Aaaahhh!!!! I cannot even right now I LOVED this book!! So good, so perfect. Omg! I really cannot even, this was amazing

4.5/5 stars *thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy!*

Spin the Dawn was one of the most unique stories I've read in a while and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Elizabeth Lim did such a fantastic job in creating such a thrilling adventure, full of lush descriptions and captivating characters. I definitely think this book lived up to it being pegged as a "Mulan X Project Runway crossover", but it was so much more than that. At times I fell out of the storyline when it would hit slow points and the ending felt a little flat, but other than that I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for a new #ownvoices book to add to your tbr!

“Because of them, she gave us the world as we knew it. Day after day and night after night, she spun the dawn and unraveled the dusk.”


4,5 stars


First of all allow me to thank @PRHGlobal/@prhinternational for my free copy! I had a fantastic time!


I know the synopsis compares it to Project Runaway and Mulan but the competition between the tailors made me think of The Great British Sewing Bee but with meaner competitors!


Okay let’s go backward: what’s this book about?

This story is that of a young woman who helped her father, the best tailor in the country. Maia was a little girl when she sewed and embroidered for the first time, loving it and making her dad so proud of her!

Her three older brothers had other interests but Maia already had found he passion.

Years later when her mother died and when the war took her two older brother’s life her father was devastated. It was Maia, the obedient and dutiful daughter who ran the shop and brought food on the table.

When an emperor’s eunuch comes to their shop requesting that her father enter a competition to choose the next imperial tailor she knows that her father is too weak to make that travel.

Yet no one refuses a summon from the emperor!

Maia always dreamt to prove what she could do.

It was so unfair that girls could not become master!

On a dare she’ll disguise herself and assume her younger brother Keton’s identity.

But when she enters the competition, every betrayal and foul play will take place!

And the last task is an impossible one that will send Maia on a hard and incredible journey, accompanied by the emperor’s enchanter: Edan.


Now that you know more about the story, let’s get to what I loved about Spin the Dawn and why you should read it!


You should read Spin the Dawn if you love:

-Asian fantasy.

This universe was filled with magic, silk garments taking us to the Silk Road, mesmerizing emperors, ghosts, demons, enchanters ….



-Strong yet discreet heroines.

Maia was “the strong one” but without fanfare! She was a girl who was disguised as a man and she did not want to draw attention for fear of being unmasked! It would have been death penalty!

She loved sewing and embroidering in silence. She worked long hours without complaint, absorbed by her craft.

Dutiful daughter she wanted to protect her father and make her brother happy again.

Yet she was not without fire and she dared defying the enchanter, Edan.

She was far from a quitter when given a task and she’ll overcome hard trials to accomplish her task, hoping to save the empire.


-Powerful yet very human enchanters.

Edan was a very powerful enchanter. Very old but wearing the face and body of a young man.

Mysterious and vaguely menacing to Maia’s eyes in the beginning he’ll soon show a particular interest in the young tailor. No one can fool an enchanter and he recognized Maia for the girl she was and for …something else!

Edan is very closed off about his past for a long time, only showing his “business” face but when we learned more about his childhood he’ll become more human, with a soft core beneath the enchanter’s bravado!


-A quest!

Of course as in many fantasy stories you have a quest, here Maia’s ordeal. I will take her on a journey that will leave a deep mark on Maia, forever altering her future! You could nearly compare this to Hercule’s labors.


My only complaint is that I hadn’t realized this was part of a series and now I have to wait for the second book to know more!

I was afraid of the hype around this book but now I can say that all that fuss is deserved!

I had a wonderful time reading Maia’s story and fight to prove that, yes, a girl can sew like the best male tailor!


Recommend it? Absolutely!

This was really a mashup of Project Runway and Mulan; well, if Project Runway included contestants physically harming each other and Mulan was a tailor and…nope, not saying anything else. A very familiar fantasy trope was at play in this book: If you’re female, you’re doomed and you’ve got to “prove” yourself. Maia grew up with a thread in one hand and a needle in other; it would be sacrilege if she couldn’t become a master tailor. However, circumstances were pointing towards Maia to either marry or spend her life alone. The rules in A’landi are particularly harsh if someone finds out a woman is masquerading as a man.

There is also a mention of a war at the beginning between the Emperor of A’landi and his Shansen(warlord) but not much is clear as to why it happened but magic was involved, that much is clear. Magic plays an important role throughout the story and although I can’t tell you why but it is pretty cool. The world-building is beautiful but not complete( I guess it’s because this is book one) and the journey to gather the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon and the blood of the stars was the most enjoyable portion of the story for me!

I also want to talk about Edan who I immediately likened with the Darkling in the beginning but he was anything but. Edan or the Lord Enchanter(as everyone calls him) was the living-breathing example of everything Maia shouldn’t trust but boy, she was so wrong. Edan is smart, funny and loyal. He doesn’t everything in his power to help Maia even though it comes at a price.

Overall, I recommend it to you if you love fantasy, retellings with a twist, adventure, a fierce and loyal heroine who’d do anything to protect her loved ones, unlikely romance, and magic.

Thanks to the MTMC Tours and PRH for including me on the blog tour !

A young woman poses as a boy to enter a competition to create three magical dresses and win the title of imperial tailor. A brand new epic fantasy for fans of Mulan.

Spin the Dawn was everything I love in a good YA read, I was in love as soon as I read the prologue. I completely enjoyed it and the fact that there was such an integral part of it that dealt with Maia's own abilities and the scissors was a huge factor in my enjoyment.

The landscapes were some of my favorite parts to read about aside from the gorgeous descriptions of colors and clothing and I was glad that the book ended in a manner that really gave you a strong desire to jump right into book 2.

I had preorderd this and loved reading both this great eARC and the final print copy, both got a rating of four stars.

[I'll have a proper review up later on goodreads and my blog]

Author Elizabeth Lim said "teen me dreamed of reading an Asian fantasy brimming with legend, fairytales, and enchantment, with a hero who’s as inspiring as she is hardworking and true."
Boy did she deliver!
It's been a while since I've read an awesome YA fantasy novel and I think Spin The Dawn was the perfect read.
Spin The Dawn by Elizabeth Lim is such an epic read!
I started and finished this book without a couple of hours. I was completely and utterly spellbound with it's story and it's characters. I loved this book so much!
I will say that the "Project Runway meets Mulan" is accurate yet not so accurate in the sense that the story feels a whole lot more than just that.
I'm already counting down the days until book 2.

Maia is the greatest tailor the world has ever seen—she just needs the chance to prove herself. The only problem is that women can't be tailors. When the emperor's minister arrives to force her father into a tailoring competition for the next imperial tailor, Maia seizes her chance. Disguising herself as a boy and assuming her brother's name, she sets off for the competition.

But magic and the emperor's mysterious enchanter have their hooks in her, and Maia will be tested beyond her comprehension.

Okay, so this is billed as Mulan meets Project Runway, and that's true—for part 1. Part 1 was absolutely fucking amazing. Lim has a way of writing that swept me off my feet, and I loved the court intrigue, the nuance with Lady Sanai, the marriage alliances, the backstory of magic and demons and betrayal and traitors and war. Maia's family and their grief was so real, along with her passion for creation and sewing. And I enjoyed Edan as the mysterious and broody morally grey character who is helping her out for ~reasons~, and I also enjoyed reading about all of the other tailors and their long histories.

Mild Spoilers here on out

However, all of this quite literally gets thrown out the window in Part 2. Maia is discovered (this happens literally in the middle of the book, so I do not consider it a spoiler), and is sent on an impossible quest to create the three impossible dresses of the goddess Amana—a dress woven from sunlight, a dress embroidered with moonlight, and a dress painted by the blood of the stars.

Along the journey, Maia struggles with her relationship with Edan, and honestly as fascinating as the quest was, I was kinda disappointed? It felt like there were a lot of moving and unresolved plot points and motivations, and many of these motivations (and newly introduced characters) were dumped as soon as Maia and Edan pronounced their love for each other.

As soon as they get together, the plot transforms into a Twilight-esque "I must sacrifice myself for this boy because our love is forever and true." (view spoiler)

While it does dissolve into angst-ridden and purple prosey euphemisms for kissing and whatnot (why YA, why are you like this? Kissing is not stardust and moonshine wtf), at least it wasn't insta-love.

Gag.

BUT. Aside from that kinda major critique, I really loved this.

The writing is incredible. The world-building is fascinating and layered. There's a lot of backstory and emotion and I just wish that those elements were focused on more instead of dropped for the ~love story~ elements. Seriously, that love story, while cute at times, completely derailed the rest of the plot—and where the book seemed to be going. Granted, the story drastically changed directions once before that, but the love story overrode everything.

And there's enough going on for book two, and I'm interested in where the hell that ending is going to take us.

So. With that, I will definitely continue, because I want to know what's going to happen next.

Five stars for Part 1, minus one for the Angsty YA Love Story

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

I know you're not supposed to judge books by their covers but as soon as I saw this I knew I had to read it – even before I knew what it was about! Luckily for me, Spin the Dawn ended up being a very entertaining read. It's touted as a Mulan retelling but really, the only similarity is that Maia Tamarin goes in her ailing father's place when he's summoned to court to show off his prowess as a tailor. And since the Prince is expecting a man, Maia poses as her brother so she can fulfill her own dream of becoming a great tailor and help her family at the same time. But that's where the similarities end. The rest is all Elizabeth Lim! The invitation to court turns out to be one for a competition where Maia is one of twelve tailors who must complete different assignments to prove who's best. Naturally, backstabbing, lies and cutthroat actions ensue.. and it gets worse. Maia's final task is an impossible one that takes her on an obstacle-filled journey, but luckily she doesn't have to go alone (hint hint: I really loved her companion!). In general, I liked the characters a lot. Maia is someone who loves her family and whose art is creating clothing. I enjoyed her relationship with her family, although I wish we could've seen more of it. And I did root for the romance. It's fairly obvious from the second they meet that it's going to go down that road but the beginning felt a bit "insta-love" to me. However the author does make up for it later and the details of the story and the dresses were really what drew me in.

Do I recommend? I do! I liked it and am looking forward to see where the next book goes.

I tried to like this. I really did.

Dnf at 19% with no plans to retry or continue.

I should have known it was going to unbearable from the moment the prologue started pontificating on Maia's love for some guy. I still don't know who that guy is, and I honestly don't care. This was the one of the most distant and emotionless reading experiences I've ever had. Everything takes place in a white room that can apparently bend time and space in order to fit several hours and numerous actions into one short paragraph. I had no idea what anyone was doing, what anything looked like, or what the plot even was. I liked a small portion of the first few chapters, and then I stopped caring and put this down for over a week and honestly forgot it existed. I'm not going to rate this elsewhere (like on Goodreads) because I really don't care. Read this if you want, and if you do, I hope you like it way more than I did. That is, I hope you like it at all.

Before I start with my New book Review , I would like to thank @PRHGlobal @prhinternational for Providing me with a free E-galley copy of this book for my Honest Review . Thanks a lot for giving me the opportunity to read this novel .

*****************

"I knew then we were like two pieces of cloth, sewn together for life. Our stitches couldn’t be undone. I wouldn’t let them."

Book : Spin The Dawn .

Author : Elizabeth Lim.

Genre : Young Adult , Fantasy .

Rate : 5/5.

Review in one word : WOW.
******************
WHAT AN AMAZING RIDE !! , Have  I really read that beautiful and exciting novel ?!!! I really can't believe there is something as outstanding as this book !!! .

Elizabeth Lim is a GREAT story teller , she has a breathtaking ability with words , I loved every line of Spin the dawn , it was unique , entertaining , gripping and really good . 

The story of Maia is so interesting , I was invested in her journey from the first word , she is strong , smart and awesome , I really loved her character so much :) . Every part of this novel was amazing from the plot to the characters , unexpected and exciting , I finished all of the novel in one sitting . 

When I read about this book , all over Bookstagram , I was really afraid from starting it , As lately I've been disappointed after reading most of the hyped books .But this book deserves all the hype on social media and all the 5 stars rating on Goodreads . It is really bewildering . 

The writing style was more than remarkable , it feels like you are with the characters in their adventure , feeling their emotions and getting really attached to them . I was really sad when I finished the book , ahhh , I want to read the next installment SO BADLY :( .

The fantasy genre gained an amazing author with Elizabeth Lim  .

Not to spoil you , but I have to say this :P The Romance in this book had me SWOONING  , I loved the couple SO MUCH , my new favorite . ;) 

Basically , Everything about Spin The Dawn was perfect , Fantasy lovers , read it , you will enjoy it SO MUCH . Highly recommended .

"you make me remember a part of myself I’d forgotten"

BOOK REPORT for Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars Book 1) by Elizabeth Lim

Cover Story: Tapestry-tastic
BFF Charm: Yay!
Swoonworthy Scale: 8
Talky Talk: Cinematic
Bonus Factors: Project Runway, Quests
Relationship Status: Just What I Was Looking For

Cover Story: Tapestry-tastic

This cover by Tran Nguyen is gorgeous. And it's loaded with details from the book. (The scissors! The hawk! The blue skirt that's evocative of the ocean!) But dresses totally aren't Maia's personal style, and earrings even less so. Although this illustration is so beautiful that it doesn't even matter, and the book even has a seal of approval from YA fantasy queen Tamora freaking Pierce, WHAT WHAT.

The Deal:

Being a master tailor is all Maia has ever wanted. But no matter how hard she works, she'll never become one for the simple fact that she's a girl. (The patriarchy is strong in A'landi, y'all.) So when her father's summoned to be a candidate for the emperor's master tailor, Maia poses as a boy to go in his stead—both because her father's in no condition to travel, and also she's not about to throw away her shot. Once Maia arrives at the palace, though, she finds herself embroiled in a cutthroat competition that'll push her beyond her limits and take her places that she never would have dreamed of.

BFF Charm: Yay!

Real talk: Maia could have won me over by never passing up free food alone. (Same energy, tbh.) But she's also defying seriously strict gender roles—and doing it with flying colors. Maia doesn't let her world define her; she's redefining her world. We stan a trailblazing LEGEND.

Swoonworthy Scale: 8

I wasn't quite sure who'd be Maia's love interest: the charismatic emperor, his enigmatic adviser, or the haughty empress-to-be who's judging the competition? Once the one true ship emerged, it is of course an impossible romance, so I'm obviously here for it.

Talky Talk: Cinematic

Lim's descriptions of this fantasy world are so vivid that I had a deep yearning to see it as she's imagined. (I'm skeptical that Hollywood could do it justice, but I'd still like to see them try.) And make no mistake—it's definitely a fantasy world, with magic becoming more prominent as the novel progresses.

Bonus Factor: Project Runway

You can't expect the emperor to hire a new tailor through a regular job interview, can you? Better question yet: who will be A'landi's. Next. Top. Tailor?

Admittedly, a sewing contest did initially feel less high stakes than something combat-based that we're used to seeing. But that made me think about which skills are valued and glorified in society, especially ones like sewing or cooking* that are viewed as recreational when women do it but prestigious when men do it—a subtext made text in this story. I also appreciated how Maia's something of a prodigy, instead of completely YA-ifying the situation. (Besides, we all know too well that cranky old men are just as capable of being messy benches who love drama.)

*Or—cough, cough—writing books.

Bonus Factor: Quests

The tailors are tasked with increasingly difficult challenges, including the procurement of rare, almost mythical materials that takes Maia on a journey full of other YA tropes that I know the FYA crowd enjoys but I can't elaborate on because of spoilers.

Relationship Status: Just What I Was Looking For

Take one look through my reading history, and you can tell that this is not a book that I'd usually go for. But truthfully, my typical fare's been a little underwhelming lately, so I branched out for a change of pace. Lo and behold, I found a great match—and it even has me clamoring for another date. (Thank goodness the sequel's scheduled for next year!)

SPIN THE DAWN by Elizabeth Lim has an absolutely beautiful cover and I was looking forward to reading this young adult fantasy novel. The basic outline of the story is that Maia's final test as a tailor requires her to create three legendary dresses out of the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars, resulting in adventure-filled quest. I did read the short excerpt (which reflects a Chinese cultural influence) available on NetGalley; the quality of description is evident from passages like:
"What color is the ocean?" Sendo would ask me.
"Blue, silly. What else?"
"How will you be the best tailor in A'landi if you don’t know your colors?" Sendo shook his head and pointed at the water. "Look again. Look into the depths of it."
"Sapphire," I said, studying the ocean's gentle crests and troughs. The water sparkled. "Sapphire, like the stones Lady Tainak wears around her neck. But there's a hint of green . . . jade green. And the foam curls up like pearls."
Unfortunately, my access to the entire text is no longer available. Therefore, I am giving a neutral rating of 3 stars. School Library Journal recommends SPIN THE DAWN for students in grades 7 and up.

This ticks a lot of boxes for YA readers: a protagonist with strength of character, an intriguing emo love interest, and a fascinating world that mixes bits of Aladdin and Mulan. What starts as a standard "Project Runway" type of competition morphs into an action adventure road story in the second part of the book. The writing is strong and fluid and although this completes a minor arc, there are more books to come in the future.

Story: Maia is heartbroken when her brothers are lost in a war, her father loses his will to tailor, and one lone brother returns crippled. Things are not good in the kingdom and food is hard to come by, as is work. Desperate, Maia seizes a chance at becoming a royal tailor by pretending to be her remaining brother and entering a competition. But the court enchanter sees through her disguise while inexplicably helping her through a cutthroat competition. When the King's potential bride asks for an impossible trousseau made from the moon, the sun, and the blood of stars, Maia will have to travel her world to prove her skills and save her family.

The cultural influences are one part Mulan fortitude and strength with one part Aladdin magic and mysticism. The author does a great job of writing the infighting, unhappiness, and intrigue of the royal court while also grounding Maia against the machinations. The characters have interesting and often hidden motivations that Maia naively has a hard time navigating. Of course, she will have the assistance of a love interest in the form of the young but eternal court enchanter. She at first doesn't believe in magic but it become very clear that Edan is more than just an enchanter. What we have is Aladdin (if he was a Genie), complete with magic carpets and camels, and a whole lot of magic in the second half of the book. We need only the songs to complete the image.

The writing is smooth and the book a great Summer read. Maia gets many opportunities to show her strength of character and Edan, as her love interest, is both attentive yet reticent as he fights his curse. Several readers have noted that he has the complexity of the Darkling from Leigh Bardugo's Grisha series, and I can see the resemblance, though Edan is far less ruthless. But the world is vividly described and the action scenes interesting.

In all, I enjoyed Spin the Stars. I especially think that readers who love Disney's version of Aladdin and Mulan will appreciate and fall in love with this book. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

I received this from Netgalley and Random House Children’s in exchange for my honest review.
Maia was the only daughter of a tailor who had dreams of becoming the imperial tailor. She could not because she was a girl, but through twist and turns she ended up in a competition to become the imperial tailor. She finds love, heartbreak and much more on her journey. It ends leaving you wishing you already had the next book

Wow wow wow!!! I was pretty much hooked on the idea of this book from the description: Project Runway meets Mulan because that’s so different than anything I’ve read. And the book absolutely lives up to that description.

I love Maia so much. There just aren’t enough stories featuring strong women who SEW. Ha. I like that she isn’t a typical heroine– good at fighting or amazing at words, or super smart. She’s determined, loyal, honest, and hardworking, which aren’t always headliner qualities. But she definitely deserves her place in the center of the story.

The beginning of the story dragged a little bit for me, particularly the contest where she sews for different challenges. I can see how that was important to the story, and I thought maybe some of the characters introduced in those chapters might reappear later in some critical way. But it seemed more of a self-contained part.

Once Maia started her quest to make the three impossible dresses, things sped up considerably. Some parts happened really fast, which heightened the tension, but left me wanting more story in those moments.

On the whole those were small issues, though. I loved the setting and the cultural details and the wide array of characters. This is a must-read for fans of FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS by Julie C. Dao (or readers who are looking for a lighter story in a similar setting) and THE CRYSTAL RIBBON by Celeste Lim.

This book is W O N D E R F U L!!! The magic is wholly unique and special, and there’s something so vintage about it. Like cracking open one of Grimm’s fairytales. I throughly enjoyed the heroine’s journey, and the stakes felt high—I was truly on the edge of my seat.

Also there is plenty of banter between her and a certain someone and I was LIVING for it! Highly recommend!

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Elizabeth Lim, and Random House Children's for the opportunity to read Spin the Dawn in exchange for an honest review.

Like protagonist and tailor Maia Tamarin, author Elizabeth Lim stitches each word together in this book to create a beautifully embroidered masterpiece of a YA novel.

While heavily inspired by Chinese culture, history, and lore--especially the Silk Road, among other inspirations--I also noticed a number of references that lean toward Japanese as well (though I do not know if that is intentional or if it is meant to be solely of Chinese pull). The draw to this book for me was not only the beautifully woven Asian culture but also the girl-dresses-as-a-guy trope, my favorite trope of all time. With a tag line like "Project Runway Meets Mulan," how can I not be interested?

In A'landi, war rages with another country. Maia Tamarin loses two of her brothers, while the third returns from the war presumably never able to really walk again. After the loss of her mother, her father has never been quite the same, and Maia is the one left running their tailor shop.

When a man arrives on the Emperor's behalf to invite one of the Tamarin's to be the Imperial tailor, Maia jumps at the opportunity, for surely no one can sew better than she can. But she is a woman. A woman could never hold such a fanciful position of power. Thus, Maia disguises herself as Keton, her crippled younger brother and makes her way to the palace. When she arrives, she finds eleven other tailors have been invited. It's a contest! The winner will gain the position of the job. Maia just has to keep her disguise tight and her will-power strong.

When others in the contest try to sabotage her, finding a crippled young boy as no part for the job, Maia uses the special scissors her father gave her for the journey. Little does she know just how special they are! She can think an image of sewing and embroidery in her head, and the enchanted scissors bring her image to life with very little effort.

While the first 30% of the novel is based in the contest to create garments for the shansen's daughter, the soon-to-be wife of the Emperor, an alliance to be built with the very ones the country was at war with, Maia loses faith when she is asked to do an impossible task: sew the light of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of the stars into three amazingly beautiful wedding dresses.

Edan, the Emperor's Imperial Enchanter, not only has discovered Maia's secret, but grows feelings for her as well. He will not allow her to take on the journey alone. The later 70% of the book follows Maia and Edan as they face trials and overcome hardships to gain these legendary magical items to sew into the garments. Mistakes are made along the way, and both Maia and Edan will pay a heavy price for them.

An absolutely stunning novel, I never thought I would be so very intrigued by a book about sewing. The first 30% was definitely my favorite, though the journey to create mythical dresses pulled me into the story in a very different way. Altogether, this novel is one of those books to keep one reading late into the hours of the night (and early morning). This is a book I would love to use in my classroom for an Asian Culture book group or Mythology book group, or just to have on my shelf for students to read. While the protagonist is a bit over the YA age, it is also a coming-of-age story as Maia ventures out into the world for the first time and discovers who she is and what she wants as a person. A highly recommended read for teen readers, librarians, and educators!

Holy moly, this book is amazing! I loved every page of this beautiful story. Books like this are exactly the reason I fell in love with YA in the first place. It's bold, beautiful, and magical. Filled with romance, legend, competition, and an honest to goodness quest, this fairy tale is an absolute must-read for YA lovers.

I keep seeing this book compared to Mulan, but it's not a straight-up retelling. It does have some elements that are similar to Mulan, however. When Maia's ailing father is summoned to the palace to compete for the position of the royal tailor, Maia knows he is too old and weak to go. So she disguises herself as a boy and goes in his place. Later, she risks everything in service of her country and her emperor. She hopes that her country can find peace and avoid more war.

The romance is a slow burn. I was so happy when things finally began to move forward!

Honestly, I loved everything about this book. I loved the magic, the artistry, the journey, the romance, the characters, the legends--everything. It was so good. It made me remember why I keep coming back to YA. I could gush about it forever. I can't wait to read the next book!

Spin the Dawn left me utterly speeches.

And by now, I think you guys know that when I am speechless, the book blew me away. You see, I always know what I want to say in my reviews long before I actually sit down to write them. I would've already crafted the perfect opening, the perfect hook and got my points neatly lined up but with Spin the Dawn, I've got nothing.

Described as Project Runway meets Mulan, Spin the Dawn is so much more. We start off in sleepy and quaint Port Kamalan with Maia and her family, the book quickly filling in the history of Maia's mother's passing, her father's fall into depression and the war which saw her brothers conscripted. Once the war ended, Maia's troubles began. The Emperor has summoned her father to be the imperial tailor but Maia declares that her father is incapable and the messenger demands that her brother show up or they face eternal shame for defying the emperor's command. But with two brothers lost to the war, one brother severely wounded both mentally and physically and her father's old age and mental health, it falls on Maia's shoulders to restore glory to her family's name. But in much of Ancient China and the fictional world A'landi, women are seen as lesser, confined to their womanly pursuits and being a tailor, is a man's job. Much like Mulan, Maia transforms herself into a man, specifically, her only living brother, Kenton. Unlike Mulan, she receives both Kenton and her father's blessings to take their place as imperial tailor despite breaking the laws and cultural rules.

Once at the palace only is it revealed to Maia that she isn't the only one who was summoned. In fact, all the best tailors were called to the palace to compete for the position. Their challenge: fulfilling the wishes of Lady Sarnai, the shansen's daughter and the daughter of the man who waged war against the emperor. Their wedding was to be a sign of peace between the two factions and Emperor Khainujin is determined to please his new bride. But she has to face more than the absurd challenges thrown at her and the fact that she concealing a magical object that would definitely help her win! Her competitors are ruthless and wicked and not to mention, the Lord Enchanter, Edan, His Majesty's personal court magician, has taken a shine to her and seems to know more than he lets on. But when the competition takes a drastic turn and Maia has to travel the entire kingdom to find the materials needed to complete her final challenge, that's when her true test begins.

"Seize the wind. Don't become the kite that never flies."

With Maia being the star of the show, it can be very easy to make her unlikable (think Celaena of the Throne of Glass fame) but she has surprisingly become one of my favourite characters of 2019. Although she can come off very much a young adult/teenager (which I truly appreciate because so many YA characters are written as much, much older) and makes decisions which can make adults like myself eye-roll very hard, Maia is a great character in a world of increasingly cookie-cutter ones. She is demure but headstrong, she gets easily frustrated, she works damn hard (Asian, anyone?) and remains kind and caring in a world that wants to destroy and corrupt her. She can come off a little naive and hopeful but that just adds to her charm.

Edan, on the other hand, is my favourite kind of romantic interest. He's snarky, he annoys the crap out of Maia and he's always very respectful of her (and not in the Rhysand respects Feyre way). I never really got much of a strong impression out of Edan because I was always more focused on Maia but there's nothing much about him to dislike. It's this reason that I felt Spin the Dawn was more Sungkyungkwan Scandal than Mulan because of the cross-dressing and Edan falling in love with Maia.

"We melted into each other until the dawn slid into dusk, and the sun paled into the moon, and the stars, once lost, became found again."

The most important thing that should have been included in Spin the Dawn's marketing is feminist. It's Mulan! And Mulan has always been feminist! Firstly, Maia breaks the damn glass ceiling that has held her talent captive all these years and does it well! Secondly, Spin the Dawn is sex-positive and doesn't deny that young people feel sexual attraction to each other and will act on it which brings me to the topic of Edan. As Maia's romantic interest and partner on her quest to retrieve the materials for her final challenge, Edan is supportive and encouraging. Although their relationship and banter is full of snark and he doesn't talk much about himself, Edan is a good listener and advices Maia without ever putting her down. And that's the rarest quality in YA these days.

But I think that the most important thing about Spin the Dawn is it's Asian representation. I read pretty much every YA #ownvoices book written by an Asian author that I can get my hands on and I've never really quite connected to the Asianness of the character; they're always either mixed or they're written way too Western that there's nothing inherently Asian about them. More often than not, they're written only in contemporaries. But with Spin the Dawn, every step of the way, I imagined that it was set in a Chinese drama; the world was vividly imagined around me from silk screens to the scratchy fabric that peasants wore.

But, it wasn't until halfway through the book that it hit me, the image that I have of Maia in my head in my own reflection. Her dark hair, her dark eyes: that's me. I'm the kind of reader that always imagines myself in the characters shoes and with most books, I am always reminded that I am not the protagonist whether it's mentions of a different hair colour or their ethnicity specifically stated. But with Spin the Dawn, this is my story. I can comfortably step myself into Maia's shoes and live it. Believe me when I said I almost shed tears.

And I also loved how the Chinese mythology was weaved into its fabric. Now, I don't know exactly how much was incorporated (and I've stayed away from interviews so that I don't spoil the book for myself) but I particularly love the myth of the Sun-Husband and Moon-Wife who are forced to separate but are reunited once every few months (I think) on a bridge of stars and when they are forced to be separated, the stars bleed for them. There are multiple Chinese myths of this kind of tragic love like the Cowherd and the Weaver (whose story is celebrated every year on Chinese Valentine's Day) and the one of Hou'Yi and Chang'e, the latter who is a moon goddess and lives on the moon while her husband is an immortal. Hou'yi and Chang'e's story is one of the myths around the Mid-Autumn Festival and has multiple versions, but all of them involve Chang'e becoming the moon goddess.

"The sun and the moon only see each other one day out of the entire year. Even if it's an hour or a day—I'd rather be with you for that time than not at all."

Despite the five stars, you know I always find something to dislike but I'll keep it short:

Like the fantasy heroines before her, Maia is willing to trade her life and soul and bargain with a vile and evil creature to take her lover's place. Frankly, this trope is getting old.

The only thing that truly made me cringe about Spin the Dawn was the romance. I'm finding it harder and harder these days to immerse myself in young adult romances, particularly ones that come hand in hand with fantasy. With Spin the Dawn, it makes sense how Maia and Edan are able to fall in love as they spend a lot of time together on the journey to collecting the materials for the three dresses but it felt completely out of place. I particularly liked that they had to pretend to be husband and wife on the road to appear less suspicious to their enemies but the trope was not played out well. Not to mention, there were TWO fade to blacks! Granted, Maia and Edan are actually older than the typical young adult age, if I recall, Maia is eighteen.

I also wish there was a lot more of Lady Sarnai; the little that we have seen from her presents her as a fearsome character that would be a great friend and ally to Maia. I hope we see more of her in the sequel.

"I knew then that we were like two pieces of cloth, sewn together for life. Our stitches couldn't be undone."

I haven't noted this in my reviews recently but the worldbuilding in Spin the Dawn was beautiful and so well-done! Not to mention, the writing is so poetic and lyrical; definitely befitting a book based on Chinese mythology. 

In short, Spin the Dawn was amazing. I feel like this review is pretty much just me rambling on non-stop so that I've got words to fill in. Spin the Dawn crafts a world that you can immerse in and characters that you will fall in love with. I can't wait to read the sequel!