by Elizabeth Lim
Series: The Blood of Stars #1
by Knopf Books for Young Readers
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 387
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Project Runway meets Mulan in this sweeping YA fantasy about a young girl who poses as a boy to compete for the role of imperial tailor and embarks on an impossible journey to sew three magic dresses, from the sun, the moon, and the stars.
Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she'll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There's just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.
Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia's task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.
And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor's reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.
Steeped in Chinese culture, sizzling with forbidden romance, and shimmering with magic, this young adult fantasy is pitch-perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas or Renée Ahdieh.
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Spin the Dawn is the YA fantasy I’ve been searching for. I’ve been struggling with the genre because there are so many books out and it’s so hard to not compare them all. But this book? Pssh. Top 5 of the year, easy, it was so good.
Immediately we’re thrown into a Mulan-esque story of Maia, the daughter of a once-famous tailor, taking her father’s place in a competition to become the imperial tailor, which is where the Project Runway comp comes in. And I was hooked. I love a good competition and when a bit of unexpected magic is thrown in, I was sold. I think I was so invested because I knew the stakes from the beginning. First, Maia is cross-dressing and would be executed if she’s found out, but her family needs her to be successful in order to survive comfortably. Maia has a motive that the reader can get behind.
But if I’m being honest, while I loved the competition portion of the book, it’s only a small portion of a much larger plot and that’s where I became truly enthralled.
Maia must create three divine dresses which requires an epic journey to find the pieces to make them. Accompanied by the emperor’s sorcerer, she faces one perilous task after the next. And the whole time I’m reading this, I’m just thinking “this is Daine and Numair from Tamora Pierce’s Immortals quartet.” Because they felt like that pair (which is one of my favorites of all time so YAY), and then the quest itself gave me vibes from Lioness Rampant (also by Tamora Pierce). Those are some of my favorite childhood books, and remain favorites today, so seeing some of the same story elements spun into something new really resonated with me. To be clear, I don’t think Spin the Dawn rips those books off or anything. It’s a strong book on its own. There are simply similarities that I found and really enjoyed!
Maia is the kind of strong heroine I want to see more of. I hate that, so often, “strong” female characters are written as warriors and it comes down to their physical/magical strength, but that’s not the only kind of strength. Maia proves that. She has flaws and weaknesses, but she finds a way to overcome each one. She’ll do anything for those she loves, even if she’s outmatched and outgunned. I want to see younger readers looking up her.
Also, I don’t want to say TOO much and accidentally spoil anything but this book has one of my absolute favorite ships and I was swooning over the romance before it even started.
I’ll be honest, I thought this book was a standalone initially (because clearly I didn’t check the Goodreads page. . . ) but by the end I was dying for more and I’m so happy there will be a sequel! I have nothing but gushing praise for this book and have a feeling I’ll be adding Elizabeth Lim to my auto-buy author list. Can’t recommend Spin the Dawn to YA fantasy readers looking for a new twist on a questing story!
About Austine
I'm a 20-something research proposal developer with a background in the life sciences and education. Reviewer of books since 2011, amateur photographer by day, and aspiring author by night. I believe animals (and books) are better than people.
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