Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for Elizabeth Lim’s Spin the Dawn.

This was billed as a sort of “Mulan meets Project Runway” and is the high fantasy novel of a girl (masquerading as her older brother) who competes in a battle of sewing and design skills in order to secure a spot as the emperor’s tailor. Between the gorgeous cover and fresh concept I had high hopes for this novel, Unfortunately, I found it rather bland and underneath all the imagery of Asia it’s not all that different that any other YA fantasy on the market.

The design competition at the palace actually takes up a lot fewer pages than I expected and it was very disappointing. It has all the same beats as the usual YA girl-versus-whoever in an epic battle of skills and wits but instead of mean girls we have mean old men. Our girl is the underdog! There’s treachery afoot! Will she rely on her magical scissors? Who is this flirty Enchantor that keeps popping up and seems to see beneath her boy disguise?
The contest ends in a final difficult quest to find celestial pieces of magic along the Silk Road to sew into dresses for the Emperor’s future bride. For most humans retrieving items would be impossible and deadly but Maia has the aid of magical scissors and the help of an Enchanter. These scenes go on for so long I start to forget what she’s even looking for. Somehow all this travel creates romance between Maia and the Enchanter Edan. One of the weakest part of this novel is the lack of chemistry and connection between these two characters. Edan is yet an other impossibly old (but still boyishly young looking) YA fantasy male character that is unavailable in almost every way that matters but somehow can’t help but to love this teenage waif. This isn’t insta-love or slow-burn but instead no-burn. They don’t even seem to know each other that well yet we are supposed to believe in this is a great love affair.

Sadly, despite the beautiful cover and promise of fashion design I did not enjoy this one as much as I thought I would.

** I got a copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
As soon as I discovered this book last year I have been itching to read it! I am so glad that I finally got around to reading it. 
I really enjoyed this book. The writing was very beautiful and full of great imagery. I really enjoy Elizabeth's writing style and I would love to read more of her work in the future. The author describes these beautiful dresses so well, it makes you think that you are in the story. 
I was a little worried that the book might be boring, and a little too focused on just sewing but the book is action packed. The story sets the characters on a quest through the desert to collect 3 magical materials to sew into a dress.
 The romance did not disappoint! Edan and Maia had a hate to love relationship, which is one of my favorite tropes. The romance between the two characters wasn't the main focus in the story, and it supported the story and brought it together. 

While I really enjoyed this book, I'm not interested in continuing the series and reading the next book Unravel the Dusk which comes out July 9 this year. And I can't see myself rereading this book in the future. 
Four stars.

Zitat
„War comes at a great cost, […] and from that sacrifice comes peace. Sometimes we must let go of what we value for the future of our country. Be it a beautiful fan, or our honor, our our lives. In the end, we all belong to the gods anyway.“ -Kapitel 13.

Meine Meinung
„Spin the Dawn“ von Elizabeth Lim habe ich als Rezensionsexemplar erhalten. Anscheinend hatte ich das aber vergessen oder nicht bemerkt, zumindest stolperte ich neulich bei NetGalley darüber, dass ich dieses Buch in meinem Regal stand. Da es offiziell schon im Juni 2019 erschienen ist, muss es sich bisher entweder gut versteckt haben, was unwahrscheinlich ist, oder ich es erst vor kurzem bekomme haben. Für letzteres spräche auch, dass im Regal der letzten drei Monate verzeichnet ist. Wie dem auch sei, ich wollte das Buch eh lesen, warum also nicht jetzt?

Eingeteilt ist „Spin the Dawn“ in drei Abschnitten. Allein die ersten beiden wären in anderen Reihen ganze Bände gewesen, so viel geschieht dort. Dadurch lernt man Maia und ihre Persönlichkeit aber auch unheimlich gut kennen. Zugleich erfährt man viel über diese Welt ohne das es dröge wird. Falls ihr es nämlich noch nicht wusstest, „Spin the Dawn“ ist von der chinesischen Kultur und Geschichte inspiriert. Ich kann nichts dazu finden, welche Wurzeln die Autorin hat, als ob es Own Voice ist, da sie aber unter anderem einen Abschluss in East Asian Studies hat, vermute ich eine recht authentische und respektvolle Nutzung der Ursprungskultur.

Durch den Aufbau des Buches hat man als Leser*in immer ein klares Ziel vor Augen. Des Weiteren denkt man sich oft, dass man ja schon noch ein Kapitel lesen könne. Die drei Abschnitte ergeben Sinn und teilen die Gesamtgeschichte gut ein.

Ich hatte anfangs ein Problem mit dem Love Interest. Nun ja eigentlich nicht mit ihm persönlich. Sein Charakter ist kein typische Bad Boy, sondern ein erwachsener Mann, der die Grenzen anderer auch respektiert. Mein Problem war der dramatische Altersunterschied. Er ist über 500 Jahre alt. Er sieht nicht so aus, Magie sei Dank, aber ein bisschen Unbehagen hatte ich anfangs schon. Allerdings fand ich es ganz gut gehändelt, dass die ganze Sache eigentlich erst durch Maia ins Rollen kommt. Letztendlich habe ich, die sich sonst als Romantikallergikerin bezeichnet, sogar mitgefiebert und die Daumen gedrückt.

Apropos Beziehung. Es gibt Sex in „Spin the Dawn“. Wer das in der Jugendliteratur nicht möchte, hier war euer Hinweis. Für alle anderen möchte ich anmerken, dass nichts Explizites beschrieben wird. Es wird ungefähr genauso heiß wie in einer Daily Soap. Ein bisschen fummeln und knutschen und dann wird weggeblendet. Meiner Meinung nach hat Elizabeth Lim es jedes Mal sehr geschmackvoll gelöst.

Ich hoffe sehr, dass wir in „Unravel the Dusk“ noch mehr über die Nebencharaktere erfahren. Vom Kaiser wurde ja schon bisschen etwas enthüllt, aber Lady Sarnai hat noch so das ein oder andere Geheimnis, hinter welches ich gerne kommen würde. Schön fand ich, dass sie trotz ihres Charakters als mehrschichtige Person gezeigt wurde, die ihr eigenes Päckchen zu tragen hat. Letztendlich bringt sie die Geschichte erst richtig in Fahrt und ich hoffe, dass sie in „Unravel the Dusk“ eine noch größere Rolle spielen wird.

Falls ihr jetzt interessiert seit an dem Buch seid, aber so absolut keine Lust auf Englisch habt, seid beruhigt. „Spin the Dawn“ erscheint im Juli auch auf Deutsch, allerdings erkennt man es vielleicht nicht sofort. Denn es gehört zu den Büchern, deren Titel und Cover in der deutschen Übersetzung ganz anders sind. Die deutsche Ausgabe wird als Broschur bei Carlsen unter dem Titel „Ein Kleid aus Seide und Sternen“ erscheinen,
Fazit

Mit „Spin the Dawn“ von Elizabeth Lim erhält der Leser zweieinhalb Bücher zum Preis von einem. Wer Abenteuer, aber auch Hofintrigen mag, ist hier genau richtig. Ich bin gespannt auf die Fortsetzung „Unravel the Dusk".

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.

first, a huge round of applause to Elizabeth (thank YOU) for creating such a magnificent and rich book that has me (little, maybe not so little anymore, Chinese girl) sparkling with joy i’d be literally sparkling if not for physical limitations ok

This is most absolutely the book 13-year old fantasy loving, romantic, Gryffindor-esque me (17-year old me is now a Ravenclaw, and sticking to books, but that’s a story for another time) needed when she was struggling through her teen years unable to fit herself in the place of a heroine. Maia Tamarin, the star of Spin the Dawn, is our sweet little brave girl that goes off to compete for the spot of imperial tailor. me, in love with Maia? idk what you’re talking about jk i am in love with her This Mulan-inspired story (I love myself a girl that has to pretend to be a boy because of unfair circumstances but kicks some serious butt) will have you on your toes through out the entire course of your reading time!! By the middle of the book, I was really invested in the futures of all the characters. okay maybe not one character but you’ll have to read Spin the Dawn to find out who 😉 Besides Maia, there is Edan, the emperor’s Enchanter (who also has my heart WHAT DO YOU KNOW), Emperor Khanujin himself, and his wife, Lady Sarnai. There are so many facets to each of these characters and I can’t help but wish there was a wiki page for each of them so I could study and take notes and basically obsess over them 😂 Elizabeth does a great job of keeping the reader entertained, which my brother can attest to from my constant gasping, screams, laughs, etc. Look out for a sweet sprinkle of romance, which will fulfill your fangirl needs while also satisfying your inner *serious*(??) romantic.

Have I mentioned how much I love the clothing descriptions in particular? When I was younger, all I wanted to be was a fashion designer (unfortunately, those dreams have fallen through, but I was able to relive them through Spin the Dawn) and I was in bliss putting myself in Maia’s shoes. Elizabeth not only gives rich and detailed descriptions of the clothing, but also spun out an incredibly wonderful world that allows the reader’s imagination to craft out their own personal universe as they follow Maia on her adventure. Can we also talk about the MAGIC SCISSORS? I want a pair, I want to know how they work, I wanna see the magic in real life. I want to see it glow–I know I’m not Maia Tamarin but a girl can dream right? 😭 And the DRESSES. THE THREE DRESSES. Made from the laughter of the stars, the tears of the moon, and the blood of the stars. I would die to see them in real life. The fashion lover in me is REALLY popping off today phew

There are so many things I love about this book, such as the Chinese culture that I felt myself unconsciously melting into (my Malaysian-Chinese heart: glowing, much like Maia’s golden scissors), but my favorite part has to be Maia’s growth. This is a girl that is brave and selfless and who deserves everything her world has to offer, and it was emotional for me to follow how she grows throughout her adventures. It’s really inspiring, how she is able to overcome all the prejudice and obstacles that are constantly trying to flatten her into the ground, and yet she rises.

With all the praise that I’ve heaped on Spin the Dawn (please this book is beautiful,,,, i’m not being dramatic ;-;) I hope you’ve been intrigued into reading it!

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.