I really enjoyed this. Fantasy, but in an Asian-inspired setting and while the "Project Runway meets Mulan" elevator pitch is present, it really only covers about the first third of the novel before launching on a quest to make impossible dresses of legend.

Things I liked: again, I'm refreshed by the increase in fantasy that's set in non-European inspired settings partly for the change in a conventional setting but also having that bit of familiarity when a character does something and I'm reminded of my ngin-ngin, etc. Spin the Dawn is clearly Chinese-inspired but the journey takes them through the silk road equivalent to deserts and the northern people have influence from the Steppes. I like Maia as a protagonist and she's driven by not just the need to prove herself as the best tailor in the land, but also to provide for the welfare/honor of her family. We actually spent time on the quest at hand and what was needed for each trial in detail rather than glossing over it, and I do feel like this story would be great for a visual adaptation whether on screen or in graphic novel form.

I am less sold on how rapid romance happens, especially between extraordinarily old supernatural things and teenagers (~eyes the SJM books and City of Brass that I also read this year~), and do wish we got more worldbuilding about how magic works. I'm intrigued by different nations/factions' perspectives on using magic and whether or not it's linked to demons (probably?)

One of the cover quotes compared this to Sarah J. Maas and truthfully as the first third actually showed the tailor competition and Maia is competent, I think this is a better book than either SJM series.

Looking forward to the sequel next summer! ( )

What a ride this book was! Spin the Dawn was just the magical adventure I needed, with its charming characters, adorable romance, whimsical magic, dangerous quests and Asian-inspired lore. This book basically has it all!

The story is essentially divided into two parts. In the first part, Maia disguises as a man to compete for the position of imperial tailor instead of her brother, both to fulfil her life-long dream of becoming the greatest tailor in the land and to help her poverty-stricken family. But the competition is fierce and her adversaries will stop at nothing to win the coveted position, and if Maia's secret were discovered it would mean certain death. The competition was so fun and easily one of my favourite sections in the novel. It really kept me on the edge of my seat as I never knew what to expect from these cutthroat tailors and from Lady Sernai, the emperor's bride-to-be who judges the competition.

It was over way too soon, as we moved into Part 2, which is a magical quest as Lady Sernai tasks Maia with sewing three gowns for her: one made from the laughter of the sun, one from the tears of the moon and one from the blood of the stars. Maia sets out to retrieve these with the help of Edan, the court enchanter, and a pair of magical scissors. Perils and challenges abound, and I am totally here for it! I'm not usually a fan of long, arduous quests as I tend to get quite bored with them, but this one managed to keep my attention nicely until the end. And that ending? I am not ok!! I need the second book ASAP and I do not have the second book yet, so that's a problem.

One of the things that definitely made me love this book so much was the beautiful writing. The author's world-building and descriptions are just fantastic and I could almost picture everything. This was especially great because this book is so visual, with all the descriptions of dresses, colours, embroideries, and the lush and gorgeous settings. I also really liked how deeply it dives into the world's culture and its complexities, flawlessly mixing epic fantasy with fairy tale elements.

And the characters... how can I even begin to talk about the characters? Maia and Edan, I loved these two so much! Their banter was just fantastic and often had me hopelessly grinning or straight up laughing and I ship them so hard! I found them both to be characterised so well independently from one another, and I took to them almost immediately. Some of the secondary characters didn't get a lot of air time, but they very well might in the second book. And Maia and Edan were alone on the road for a significant part of the book, so it does make sense!

A minor complaint I have is around the marketing for this: I saw it pitched as a Mulan retelling but, honestly, I don't really see it? I mean, the only resemblance to Mulan is Maia dresses up as a boy to answer the emperor's call in her father's and her brother's place, and that's about where that ends. This book is so much more than simply a Mulan retelling!

Overall, Spin the Dawn was a fantastic read and one I'll be gushing about for a long while yet. It weaves together danger, magic, humour, romance, and a complex, Asian-inspired world in a beautiful and intricate tapestry. One not to miss!

For more reviews, visit Book for Thought.

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way. ( )

7/10 ( )

Love with all of me and I am eagerly counting the days for the sequel. Our leads are absolutely fantastic- Maia and Edan: you both are so brave, gorgeous and talented in your different fields. I want you to have all you ever wanted. ( )

Reasons to pick up the book:

- Unique story
- has a strong and determined female character who has her flaws but is ready to embrace them
- Projects strong family values and love
- unpredictable
- Adventurous
- has a happy ending with an intriguing cliffhanger

Cons:
- I would have liked a little more details onto the adventure itself
- The build up was too good but the adventure ended in a page or two
- Too many unanswered questions have me pacing for the next part of the series ( )

Check out my review here, https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/review/052564699X/R3AO6FQ93O95Z7?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctr... ( )

I wanted to like this more than I did. It was a fun read though. ( )

Unfortunately, I didn’t click with this one very well.

The first chapter was really promising. It laid out the main character’s backstory and family relationships, it established a strong voice, and it set up for something family-centered and potentially slow and thoughtful. That tone lasted for a few chapters, with a little bit of the “ordinary world” and the inciting incident (which was very reminiscent of Mulan). But once Maia got into the competition, things started to go faster than I would have liked.

For most of the book, I felt like individual scenes moved too quickly and there wasn’t enough connection to Maia in her narration to feel like the stakes mattered. None of the obstacles felt particularly intimidating because they were always overcome so quickly and there seemed to be so little depth to Maia’s feelings and experiences in the prose. It wasn’t exactly a matter of telling instead of showing—the prose was mildly descriptive—but I would have liked for more time to have been spent drawing out Maia’s feelings to really ground the reader instead of racing from one obstacle to the next to the next.

The pacing also hindered my ability to connect with the characters. Maia was all right (I don’t tend to connect with main characters, especially not female MCs, so this is no surprise); Edan felt very much like the stereotypical, brooding, enemy-to-lover character for a large portion of the book. We did finally get a few slower scenes in Part Two where I was able to connect with him more, and I did come to appreciate his character better. I like the Balardans, Maia’s brothers, and Longhai when he was first introduced. But, as usual, none of my favorite side characters were given the page time or depth that I would have liked. When things really got going with the contest, Maia’s rival tailors (including Longhai) all blurred together (with the exception of Norbu, after a while). The contest is where I really would have liked to see things slowed down and more time spent on building up characters and establishing motivations and all of that.

I probably look for a lot more in a book’s worldbuilding than most readers, so take this next part with a healthy dose of salt, but I would have liked more depth from the worldbuilding. We get to see bits and pieces of certain settings, and we learn the bare minimum about the religion and magic system for the story to make sense, but I would have liked to see the world do more to impact the characters. It felt like the pieces of the world that we saw were only there to move the plot along and the characters didn’t really think much of them. This was particularly true of Maia’s views on magic; I never understood her disbelief in magic beyond the first time or two she saw it. I would have liked to see more of a shift in her worldview—complete with internal conflict.

And a personal pet peeve since working at a horse camp. Early in Part Two, Maia and Edan ride horses. Except it’s abundantly obvious that neither the author nor her editor(s) have ever ridden a horse in their lives, because the portrayal is so inaccurate. Maia’s horse doesn’t behave like horses behave, the impact riding has on Maia’s health makes no sense whatsoever (no, you would not be winded after riding a horse for an hour), and Maia’s confidence in riding is completely illogical (there are about five dozen steps in confidence between fearing you’ll fall off a horse and deciding to attempt needlework on horseback). After reading two cringe-worthy pages about Maia’s horseback riding experience, I’m very tempted to write a blog post about how not to write about horses and horseback riding.

But anyway. Horse-related rant aside. I didn’t totally hate Spin the Dawn. It was mediocre. The plot was all right, if faster than I prefer. The worldbuilding was sufficient. The characters were tolerable (a few had their likeable moments). And the formatting and cover art are gorgeous. But I would have liked more depth, more time for things to be fleshed out, more research done on horseback riding… and I could have done without the sex scene I had to skip (or what was close enough to being a sex scene that it made me uncomfortable enough I felt I had to skip it). Content-wise, there was also a fair amount of implication from side characters that Edan was gay, which I found unnecessary and which, from a writing perspective, never really made sense or felt adequately explained since he’s… clearly not, later in the book.

I was intending to read Unravel the Dawn as well and review the duology as a whole (since I bought Unravel the Dawn a few months ago, also), but Spin the Dawn wasn’t enough to keep my interest. ( )

Based on Silk Road historical China .... Elizabeth created a fantasy world ... and weaved a wonderful tale of a girl who wanted to be a tailor. This book I thought would be a combination of Mulan (girl masquerading as a boy) and Project Runway.

And the first half of the book started that way. Maybe the second part of the book was more Harry Potter as she goes on the most insane Project Runway challenge of making a dress from the sun, moon and the blood of stars. She has the help of the mysterious enchanter Edan....

I liked Maia's the Edan's banter on their quest. However, I did find the quest long and well ... the simple competition to be Imperial Tailor so quaint and long ago. I am looking forward to how this story ends.
( )

After a month of mostly bad books, this was pretty good!

Ignoring the stupid "x meets y" blurb, this played out a lot like the YA fairy tale romances that I love, so that was a plus. I could feel the older Robin McKinley influence!

I had some niggles with the romance itself, though. These days I need some kind of rationalization for the huuuuuuge age gap (I think I got enough of a vibe to be placated there), and there was some Idiot Ball carrying in the back quarter that made me sigh.

I'm definitely looking forward to the conclusion next year! ( )

Pretty standard for a YA romance, though I've never been a fan of "thousand-year-old man falls in love with young innocent girl", which is why it's 2 stars. ( )

I really liked this book. It is not exactly the sort of book I usually read but Tamora Pierce, who I love, recommended it and I am glad I read it because it is great. ( )

This book is amazing! I have already preordered the sequel. I cannot wait to read it. This is Mulan meets Project Runway meets Aladdin. So good! So much fun to read! ( )

I was given an eARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Spin the Dawn is a precious pearl of a book. The only reason it doesn’t have 5 stars from me is because the pace wasn’t quite what I prefer. The gorgeous cover and Mulan description made me want to read it ASAP and I was so excited when I was approved for this arc. The book itself was just as awesome as the cover! Lim takes us into an East-Asian inspired fantasy world with a setting very similar to China, and mythology that seems lightly based in Shintoism (the sun goddess Amana/Amaterasu is upset and the sun goes away, creating the cycle of night and day). There are even mythical decedents of Amana, though they are not royalty like in Japan.

The novel is about a girl named Maia, who is “enlisted” like Mulan to replace a male figure. In this case, she is taken to compete to be the new Imperial Tailor, as the Emperor’s old tailor just died. The book is broken into three parts, all with their own intrigues. In the beginning you’re learning about how the Summer Palace works, how the social hierarchy is laid out, and how the book understands and defines magic. Later on, Maia has to prove herself by going on a thrilling and dangerous adventure to make mythical dresses out of the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of the stars. Are these ingredients even real, and does Maia have what it takes to collect them???

The book didn’t ‘twist’ persay, as I feel twists include a bit of a jolt in the narrative, but the ending was certainly unexpected. There were many parts of it I didn’t see coming, but it all flowed together perfectly- the ideal balance! If you’re looking for fantasy, magic, and/or #ownvoices rep- Lim spins the perfect tale with Spin the Dawn! ( )

Being a YA fantasy with a healthy dash of romance, Spin the Dawn might not be for everyone, but for me, it was like reliving the magic of reading my first Tamora Pierce books in my early teens. I tore through this almost 400-page novel in a day, something I don’t think I’ve ever done before.

"A patchwork of thick, grey clouds drifted across the sky, the seams so tight I could barely see the light behind them.”

I was absorbed by Maia’s passion for tailoring and the vivid descriptions of her designs. The prose is beautiful, and I loved how Lim weaves it (pun intended) with allusions to Maia’s trade.

When I first started the book, I was worried that the worldbuilding detail was too light for my taste. But Maia’s journey expands the setting in exciting ways, and I particularly loved the mythology. However, Lim maintains a paired down, fairy-tale narrative voice which, for me, made the story all the more emotionally poignant.

The only thing that didn’t really work for me was how antagonistic Maia was towards Edan in the beginning. I thought he was charming and helpful, but she was so not into it. That said, I think the point was that Maia felt comfortable enough with him to treat him as if he were one of her three brothers.

Regardless, I’ve given this book a big old 5-star rating for the pure enjoyment it brought me. I can’t wait to read more of Lim’s work! ( )

This Mulan retelling was so amazing. Maia is such a strong female character. I love the magic in this story. Edan is also a great character. He is mysterious and funny. I love them both. I cannot wait to read the next book. I recommend this book. ( )

I enjoy a good tournament and a good quest narrative, but the love story that binds the two together left me a bit cold. Not sure if I want to read the second book. ( )

I am surprised that I managed to finish a book picking it in the morning, and finishing it in the afternoon. Well, I finished the book while listening to the audiobook from my Scribd app. I got Spin the Dawn from my July 2019 Owlcrate subscription book; I liked the cover, and I felt that I have to read it.
I liked the premise of the book, Project Runway show ft. Mulan, but it is a lot more than that. I love when there are books taking mythology, and fairy tales and weave into something new, and Elizabeth Lim does it very well.
Both, the three challenges and the three trials in the journey that Maia & Edan go, so the master tailor of the emperor has to sew three dresses, are captivating. What impressed me is the blend of cultures. The world is an array of different people and traditions, and I love how this captures that so well. This story richly mixes the folklore of both East Asian, and Middle Eastern cultures and creates a vibrant setting.
The pacing of the love story is the correct one for the ambiance of the plot, Maia & Edan don't fall in love as they meet each other, it is slow, and they want to learn more about each other, and their bonding is stitched and sewed well.
Now, I have to wait for a yeat for the second book of the series. As for the audiobook, I think the narrator, Kim Mai Guest, did an excellent job with the narration, and you felt you were in the scenes while she was reading. ( )

Loved the cover and premise....and was so totally disappointed by the writing and the romance. Bah. ( )

I don't want to take a hard stance on this one either way, because I think it was definitely a case of "it's not you, it's me, and a million things I can't name that just didn't feel quite right." I anticipated the second half (the quest half) feeling like it didn't fit - and I was right. There were two really wonderful stories here that I couldn't make the journey between, and instead both just felt lackluster to me.

Probably the best cover I've seen in ages though, WOW. I really wish Goodreads would put cover art credit somewhere easy to see, because I'd be all over this person's social media ugh ( )

This is an engaging, quick-moving, original story. The author borrows heavily from disparate sources, including most notable mythology and Project Runway, but (appropriately enough) deftly weaves them into a cohesive and appealing whole.

I have to admit that I'm less interested in the trope of a woman finding her way to heroism despite the confines of her sexist culture than I was as a teenager. I'm more interested in fantasy that explores new cultures rather than rehashing the same old sexism I've been reading about (and experiencing) my whole life. That said, this book's Asian-influenced setting and the originality of the magic system meant that it wasn't simply one more of the same thing, and I enjoyed it.

Be warned, this is just the first half of a larger story. It doesn't end on a cliffhanger, but it definitely left me feeling as though the characters were solidly in the middle of their story, and I wish I didn't have to wait for the second half. ( )

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the most surprising book of the year, I enjoyed it so much. The world building was phenomenal, I loved how we went from the trial to demons and ghosts it was a mind blowing journey. it escalated so quickly that i couldn't put this book down. The author's writing was magical and really beautiful. Definitely going in my favorite books of 2019. Can't wait for the sequel! ( )

Really neat story that has elements of different myths and fairy tales without being a strict re-telling of any of them. I liked the first part and third part well enough (mostly), and loved the quest part in the middle. (Though I will admit that there were many times I wanted to smack Maia for being dumb. It was hard to forget at times that she's still supposed to be fairly young because she didn't really act any specific age except for being so naive.)

I know that there is a sequel, but I haven't decided yet if I want to read it. I feel that this book tied up its story quite nicely, and I have no doubts (based on the genre and the feel of this first book) that the romance will be nicely sorted out in book two. I don't have any real reason not to read book two. I guess it will depend on what the blurb for it is like. It would be awesome if we followed a different narrator for book two, but based on the snippet for it at the end of book one I'm not expecting that. It sounds like Maia will be narrating book two also, and that's the main reason I'm unsure. I don't actively dislike her as a narrator, but she's not a favorite either. ( )

WHERE'S the SEQUEL ( )

Beautifully written, in the style of a classic quest / fairy tale. ( )