I loved this story! It's a Mulan twist where the main character disguises herself as her brother and joins a competition to become the kings dressmaker. It is very imaginative and has a good pace. There is also unexpected romance which is always a plus! This book has action, adventure, and vivid descriptions!

Spin The Dawn is one of the books I've been deathly afraid to read. The more of my friends were reading it and loving it, the more I was afraid of reading it. Thankfully ARC August happened and Soph @ Bookwyrming Thoughts had been lovingly and gently pestering urging me to add this book to my TBR, and since I also had the sequel, I decided this was the time. I did not expect to love this book as much as I did, and if you take nothing else from my review, know that I am very tempted to double my rating into a 10-cups review, which I've never done. EVER. In 10 years of blogging. So there you have it. Let's get to it, shall we?

Spin The Dawn tells the story of Maia Tamarin and her desire to become a master tailor. She inherited her father's talent for making the most beautiful clothes, no matter the craft she uses for making them, but because she's a woman, she will never achieve her goals. Only men are deemed talented and worthy of becoming Masters of any crafts. And even if Maia's work was beautiful and her father would let her create some of the clothes for the clients coming into their shop, no one knew it was actually Maia who made them.

I loved Maia's strength and determination. She knew she had to be the one to go to the palace, because her father and her brother were not able to to, and even if she could have been executed for lying to the emperor, she did what she had to in order to help her family.I also loved her sense of right and wrong. She was certain that using magic meant cheating her way into winning the competition, so she refused to use her magic scissors. And that shows just how talented she truly was, because she was doing all those beautiful designs by herself. Also, I want to mention that the tasks were impossible. A jacket out of paper? And glass slippers? But our heroine did them all perfectly, which is why I adored her and was rooting for her.

While struggling to win the competition against men who did not have the same morals as her, Maia attracts the attention of a very interesting character, Edan. I want it known that when I first met Edan I knew he was going to be special, and I hoped he wouldn't turn out to be a villain. Because guys...I usually have my attention grabbed by the villains in YA it seems. I won't spoil his character for you, but he was awesome.

What surprised me about this book was that even though it's shorter than 400 pages, the story is so detailed, and the plot is so dense, that it felt like I was reading a 500-page book. Which to me is always awesome. The worldbuilding was amazing, and we get just enough details to feel like we know this world, but not too many that the reader may feel overwhelmed. And there are so many things happening in this book, too!

I loved this story, in case I wasn't sufficiently clear. I'm not sorry I waited to read it though, because not only can I jump straight into the sequel, but because I got the chance to manage my expectations. Even if I went into reading this book with insanely high expectations, I still believe I would have ended up loving this book. And now I'm off to read the sequel guys, because the ending of this book was so heartbreaking, I can't wait.

I really enjoyed the journey aspect of this book and the trip that Maia went on. I loved her character. The relationship was paced perfectly for me. I liked the writing a lot and I can't wait to read the sequel.

Rereading this one I definitely love the setting and characters a whole lot more then I did the first time around. I am excited to see where Lim is going to take these characters in the next book!

Originally 4.5 stars but now its 5 BLOODY STARS (sorry not sorry)

Spin the Dawn has crushed all expectations of this book and I will forever regret not reading this earlier. From the first page, I knew I was going to love this book. Elizabeth Lim did not disappoint!

Project Runway + Mulan? Who wouldn’t want to read that? As a former fan of Project Runway (gave up a lot of shows) and a big lover of Mulan, Spin the Dawn is my kind of book! It felt more Mulan than Project Runway, but with Runway type challenges, the aspect is there. But the book is so much more than the competition! It’s an adventure of self-discovery, chasing dreams, magic, and love.

The characters had me in love from day one. Maia was fierce and brilliant. She instantly made me want to learn how to sew and become a master tailor. And Edan, the Lord Enchanter sweep me off my feet so quickly. I was shipping our couple as soon as they met!

My only issue and it’s not even a big issue is that time passed quickly. so things move progressively fast-paced. One chapter we are in one location and the next in another. So the relationship and quest move fast. And I wish things were a bit slowed down just so the book could have been longer. I was not ready for it to end!

Now I must go start Unravel the Dusk as I have to find out what happens next! As of right now, I highly recommend this one. Especially if you love a strong female lead, a sweet love story, and a beautiful magical world!

Mulan retelling?? I am there!
The MC is so head strong and determined to save her family at all costs.
I am dying with anticipation of the new release!

What a wonderful and mystical world Elizabeth Lim has created! The lore is beautifully executed, the characters were easy to love, and the world was intricately developed. I never wanted Maia and Edan's journey to end!

I enjoyed this one but it did have a lot of very harmful ableist tropes. One of them was taken out of the final copy thankfully but the story itself is still actively ableist unfortunately. I thought the romance was really sweet and the story very intriguing though. I love Mulan retellings.

Amazing story. I read this again in preparation for the sequel and since I never got a chance to do an initial review on here I had to come back and share!

Very reminiscent of Mulan, Maia enters a competition to become the Imperial Tailor in place of her father. She’s got to hide her secret, deal with her competitors and she’s apparently been given some magic scissors to help her through the competition. Things get interesting after been declared the one to watch during her first trial.

The characters are well written. The pacing was just right. The world building made it easy for me to picture everything as it happened. I truly felt like I was immersed in this world and I enjoyed the ride.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Maia is a seamstress, the daughter of an accomplished tailor who is in poor health and depends on her to complete his more intricate jobs. When the emperor sends someone to collect her father for a competition to become the emperor’s personal tailor, she goes instead....disguised as her brother because women are not allowed to be tailors. Along the way, she meets Edan, the court enchanter, and becomes caught up in a scheme to unite two kingdoms. Can her magic scissors stop a war? Only time will tell.

I absolutely loved Spin the Dawn! I could not put it down. I ended up reading it in one sitting. It gripped me from the first sentence to the last m. Elizabeth has sewn together a beautiful tale. Spin the Dawn gave me many Mulan vibes at first then took me on a path completely immersed in make and self discovery. Mia is a strong character and you can’t help but admire her. Edan the court magician who is easy on the eyes will quickly make you fall in love. Lady Tainak, tEmperor’s bride is both beautiful and stronger willed. While she mad me angry at times I still found her intriguing. Oh Emperor Khanujun... oh I love to hate him. He annoyed me at times but also made me cheer. I am so looking forward to see what happens next! If you haven’t already go preorder Spin the Dawn! If you submit proof here: http://bit.ly/SPINswag you can get some gorgeous cards by Kat Adara. I have the OC version of this on my shelves!

DNF for the moment. This is paced too quickly. The world is really brilliant and I love the premise. But every character feels shallow and the plot has progressed too fast for me to care.

I don't know why it took so long for me to read this glorious book! When I hear the words "Mulan meets Project Runway" I KNEW I'd love it and I'm so glad that I was right. I absolutely can't wait to see where the story goes next.

Spin the Dawn had two distinct story arcs, each breathing fresh air into the tropes of high-stake tournaments and impossible quests. As a daughter of a tailor, I felt a kinship to Maia, her plight and her utter devotion to her craft. Here is a heroine that did not sought to change the world with physical might or sharp wit – she altered the fabric of the universe with a decisive cut of her scissors – and I found that imagery beautiful.

I prefer my fantasy to be character driven, and this is exactly what Spin the Dawn delivered with its introspective heroine. The relationships that Maia developed over the course of this novel, especially her slow-burn friendship turned romance, was satisfying to behold.

My favourite thing about Spin the Dawn was the way the tale took familiar notes of East Asian folklore and weaved it into the fabric of its lore and legend. The resplendent robes Maia was tasked with completing called to mind the myths of Weaver girl. More than that, the story reclaimed the narrative of unfortunate girls being transformed by beautiful dresses – and placed the power back into the hands of a girl who created them.



https://readatmidnight.com/tag/spin-the-dawn/

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim is a book I've had sitting in my library for a while, a book I finally decided to pick up on a whim one night when I could not sleep, and I book I completely regret not picking up sooner, This unique Mulan retelling swept me off my feet and left me with a whimsical new world and characters to love.

Maia Tamarin is a girl who does not take no for an answer. She knows she's the best tailor in her family--maybe in all of the land--despite the fact that no one takes her and her work seriously because she is a girl. When her father is called to the palace to compete to be the imperial taylor, she's goes in his place, knowing that if she is caught she forfeits her life. While competing in numerous sewing tasks she discovers that the pair of scissors given to her by her father before she left contain a magic only she can use. This magic catches the eye of the court magician, Edan, and their journey together takes off from there. I absolutely adored Maia ad Edan's relationship from the beginning. They had some great banter, and I really enjoyed how we got to see their relationship grow throughout their journey to gather the the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. They're both incredibly selfless characters in my eyes, and I can't wait to see where their relationship goes in the second book.

The magic of this world is wholly unique--I've never read anything quite like it. Maia's scissors are a magical item I wish I had passed down in my family because the way Lim describes them in use is just magnificent. I also loved how Edan was tied to his master and how he got around the rules of his servitude to aid Maia despite knowing being away from his master would cause him to weaken. I'm actually very curious about what Edan does for the emperor as is seems he cast an enchantment to make him irresistible to everyone, an enchantment that is now void given that Maia freed Edan with her plea to the goddess. I think this is a really interesting plot line which I hope is followed up in the sequel.

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim is a truly fantastic book that transports the reader into a magical world full of intrigue and wonder. I give this book five out of five stars and highly recommend it to lovers of epic fantasy everywhere.

I am a sucker for a woman disguised as a man trope, so I really was into this Project Runway meets Mulan mash-up of a story. It's so beautifully told, and the descriptions are so rich that I could SEE the various creations. I wish the romance part of the plot had been a little more solid/cohesive, but I'm a romance junkie so...

Maia has never been good at spinning tales. Keton, her brother,knows this.Maia once had three brothers. baba is an expert tailor but the quality is declining. In the book A'landi is a place but I like it as a name.Maia is passing herself off as Keton to become tailor for the emperor even though it's not allowed for women.Like Mulan,Maia wants to hide her gender to protect her father . I liked the idea but I didn't love the story

SPIN THE DAWN is an unbelievably fantastic read with some elements of a high-stakes PROJECT RUNWAY, some elements of FLAME IN THE MIST, and a whole new adventure, romance, and captivating plot. Maia is the only daughter of a tailor in a kingdom where women are wives and men can have trades. Her three older brothers have talents that have nothing to do with the tailoring trade, and so, it is unfortunate that Maia is the one with the skills, but born female.

The kingdom is at war, and her brothers must go fight. Maia is left alone with her father, as her mother died when she was young. As her father is ailing, he cannot work and thus, they would starve. Maia instead takes on the work, running the shop and doing the tailoring. The war is barely ended with peace won by the emperor agreeing to marry the daughter of his rival. When the imperial tailor dies, Maia’s father is called to the imperial city to work for the emperor, based on some work Maia had done with her skill. Instead, Maia poses as her brother, Keton, and travels in his stead.

Once she arrives, she enters a contest with eleven other men who will compete at difficult tasks to become the imperial tailor. The competition is high stakes with short time allotments and increasingly strange requests (much like PROJECT RUNWAY)- as well as competitors who are willing to sabotage and maybe even murder to win. Reluctantly aided by the scissors gifted to her from her father and the imperial enchanter, Edan, Maia is eager to prove herself and her skills to win the competition.

However, her trials are soon to become even more difficult when the bride-to-be requests dresses of legend that would require Maia to undergo impossible tasks and face incredible odds to create them- but the alternative is too terrible to imagine.

What I loved: The world and character building in the book are incredible. Maia leaps off the page, as do the many other characters that appear- her family and the people at the imperial court- they are all so beautifully crafted that they are easy to imagine. With lyrical prose, this world blooms before our eyes as Maia must compete and then accomplish the impossible.

With the addition of a forbidden romance, this book completely enchanted me from start to finish. I loved it at the expense of sleep, and I have absolutely no regrets. With feminism, adventure, danger, and sacrifice, this book is simply gorgeous. The plot is unbelievably engrossing, and the writing style is simply perfect. Information is revealed in a seamless way to keep the reader engaged without bogging down any part of the story with details. With magic, myths, and romance, this book is other-worldly amazing.

Final verdict: Fans of Sarah J. Maas, Renee Ahdieh, Rae Carson, and Sabaa Tahir will revel in this incredible new YA fantasy. I highly recommend for anyone of any age looking for an extraordinary read. This book builds a new world and characters who quickly intrigued me and became close to my heart- readers will not regret picking up this gorgeously lyrical and lush YA fantasy/adventure!

I loved this book. It is pitched as a Mulan retelling however it is a lot more than that. The protagonist disguises herself as a boy in order to compete to become the royal tailor and save her family from ruin. The magic system was probably my favorite part of the book and I also loved the main character.

It’s a 4.5 star, id like to make that abundantly clear. Because I did LOVE this book. But I felt like I was missing something because while I read and read I was never eager or devouring it. There were parts but it was missing something and I don’t know what.

The romance was pretty good. I was surprised by the ending and how it went. I’m happy it’s a series because the idea of the dresses and Gods in the story were really interesting. I loved the land and mythology behind the story. It was very detailed and great. The world was wonderfully developed.

But there was a small piece missing that makes me hesitant to give it five stars.