by Elizabeth Lim
Series: The Blood of Stars #2
Published on July 7, 2020 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780525647027
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 368
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
The thrilling sequel to SPIN THE DAWN, a magical series steeped in Chinese culture.
Maia Tamarin’s journey to sew the dresses of the sun, the moon and the stars has taken a grievous toll. She returns to a kingdom on the brink of war. The boy she loves is gone, and she is forced to don the dress of the sun and assume the place of the emperor’s bride-to-be to keep the peace.
But the war raging around Maia is nothing compared to the battle within. Ever since she was touched by the demon Bandur, she has been changing . . . glancing in the mirror to see her own eyes glowing red, losing control of her magic, her body, her mind. It’s only a matter of time before Maia loses herself completely, but she will stop at nothing to find Edan, protect her family, and bring lasting peace to her country.
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A Sequel Not Woven from Quite the Same Cloth
So let me start by saying I didn’t realize this was a duology and that Unravel the Dusk was the end of the series when I went into it. I think having that knowledge would have changed my perspective a little in how the story played out, though not enough to really change my opinion. That said…
I didn’t like this book as much as Spin the Dawn.
There, I said it. The first book was one of my absolute favorites last year and I loved the combination of discovering oneself, magical questing, and romance. Unravel the Dusk was simply a different sort of book. Still very good, but much more focused on the struggles Maia must face as she undergoes changes both inside and out.
This story is much darker than I anticipated and it weighted on me as I read. Sure, I expected it wouldn’t be all sunshine and rainbows after the way Spin the Dawn ended, but it took it to another level. I found I wasn’t as keen to move to the next chapter, I was missing the lighthearted banter between Maia and Edan, the tension of whether or not she would reach her goal. And I honestly felt like there was so much going on that it was too much for a single book (again, I thought this was going to be a trilogy when I started with some of those plotlines carrying over into a final book).
I was out of breath, so to speak, by the halfway point and wished things had slowed down a bit. This book was all high tension, high stakes, but never let me breathe as a reader. It lacked the ups and downs that make a book truly engaging. There were times I wondered if this had once been two stories that were meshed together but some of the edges didn’t quite meet.
It was… rough, reading this book, especially coming right off a re-read of Spin the Dawn. Maia’s constant inward focus left for a story that felt sharp, harsh, a downward spiral with little to guide it back toward the light. And Edan, who I adored, was either absent or so lovestruck that his character seemed lost in his love for Maia.
I understand that characters need to develop and grow with each book but I felt Edan became a shell of what he was and Maia was so busy fighting for her humanity that it got the better of her. There was just something missing, that spark makes you feel like “yes, this is their story, this is all makes sense.”
And I still barely understand the magic and some of the world-building aspects. We get a bit more about demons and a bit more about the magic but I never understood some of the rules of the magic system, nor of the world for that matter. When something needed to happen, it just… did.
It was all a bit rushed and everything seemed to line up so perfectly for the end, which I still didn’t quite understand because I didn’t understand the rules of the magic system. It’s wishful thinking but I’d have loved to see Unravel the Dusk split into two books and some of those elements expanded on, the plot slowed down, and really give these characters the chance to grow that I don’t think they got here.
I just… I wanted to love this book so much. I pushed through it, waiting for it to pick up, for something to change, but I kept coming back to the same things and the whole experience left me mentally exhausted.
I can’t rave enough about Spin the Dawn and it held up just as well, if not better, after re-reading it. But, as much as it pains me to say it, I don’t think Unravel the Dusk lived up to it as a sequel. I love Lim’s writing so I will absolutely read her future books, but this just wasn’t a win for me.
(But I’ll add that I’m glad these characters got the ending they did. They deserve it. All of them.)
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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