliantly. Everyone in this story has buried and hidden pieces of themselves to survive- the adapt and evolve. But their collision threatens that- and thus, threatens everyone’s survival. It makes for a heady and mesmerizing dynamic- characters both reborn and threatened all at once by their connection to the other. As Chisty exposes more of herself, she finds more power, but it threatens her survival. And the masks are desperate to maintain the control they have- not over others, but over themselves. The more they unmask themselves, the more their power is at risk- but is it the means to salvation and true survival?
Ah, well time will tell. Just when this story really picks up, we’re careened towards a jaw dropping finale that has me reeling. We still have so much we don’t know or understand- including our seductive masks. The narrative itself is exposed to be an illusion- as we quickly find out behind the smoke and mirrors there is MUCh we have yet to understand. Part 2 can’t come fast enough- my heart and soul need to know just what path there is forward.
A note on triggers: As far as darkness goes, this is by far the darkest book I’ve read from Bea, but as a dark-romance aficionado, this is definitely not the darkest story I’ve read. But there are certainly very dark and twisted components...and triggering elements: kidnapping, grooming, non-con, humiliation, blood play. The darkness was less erotic and more sensual (often it was more so the threat of dark elements vs. them always being actualized) and did feel organic to the characters and story- ie not darkness for darkness sake, but if you have triggers or don’t prefer darker stories, tread lightly.
OVERALL: 4.5 stars
I won’t say much about this plot, because truly this story is best experienced going in blind. Coming into this story I knew to expect something different, darker, more twisted than Bea’s more recent work. The blurb, the trigger warning, the cover and all the reviews will tell you that. Even so, I wasn’t quite prepared for what this story was going to be- not because it is so dark (for me, it’s not the darkest I’ve read). More so, it was the unexpectedness of the narrative- and these characters. This story was unpredictable from start to finish- and like our heroine, we never quite get our footing. Bea keeps us on the edge of knowledge the entire story- teetering on the edge of reality and allusion. The truth, or the totality of it, is always just out of our (and our heroine’s grasp). It does make the story feel like a particularly extended exposition in places- but a really compelling tense, and intriguing one. Bea has always been such a meticulous and creative world builder- and she invests in that here. The Masks, the Menagerie, the politics of the castle, all the mysteries and secrets are deftly created- and the realities and truths slowly meted.
Unlike Bea’s other stories, this is not a story heavy on plot or action- though we have a few high adrenaline moments. More so, this is a psychological character study- and she smartly keeps the action minimal, the proximity tight, to force us to SIT in the complexities of these characters, to really unravel them. Their emotional juxtapositions, peculiarities, their buried truths and evolving identities. And not just out anti-heroes, our heroine Christy too- as we soon find her confronting the unrealized parts of herself. And given what she’s up against, I loved how Bea has given us such a clever, strong, fierce but empathetic character in Christy- a perfect foe and love for the masks because she has the fortitude to challenge them but the emotional courage to also try to understand them. And Bea also forces us to sit in the discomfort of what she learns as she examines them- the Masks are intriguing but not lovable, tantalizing but unsafe, depraved but loyal.
At its core, this is a story about characters that wear masks- and not just the literal kind. Good or bad, depraved or innocent, every person in this story is covering some aspect of themselves. Past pain, failed dreams, insecurities, emotional imperfections, longing, proclivities or emotional intelligence- all securely hidden behind their painstakingly constructed artifice. Christy, the Masks, the Menagerie- they’ve all hidden pieces of themselves so convincingly for so long, they’ve convinced themselves those pieces are carefully guarded or dead- because they have to in order to survive the very thing they’re masking. Secure until being thrust together starts to crack, then shatter, their ability to mask themselves, or perhaps even more compelling, their will to do so. But it’s not even the characters that are allusions- their world is too. Their world darkness itself becomes an illusion- so much so that the more we wade into the murky waters of the Masks and their Menagerie, the more we ourselves are struggling to discern what is a facade and what is truth, perception vs. reality. And that’s where the psychological intrigue of this story excels in its intensity- our characters themselves don’t know their truth anymore. Because Christy is just now discovering herself, and because the Masks are rediscovering. Because they’ve all hidden pieces of themselves for so convincingly for so long, they thought they were dead.
Masking isn’t just about repression- it’s about survival. And it’s also about power. And Bea explores and tangles with both themes so brilliantly. Everyone in this story has buried and hidden pieces of themselves to survive- the adapt and evolve. But their collision threatens that- and thus, threatens everyone’s survival. It makes for a heady and mesmerizing dynamic- characters both reborn and threatened all at once by their connection to the other. As Chisty exposes more of herself, she finds more power, but it threatens her survival. And the masks are desperate to maintain the control they have- not over others, but over themselves. The more they unmask themselves, the more their power is at risk- but is it the means to salvation and true survival?
Ah, well time will tell. Just when this story really picks up, we’re careened towards a jaw dropping finale that has me reeling. We still have so much we don’t know or understand- including our seductive masks. The narrative itself is exposed to be an illusion- as we quickly find out behind the smoke and mirrors there is MUCh we have yet to understand. Part 2 can’t come fast enough- my heart and soul need to know just what path there is forward.
A note on triggers: As far as darkness goes, this is by far the darkest book I’ve read from Bea, but as a dark-romance aficionado, this is definitely not the darkest story I’ve read. But there are certainly very dark and twisted components...and triggering elements: kidnapping, grooming, non-con, humiliation, blood play. The darkness was less erotic and more sensual (often it was more so the threat of dark elements vs. them always being actualized) and did feel organic to the characters and story- ie not darkness for darkness sake, but if you have triggers or don’t prefer darker stories, tread lightly.
OVERALL: 4.5 stars