What an absolutely glorious debut! I'm so excited for Lim's next installment. I loved the world building and pageantry! Thank you so much for the ARC. It was AMAZING!

While starting out as a sort of Twelfth Night meets Project Runway sort of vibe, Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim quickly evolves into a bigger adventure. I really loved the pacing of the book, just when the tailoring aspect was getting a little too much, things spun towards a far-flung adventure, then a romance, then a whole mythology evolved. I'm really excited for book two!

Spin the Dawn is a story that masterfully weaves family and duty together with a breathtaking romance. It left me on the edge of my seat, and honestly, I will gobble up Unravel the Dusk the *second* it comes out.

This novel is one of the best I’ve read this year! The characters are so dynamic yet relatable. I loved the flow of the story. It held my attention the whole time.

A book inspired by the tale of Mulan that also involves a fashion design competition? Sign me up!

This book is exactly what it advertises as and more. This book has complex characters, an exciting plot that revolves around this competition, and just enough magic to satisfy any reader. What I felt pulled me in the most more than anything was the descriptions of the garments being made. You can tell Elizabeth Lim knows the ins and outs to clothing design, whether through prior knowledge or extensive research done for this novel.

What I am most excited for from the sequel is to see the growth/strengthening of the connections between Maia and the other characters, particularly her father and Edan, the court magician and somewhat love interest. I am really hoping to dive further into this beautiful world created from this first novel, now that the tensions are higher for the sequel. I cannot wait!

This book was strong and very enjoyable for about 35% in. I enjoyed learning the main characters background, the family dynamics, and I thought that the competitions once she reached the palace were entertaining. It truly felt like I was reading a Mulan retelling and I thought it was cool that it involved being a seamstress. However, after a certain point, it got pretty boring and I found myself not interested anymore in the story line. I dont know if it was because it was too much like Mulan or something but it ended up being like a three stars.

I went into this one with high hopes. It was a bit different from the stories I normally read. But it sounded really good. And I'm so glad I gave it a chance.
It pulled me in and had me wanting to flip through the pages as fast as I could.

It was just such a fast paced story that kept you wanting to know what would happen next. And with characters that were relatable and well developed.

A for sure 5 star read

I adored this book so much! The cover is gorgeous and reflects what's inside. Such a great story, can't wait for book two!

I really liked the characters of this book. I was really excited when I saw that it was marketed as Mulan meets Project Runway, but I wasn’t expecting that to be so literal. I really wish that less time had been spent on the opening of the competition, and instead that we could have gotten more on the quest and the creation of the three final dresses. Nevertheless, I am immensely excited for the second novel!

❝ "Seize the wind," I whispered. "Don't become the kite that never flies." ❞

I know it's very early in the year, but I can easily say that I see Spin the Dawn being in my top 10 reads of 2020. This young adult fantasy retelling inspired by Mulan is magical, has well-developed characters, great romance, and a great plot!

Maia's family has been ripped apart by the war and her only hope of saving what's left of it is to restore her family's reputation as one of the best tailors. And, she could finally achieve her dream of becoming the imperial tailor to the emperor if she's not outed as being a girl before the competition is over.

The premise of the story definitely pulled me in right away. I love retellings and Mulan, and as far as retellings go this is one of the more creative ones. I loved the reimagining of Maia (Mulan) as a tailor and how the magic scissors (and magic in general) were woven into the story.

❝ "You are my oath now, Maia Tamarin. And you'll never be free of me." ❞

I loved the idea of the competition, and was really looking forward to the different challenges! Sadly, compared to everything else, the competition was really short-lived. I wanted there to be more so I was a little disappointed that we didn't get as much time in the palace as I expected; however, the story really made up for it!

The story pleasantly surprised me with a twist of having Maia and Edan hunt down the components to create the three legendary dresses. The journey was so much fun and was where we really saw the character development. I love the way Maia and Edan's relationship developed. Their alliance developed naturally and slowly. I liked how protective Edan was and how he never stopped believing Maia was capable of great things. I also totally loved the romance angle because it was sweet and didn't overpower the story.

The story was full of magic and adventure and I loved every page of it. As for the pacing, it was pretty steady. I never felt like it really slowed down. And the ending was such a huge twist! It made me all the more excited for the next book.

All in all, Spin the Dawn blew me away with its stunning writing and creative storytelling. I highly recommend it, and can't wait to start Unravel the Dusk!

I heard that it was pitched as a Mulan retelling, but that's really only because Maia disguises herself as a boy to enter the trial. I felt like it had perfect world building but still stayed really easy to read and accessible. The first half of the story was faster than I wanted since I wanted to see more of the competition. I was glad to see that the second half was a journey and the growth to see the relationship between Maia and Edan.

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim is an enchanting YA fantasy novel that is beautifully written with a great plot and a strong main heroine.

Spin the Dawn follows Maia, a girl who dreams of being a tailor in a world where girls aren’t allowed to hold professional positions. This novel is fine. Honestly I find these reviews the most difficult to write because there’s nothing particularly memorable that makes me excited, nor is there anything particularly awful that makes me frustrated. I enjoyed reading it well enough but it didn’t leave much of an impression.

Let’s start with the character of Maia. To be honest she’s a bit of a blank slate. Yes she’s the one girl willing to fight back against the patriarchy, but I think she perfectly encompasses why I’ve often felt so unenthusiastic about these type of plots. It’s not progressive or revolutionary to declare “women should be allowed to have jobs” and it’s not a type of discrimination that most anyone in a first world country can relate to. Now I love Mulan as much as the next person – it’s one of my all-time favourite animated movies – but what made her so relatable was that she didn’t join the army to prove women can fight, she did it to save her father. While Maia does want to protect her family to an extent, it’s definitely more about proving her abilities as a tailor. That’s fine but it’s not as relatable or emotionally charged.

One thing that did pique my interest was the concept of Maia being a tailor, which seemed like a unique premise. Now I know why. As much as I adore novels there are some things that just don’t translate well in a written format. You usually don’t read novels where the protagonist is focused on developing their singing voice because as much as you describe lilting high notes and an angelic vocal tone, it’s not going to have the same impact as listening to an incredible singer. Similarly, trying to describe Maia’s incredible sewing skills just doesn’t have much of an impact on the reader, especially if you don’t have much experience in fashion. Whenever she talked about a dress with layers all I could imagine was an incredibly puffy monstrosity - obviously not the image the writer is going for. A beautiful dress is really something that needs to be seen to have the desired impact.

While the world-building in this novel is pretty minimal overall, I didn’t have a problem with it. Not every novel needs to incorporate a vast world with a multitude of lands and cultures. Since this novel remains a personal journey for our main character, I felt the level of world-building was tonally consistent with the type of story the author was trying to tell. I critique a lack of world-building when the author tries to write in large-scale events such as wars without adequately developing the setting of the novel, but that wasn’t really the case here.

Now I said that the world-building is tonally consistent, but otherwise this book has a huge tone problem in my opinion. This novel is basically split into two sections: the first part follows Maia at court as she competes to become the imperial tailor, the second part encompasses her journey to find three special ingredients that she needs to sew three magical gowns. The writing in the first part of this novel didn’t frustrate me so much as it confused me. I believe the protagonist is around 18 years old, however the first part read like a middle-grade novel. The heavy-handed foreshadowing is not the type of writing I would expect in an older teen novel. For example, before Maia leaves home her father gifts her a pair of scissors.

“I was about to rifle through my things for my brushes when the bundle with Baba’s scissors caught my eye. Out of curiosity I unwrapped it …… aside from the sun and moon engraved on the shanks, there was nothing special about them. Besides, I didn’t need an extra pair of scissors, so I rewrapped them and shoved them under my cot.”

How much do you want to bet there’s something special about them? Honestly until the last quarter of this book I don’t think anything will take you by surprise because of very obvious hints such as the above. You’ll easily guess the “secrets” about the emperor and the court magician Edan. You’ll also probably guess some of the events of the novel from the melodramatic opening chapter – I really don’t know why that was included. Furthermore, the “backstabbing and lies” at court are not that complex and are again predictable. It wouldn’t be a problem if this was a novel for younger readers, and I genuinely feel that with some reworking this book could have been quite a strong pre-teen novel, instead of the average teen novel that it is now. I’m thinking a Gail Carson Levine meets Neil Gaiman adventure.

The second half of the novel brings in more mature themes which is where the big tonal problem comes in. The events that occur closer to the end of her journey are definitely YA level content, which really clashes with the juvenile tone of the first half. I did enjoy the events in this half but in all honesty the demons/spirits just felt like a mediocre version of Sabriel by Garth Nix. The author should have reworked one half of the book so that the level of writing and content is consistent.

At the end of the day, if you are intrigued by the premise of this book I think you will be fairly satisfied but it’s not particularly memorable. I will say I liked the darker tone of the cliff-hanger so I might tune in for the sequel. It seems like it is setting up an interesting adventure.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the Mulan and Project Runway aspect of this book! And I liked the completion aspect of it. I thought it was fun. I did wish she had dragged out the competition portion a bit more but overall it was fun! I cannot wait to check out the second novel! This one left me wanting more! I want more of that romance! Gah! It was beautiful lol

I tried to get into this, I really did. It just did not hit that hard for me. I did not see any "Mulan" character traits in the main character. It didn't seem at all what the premise was, I think of it more like the old children story The Emperor's New Clothes. I think this really lacked the "culture" aspect that I expected it to have. I can't speak for those of Asian ancestry, but I wouldn't be particularly thrilled with the attempt on this book.

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim just floated to the top of my favorites list.

A…MA…ZING!!

24

Did you ever watch that TV show on Fox?

My wife hates it. But it was my favorite show back in the early 2000s.

There’s never been another show that’s had quite the effect on me that 24 did. I discovered the show when the series was on Season 4 or 5.

So, naturally, I picked up the DVDs of the previous seasons at my local Rental Store (Yes, those existed back then) to catch up.

24 was so addicting I found myself staying awake until 2 or 3 AM to watch “just one more episode.” I had to get up at 6 AM, but by gosh if I wasn’t determined to watch another one.

That’s Spin the Dawn for me.

It normally takes me about 5 days to read a book on average. I read Spin the Dawn in under 36 hours.

So what about Spin the Dawn was so addicting that I couldn’t put it down?

The book starts off unassuming enough.

I knew nothing about Spin the Dawn going in aside that it was a Mulan retelling.

The story begins with Maia Tamarin, a lowly tailor’s daughter in a male-dominated society. Her three brothers go off to war, two are killed, and a the third is gravely injured. This sends her Baba (father) into a spiral of grief that thrusts the family business onto Maia.

But there’s one problem.

Women are not allowed to run a business.

So she silently operates in the background claiming the work was completed by her father. Which works for a time until her father gets a summons to become the next Imperial Tailor for the Emperor himself.

Her father is in no condition to go and to deny the summons would bring great shame upon the family. They’ll accept any male from the house, though.

So Maia goes and pretends to be her brother.

Are you seeing the Mulan yet?

It’s so much more than Mulan, though. I think Spin the Dawn is a mash-up of TWO retellings, but to reveal the second story would spoil the plot. I will just say it involves a certain gold bracelet.

That’s going to have to be enough for you.

Maia thinks she’s already been selected as the imperial tailor until she arrives at the palace and discovers 11 of tailors that have also been chosen.

So what happens?

They have to duke it out in a competition to see who is truly the best tailor in all the realm.

I love competition subplots.

As soon as I reached this part of the book, somewhere around Chapter 3 or 4, I instantly fell in love.

What follows is a flurry of deception, intrigue, scheming, magic, and so much more.

I wish I could go more in-depth into what awaits you if you read Spin the Dawn, but to say any more would be spoiling the story.

Yes, Spin the Dawn has a competition subplot, but it’s so much much more than that.

There is romance in Spin the Dawn. And the introduction of the characters involved does happen very early on. But the romance subplot itself does not being to show fruition until around the 60% mark.

It might start earlier and I’m just too dumb to have noticed, but that’s when it started to take off for me.

How this story ends and what happens is so absolutely driven by the romance of the story that you must pay attention to it.

There is no way whatsoever that you could predict the way this story would go from the first 25% of the book.

If you love books that keep you guessing around every turn, Spin the Dawn is for you.

If you love competitions, Spin the Dawn is for you.

Love romance? Spin the Dawn is for you.

But I think what is most fascinating to me about Spin the Dawn is the way the author takes a simple profession like sewing, and makes it an exciting and exhilarating story.

Spin the Dawn gets a very strong 5/5 stars from me and will easily sit at the top of my favorite reads of 2020.

Spin the Dawn was pitched as Mulan meets Project Runway and if that doesn't have you immediately interested, then I don't know what will. I had so much fun reading this and I was hooked from the first page. Elizabeth Lim is an amazing author that will have you turning the pages rapidly to find out what happens next! I'm so excited for the sequel and it cannot get here fast enough!

Aside from being a page turner with just the right amount of romance, culture and action, Spin the Dawn is also a story that evolves from one part to another. This book isn't simply a story about a girl going through challenges to reach a goal, it's about a girl going through challenges to reach multiple goals and I am greatly appreciative of how this story has been executed. The writing is convincing and I could easily imagine myself in Maia's shoes. I really liked the ending of the earlier version of the ARC I read. Sure, it was a little too neat—too 'happily ever after' despite other parts, but I think that it was deserved. Though, I'm not saying that I don't like the ending in the finalized version of the ARC. I find it more realistic and it had a stronger impact on me compared to the previous version.

Also, I find the visual imagery Lim has woven into this tale gorgeous. However, despite the convincing and beautiful writing, I find the world building a little poor. I got so confused imagining the world even with the help of the illustrated map because my initial (and continued) impression of A'landi, the country Maia resides in, is that it's a fictional version/variation of China despite it's not Chinese-sounding name. Which means I pictured the large majority of society to be of Chinese descent—that the culture and religion and everything else to be Chinese in any way and degree. Instead, A'landi through the eyes of Maia appears to be teetering between a melting pot of sorts and a fictional Chinese land.

Now, I'm not saying that this notion of it being a melting pot isn't great. It allows the book to be of greater diversity and it has the potential to provide many various layers of complexity into a story (such as conflicting religious views, conflicting cultural upbringings and more). As a Malaysian Chinese, I can actually picture how A'landi as a melting pot would look like, and how characters whose physical appearances are not or only minimally described, would look like from their name. Unfortunately, names here are confusing, making it difficult for me to have a concrete image of the Spin the Dawn world.

Before I continue, please understand that this opinion is coming from someone who didn't read the entirety of the book synopsis before getting a copy (the first paragraph was already enough to convince me!). This means that I wasn't aware of Maia's name, much less her full name. You see, I believe names in stories identify specific individuals and things, and they are inextricably linked to their identities. A name can make or break something, especially when little to no other description is given regarding that something.

So, when you combine that lack of knowing plus the fact that I've already pictured A'landi as a fictional Chinese land. That before I've even read the book, I've already pictured Maia as Chinese because the blurb mentions Mulan and the cover art shows a pale Asian. This resulted in my confusion when I learnt of the names. According to the internet, Maia is of Hebrew origin. Her last name 'Tamarin' is also of Hebrew origin whereas the names of her brothers (Finlei [Gaelic], Keton [Canadian], and Sendo [Japanese, American, Scottish or English]) are of other origins. They don't sound or feel like they belong beside 'baba' and 'mama' which I read in Mandarin, and they do conflict a little with the "feeling" I get from Chinese culture. Moreover, it's gets all the more confusing when you consider the names of other A'landi locals such as Emperor Khanujin and Calu, Lady Sarnai and the shansen.

This conflict aside, I find myself in love with a lot of aspects in this book—like how it's more Mulan than Project Runaway, and how I can relate so well with Maia because of cultural similarities. She's not a weak, damsel in distress waiting to be saved by others, though she's not afraid to need help as well. She gets stronger as the story progresses, and I enjoy seeing her character develop. Besides that, I caught many allusions, references and more to other legends, myths and fairy tales and figuring out which was which made reading this book all the more fun.

In some ways, Spin the Dawn is the kind of fairy tale-like story I wish I read about while growing up. Not because Maia is a hundred percent the kind of person I'd like my younger self to grow up becoming like (she's great, don't get me wrong!), but because my younger self and perhaps others like me, desperately needed to see that being Asian—that being all that I am, is not 'lame'. That although we don't often see ourselves represented in Hollywood, every inch of us is just as beautiful and desired and we don't need to lose any part of our identity just to be 'better' or more 'accepted'.

3.5 stars

I did enjoy the majority of this book, but had some issues with the pacing of the romance. This wouldn't have been as much of an issue for me if the romance hadn't dominated the second half of the book. It was still a solid read, and I'm looking forward to the sequel, albeit hesitantly.

Thanks to Random House Children's and NetGalley for the eARC.

The story is captivating with enthralling writing and charming characters. Oh my gosh. Edan is one of the wittiest characters i have read in a while. His banter with Maia is such a delight to read. from start to finish, I was entertained with every page.