Dark Desires and Twisted Pirouettes: A Review of "The Devil’s in the Dancers" by Catherine Yu
- Kim Bartosch
- Aug 31
- 4 min read
The Devil’s in the Dancers is a dark and addictive YA contemporary with speculative edges, where ambition, betrayal, and desire pirouette through the pages with an eerie grace. Author Catherine Yu has delivered a hauntingly compelling story that’s part mystery, part psychological drama, and fully unputdownable.
✨ Thank you to Page Street YA and author Catherine Yu for the ARC of The Devil’s in the Dancers! This review is part of the official book tour hosted by Toppling Stacks Tours.
🩰 Plot That Twirls with Tension
Mars Chang has finally made it—sort of. A scholarship student at the elite Allegra Academy summer intensive, she’s desperate to prove herself. The school isn’t just prestigious—it’s owned by the Bechler family, titans of both ballet and big pharma. Mars knows that if she can network with the right people, particularly the wealthy elite like Alex Bechler, she might just dance her way into an Ivy League future.
But things take a darker turn when the headmistress offers Mars a shady deal: secretly swap Alex’s supplements with a new, unapproved Bechler product, and in return, Mars gets guaranteed admittance to the year-round program. At first, she accepts. The stakes are too high, and Mars is already used to making compromises. But when the pills start causing terrifying side effects in another student, Mars is faced with a choice that could unravel everything she's worked for.
Yu crafts a high-stakes narrative laced with moral ambiguity and unsettling suspense. It’s a dance of choices, consequences, and who you become when the lights dim.
🕊️ An Unreliable Narrator You Can’t Look Away From
Mars is one of the most fascinating unreliable narrators I’ve read in a while. You’re never quite sure if she’s being truthful—to others or to herself. Is she manipulating the situation or is she being manipulated? Is she protecting others or just covering for herself? That tension made reading the book feel like watching a performance where the lead might collapse at any second—and I loved it.
Mars’s internal conflict is as riveting as the plot itself. She’s torn between her loyalty to her fellow scholarship students, like sweet and steady Hannah, and the intoxicating allure of Alex and the world of wealth, prestige, and influence she represents. Her relationships are layered, messy, and emotionally charged.
💃 Characters That Linger in Your Mind
Alex Bechler is mesmerizing—both for Mars and the reader. She’s talented, aloof, and carries the weight of her family legacy like a curse. There’s a sense that she’s too good for this world—or too broken to belong anywhere. Her complex relationship with Mars sizzles with tension, envy, admiration, and maybe even something more.
Hannah, Mars’s friend and fellow scholarship dancer, serves as the emotional heart of the story. Her presence grounds Mars—until Mars begins drifting into the orbit of the Bechlers.
The supporting cast is equally intriguing, with each dancer and faculty member adding to the tangled web of secrets, power dynamics, and ambition.
🩸 Themes: Privilege, Power, and Pressure
At its core, The Devil’s in the Dancers explores what people are willing to do for power, success, and belonging. The book digs into themes of class, privilege, and the dark underbelly of elite institutions, particularly those that claim to be meritocratic but are fueled by nepotism and money.
There’s also an undercurrent of speculative horror—those mysterious supplements and their side effects aren’t just sci-fi flourishes. They represent the insidious ways systems can manipulate bodies for profit, prestige, and performance.
The psychological toll of ambition is ever-present. Yu doesn’t offer easy answers, and that’s what makes the story so powerful.
🩰 Final Thoughts
I absolutely devoured this book. Catherine Yu’s writing is sharp, atmospheric, and beautifully unsettling. The pacing is tight, the stakes are sky-high, and the twists kept me on my toes. I couldn’t stop thinking about Mars and the choices she made. Every pirouette, every pill, every whispered lie—The Devil’s in the Dancers builds to a crescendo that left me breathless.
If you love:
Dark academia vibes
Unreliable narrators
Complex female characters
Stories that blur the line between psychological realism and speculative horror
…then this one is for you. I can’t wait to see how readers react to the ending—because wow, it’s a ride.
⭐ Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Absolutely captivating. Dark, smart, and emotionally rich—this one earns all five stars.
Genre: YA Horror
Publisher: Page Street YA
Publishing date: August 26, 2025
Synopsis:
Scholarship student Mars Chang has finally been accepted into the most prestigious dance academy—and she’ll do anything to stay.
Earning a scholarship to the Allegra Academy summer intensive was supposed to fix everything for Mars Chang. The academy is owned and run by the Bechlers, a big pharma family. And if Mars befriends the right girls, she could unlock the doors to the Ivy League future of her dreams.
When Mars is unexpectedly assigned to room with Alex Bechler, she knows impressing Alex will make or break all her plans. Alex is annoyingly attractive, the best dancer at the academy, and her great aunt runs the program. So when the headmistress pulls Mars aside and asks her to swap Alex’s supplements with a new Bechler product, APL, in exchange for year-round admittance, Mars can’t say no.
But as Mars gets to know Alex and how much she dislikes her family and ballet, swapping the pills proves harder than Mars bargained for. Knowing Alex better only makes it clearer how unfair the academy is. So Mars decides to help another scholarship student by letting her try the supplements. At first, the pills give the girl an instant edge in class. But when they also produce terrifying side effects, Mars suspects that APL might not be safe after all.
But how can Mars, the new girl, convince the academy’s best that her life is in danger without jeopardizing her own dreams in the process?
Content Warning: drug abuse
About the author:
Catherine Yu writes dark speculative fiction. She was born in Nanjing and is now based in New York. She is the author of Direwood, Helga, and The Devil’s in the Dancers (Page Street). Her short fiction has appeared in Baffling Magazine, Fantasy Magazine, and the Death in the Mouth anthology.
Great cover
Sounds like a good read.
I love the plot to this one...it sounds spooky and I haven't read many creepy books that take place in the world of dance :)
(Also, I would probably choose the $10 Amazon GC for the giveaway post)
I would choose tbe $10 Amazon Gift Card! Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!