Are you out for a true enemies-to-lovers, fantasy romance? If your answer is yes, dear bookworm, then this blog post is for you. We are going to break down the characters in Mary E. Pearson’s Dance of Thieves, a BookTok favorite young adult romantasy. Stay till the end and decide for yourself if Kazi and Jase’s slow-burn romance is as sizzling as Paedyn and Kai’s.
Need more convincing? Catch up with our latest posts on Dance of Thieves summary, unforgettable quotes, and compare Jase's pinning with Kai’s in Powerless quotes, and character guide. The true question is: Do you prefer him blond or dark-haired?
Let’s dive into our character analysis right away, but beware of spoilers!
Kazi was raised in Brightmist, one of the poorest places in Venda. Since the age of six, when her mother was kidnapped by the Previsi, Kazi learned to fend for herself. Struggling to survive, she became a thief—a famous one at that. Known as “Ten” because she has all ten of her fingertips—thus never caught by the Komizar’s guards—Kazi’s greatest accomplishment was stealing a captured tiger away. You can see the analogy here, right? Repressed kid, repressed animal… When Queen Lia’s reign started, Kazi was brought to her, and after a rocky start, she joined the Queen’s most trusted guard—Rahtan.
Trained and hardened by the years in the streets, Kazi has learnt to trust no one except her fellow Rahtan and the Queen she serves. She struggles to sleep in open spaces due to her traumatic experience the night her mother was taken. She is very effective and cunning when it comes to driving people’s attention elsewhere, so they are too distracted to pay attention to her real intentions. Her skills as a thief include juggling and an infinite number of riddles.
The only thing that could make her betray her Queen’s trust is getting revenge on the labor-hunters who kidnapped her mother. Or the feelings she develops for her enemy… Kazi may be one of the most known thieves, but when it comes to matters of the heart, her steps falter as she enters the dangerous dance!
After the sudden death of his father, Jase finds himself the head of the Ballenger family, and Hell’s Mouth. The new Patrei has to come up against enemies that undermine his right to power, felonies that attack the settlements, and his own kin that challenge his control. Running a very old and profitable trading business, the Ballengers are known to be the first kingdom ever structured—even if Hell’s Mouth is not acknowledged by the other kingdoms yet.
His father’s last words being, “Bring her here,” meaning the Queen, Jase needs to make the impossible happen and get the Queen to acknowledge their empire. That is the reason why he does not confront the Rahtan that has come to his home with questionable intentions, but rather “traps” them to do his bidding.
He loves his family and people, and he is ready to sacrifice himself for each one of them. One of the most sacred promises the Ballengers give is that they will protect all the children in Hell’s Mouth. And it is a blood oath, mind! He is kind, skilled, clever, and observant. He knows Kazi is hiding something, but he nevertheless falls in love with her. He is ready to risk his family and head for her, despite her secrets. He loves entertaining her with stories about the ancients, the stars, and his family’s history. And, of course, he is a sucker for her riddles!
He may love his family’s history, but he does not believe in ruling in fear or deception.
Both orphans who at some point got tangled with Kazi in the streets, Wren and Synové, followed Kazi in joining the Queen’s Rahtan. Synové is the Queen’s best archer, her aim impossibly precise. She is the only one besides Kazi who has a glimpse of magic in her—dreams that can be quite prophetic, but dreadful most of the time. A beautiful redhead who keeps a light-hearted, chatty, and cheerful personality, very flirty too, to cope.
On the other hand, Wren is more composed. A silent, deadly, blond beauty. Her ziethe, her legendary knives, are well-known even in a faraway land like Hell’s Mouth. Her preference for soft fabrics comes in contrast to her hard exterior, but a good contradiction is always welcome. Kazi believes it is the only part of her past that Wren keeps alive.
Vairlyn is the matriarch of the family, an attentive and caring mother who humbles her children and will do anything to keep them safe. The oldest sibling is Priya, who is in charge of the family’s accounting. Very smart and nerdy, but always watching out for her family. Then, there is Gunner, the first son who is trying too much, but it is not enough; thus, their father made Jase his successor. Titus, another brother who mainly has a supportive role. Mason was adopted by the family when his real parents were killed. The same age as Jase, he is his closest friend. Samuel and Aram are identical twins, very humorous, and easy-going. Cinnamon rolls that can kill you. Jalaine is outgoing and a little immature. She is responsible for running the trading market. Lydia and Nash are the youngest and most cheerful figures of the family—always curious and prone to disaster. The members who have passed are: Karsen Ballenger, their father, and two of Jase’s unlucky siblings who died from the fever: Sylvey and Micah.
Known from her own arc in The Remnant Chronicles, Lia came into power after some dreadful events—aka the slaughter of her family. Now, married and expecting her first child, she has one goal; find the traitors who butchered her family. She sends her Rahtan to find the Watch Captain, and when she has him, she makes sure justice is served. She is open-minded, and she listens to Jase plead when Kazi asks her to. She can tell there is something going on between them, and she sends Kazi back to Hell’s Mouth with Jase as her ambassador. She is a fair, true leader.
Venda’s former Watch Captain betrayed the Queen’s family, siding with the Komizar and then running for his life. He finds refuge in Hell’s Mouth, where he strikes a deal with Karsen Ballenger. A safe Haven for weapons and a remedy for the fever. Claiming he has a team of scribes that can translate the scripts of the gods, he collects his gang of Venda’s traitors and produces a new kind of weapon for the Ballengers—or so they say. Their plan is to slaughter the family and take control. Also, get revenge on the Queen of Venda. Now, why would the Ballengers trust them? Well, as Hell’s Mouth is not a recognized kingdom, it can receive ex-convicts—especially when they promise to find the cure to the fever that takes several young lives during the winter. Remember the Ballengers’ blood oath?
Dance of Thieves is the first installment in The Renmant Chronicles duology, followed by the Vows of Thieves, but it is a mere introduction to Mary E. Pearson’s universe. The prequel series is also worth a read! Run to your Amazon library or sign in to your Goodreads or any other alternative and add everything under Pearson’s name to your TBR. You think we are exaggerating, but believe us when we say this is an epic low fantasy with badass heroines.
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Yes, there is romance in Dance of Thieves, more precisely between Kazi and Jase. It is a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers dynamic, with a chemistry to die for, witty banter, and high stakes. Also, there are some romantic subplots, like the one between Synové and Mason.
During the Komizar’s reign, the people struggled, and therefore, thieving was a means of survival. He fought to control it by cruelly having his guards cut off one fingertip of each thief they caught every time they were caught. Kazi was not caught—not once. So “Ten” stands for her ten fingertips she still has intact.
The main themes in Dance of Thieves are loyalty and legacy, as the Ballenger family’s entire identity is built on loyalty to each other and to Tor’s Watch. Jase’s role as Patrei demands he protect their autonomy at all costs. Then there is trust and deception, as Kazi enters Tor’s Watch under false pretenses, lying about her mission and true loyalties. Her growing bond with Jase forces both characters to question whom they can trust. At last, it is all about redemption; their journey is as much about proving themselves worthy of love and leadership as it is about survival.
Nikki Sheryee insists that she’s “up to no good” whenever she’s in the company of books. Armed with a degree in English Language and Literature, she wields the power of words like a mischievous wizard. Her lifelong dream? To be the editor who sprinkles magic dust on manuscripts! To Nikki, a book is more alive than a caffeinated squirrel on roller skates. Readers nurture it, cuddle it, scold it, and occasionally challenge it to a duel! But in the end, a book does its own thing, pulling at our heartstrings and revealing our inner human-ness. Nikki’s favorite pastime? Well, it’s none other than the noble art of daydreaming! And she wears her daydreamer’s badge with pride, sharing this delightful delusion with the crème de la crème of her friends.
