I know I can be pretty picky when it comes to YA, but last year Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim was one of the handful that impressed me, and as soon as the details for Unravel the Dusk was revealed, I knew I needed to get my hands on this sequel.

By the way, since this book is the second half of a duology, readers should be caught up first and be advised that this review may reveal possible spoilers for the previous novel. To recap, our protagonist Maia Tamarin is a girl from a family of tailors who had to take on the duties of caring for her family after her mother died, her father grew sick, and the war took away one of her brothers and left the other maimed. In order to win the prestigious role of royal tailor, Maia disguised herself as a boy and entered a competition at the palace, with the judged being the emperor’s bride-to-be, Lady Sarnai. However, the challenges of the contest were difficult, with some bordering on the impossible. Still, with a little help from her family magic as well as a court enchanter named Edan, Maia was able to succeed and win.

Now though, the true test of wills begins. Despite all her hard work to keep the empire from descending into total war, Maia returns from her perilous journey to find everything in chaos. The emperor’s marriage, which was supposed to bring the peace that was promised, is now in jeopardy, causing the kingdoms to again mobilize their troops. Edan, with whom Maia had grown close to and fallen in love is unfortunately far from her and unable to help. To stave off the violence for as long as possible, Maia devises a dangerous plan which would require her to don a disguise once more—this time, as the emperor’s own fiancée, Lady Sarnai. But believe it or not, pulling off this deception is the least of her worries. For within Maia, a malevolent force has been fighting for release ever since she was touched by a demon and tainted with its essence. With each passing day, she fears that she will finally lose the battle, destroying herself and putting her friends and loved ones at risk.

Unravel the Dusk continues to deliver the goods, offering magic, intrigue, and adventure. The scope of the plot has also exploded to become something much bigger—and not just in terms of intricacy and detail. Compared to the previous book, which mostly focused on Maia’s personal challenges and her own goals, everything she does in this one affects so much more than herself. It is not an exaggeration to say the entire empire now rests on her ability to impersonate Lady Sarnai, a harsh and caustic woman so very different from earnest and kind-hearted Maia. Readers will also want to root for our protagonist to conquer the demon that threatens to devour her from within, not only because good needs to overcome evil, but because there is just so much wrongness to see such a pure soul corrupted.

Speaking of which, this sequel brought a lot of changes to our characters—mostly good ones. I think some will be disappointed that we don’t get as of Edan in this book, especially given the tender and passionate way their romance developed in the first one. Personally though, I didn’t mind his absence too much. I felt it gave Maia a chance to work things out on her own, making me appreciate her independence and strength all the more. Besides, Edan does show up again later on, and believe me, you’ll end up getting your fill of swoon. We also see changes in the dynamics between Maia and other characters, including Ammi, a servant girl at the palace whom she befriended, as well as Lady Sarnai, who I was surprised to find I didn’t hate as much this time around.

As for criticisms, I don’t have any major ones, but the pacing for certain parts of the story felt a bit off. The intro, for example, felt like it flew by in a blur, leaving me with questions and confusion. Of course, while feeling rushed is still far better than the opposite, which is feeling bored because of slow pacing, there should be a balance. When comparing the first few chapters to the rest of the novel, the difference is clear. The sections after Maia and Ammi go on the run are given much more attention than everything that came before, and considering how the latter provides the setup, I think the beginning should have been more fleshed out.

But all told, I have to say The Blood of Stars duology is one of the most well-written and outstanding YA books I’ve read in years and I think Elizabeth Lim is well on her way to making a name for herself. I look forward to her future projects.

Unravel the Dusk is by far one of the top five new books I’ve read in 2020, and I don’t anticipate it losing that honor. Elizabeth Lim’s fantastic storytelling from Spin the Dawn continues on in the second part of her duology, weaving an original tale together with well-known myths. While the first installment drew on the tales of Mulan, Dusk held echoes of a tale I had never heard of until this novel-The Weaver and the Cowherd. Being unfamiliar with this myth does not lessen the experience of the book, however, as Lim’s original storytelling is a work of genius that stands alone.
SPOILERS FROM THE BLOOD OF STARS BOOK ONE AHEAD!
After Maia Tamarin completes the dresses of Amana and leaves Baba and Keton once more, she is forced to fight for her life from herself, or rather, the demon that is growing inside her, urging her to return to the shores of Lapzur where she caught the blood of the stars. Each day, Maia is troubled by the voices in her head, the ghosts of the Forgotten Isles who keep calling her by a new name-Sentur’na. Compounding her worries is that her country, A’landi, is facing civil war brought by the shansen of the North, and Emperor Khanujin’s anger about his missing Lord Enchanter who is very dear to Maia. Lim weaves all of the levels of distress into a tale that is organic, and never feels like there are too many concurrent plots. In fact, they all collide and swirl together in the most beautiful way, much like the skirts of the blood of the stars dress crafted by Maia.
As far as sequels go, this novel held its own, and in some ways, sparkled brighter than Spin the Dawn did in terms of action sequences and a twist I did not see coming.

This was my most anticipated sequel of 2020! Was it what I expected? Not exactly. But did I love it all the same? Absolutely. Unravel the Dusk is much darker than Spin the Dawn and the stakes are high. I constantly worried for the characters, not just Maia and Edan but the secondary characcters too and I read the whole book in like 2 hours straight because I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!

~4 REASONS THIS BOOK IS THE FINALE WE DESERVE~

~So much at stake, so much to lose~

Right from the start I worried for Maia. Considering how book one ended can you blame me? And as the chapters flew by, I was scared for everyone, even characters I had not cared much for in book one.

There is more than one war to fight for Maia. While she struggles to save her country, she must also work fervently to fight the darkness spreading within her. And when we think one problem is over, another crops up! Elizabeth Lim made sure we'd be on the edge of our seats praying to Amana to JUST KEEP THE BABIES ALIVE.

~Dark magic and Mayhem ~

While Spin the Dawn focused so much on Maia making the three enchanted dresses, Unravel the Dusk focuses on their magic. Maia sacrificed so much to make those dresses and I'd have been disappointed if the dresses didn't turn out to be so awesome and powerful. Also can I just say I love the idea of couture fashion being powerful? I would very much like a magical dress please and with pockets.

I liked learning more about the magic of enchanters and demons. We were shown so little of demonic power in Spin the Dawn but the sequel elaborates on that. We see Maia starting to change because of her deal with Bhandur, starting to become something else altogether while she struggles to keep her memories.

Also the whole descent into darkness is a trope I didn't realize I loved until I read this book! At some points Maia's struggles with her curse were described so vividly my heart ached for her. Ms Lim why must you hurt Maia so?

~Secondary characters take center-stage ~

I loved that secondary characters from book 1 have more role here. Can i just say I want an Ammi in my life? I love seeing female friendships and the one that grows between Maia and Ammi is sweet and adorable.

No spoilers but I am glad we see more of Lady Sarnai and as always she is complex and interesting and has so many layers. While there were some characters I didn't exactly like, i found them interesting and understood their actions even when they were not right. morally grey characters make the plotline so much more interesting.

~The unstoppable action right from page one ~

While I missed the domestic banter and humor from spin the Dawn, I quickly became enamored by the non-stpop action and seriousness of Unravel the dusk. I do wish we had more of Maia-Edan goodness and bantering BUT the lack of it did not in any way make the book less interesting. In fact the action barely gave me time to breathe.

The entirety of the book is fast paced and I liked how all the subplots came together. The action scenes were so vivid and also it's not secret I LOVE Elizabeth Lim's magical writing. The depictions of magic and enchanted fighting were so beautifully described, it's almost easy to forget there is a battle going on. Seriously, I'd read ANYTHING Ms Lim writes.

Unravel the Dusk is the best finale we could have asked for and it delivers with high stakes, an intricate plot and characters to fall in love with

ARC provided by Knopf Books for Young Readers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!!!

Wooooaaahhh y'all let me tell you I was def not ready for this series to be a duology!!! I finished Spin the Dawn thinking that this was going to be a trilogy and then had my sock knocked off by how Lim whipped us through to the end!

But what is this book actually about?

Following the events of Spin the Dawn, Maia Tamarin in now officially the imperial tailor... but at a cost. Edan has gone to some unknown land, the nuptials of the Emperor and his bride are on rocky ground, and Maia's impending transformation into a demon is growing ever closer. To save her country and everyone she holds dear, Maia will cross the country, fight any battle, and become whatever she needs to be in order to make things right.

Let me start of by saying that this series is one that I will not soon forget. The beauty and detail that is woven into the story is breathtaking, especially when it comes to the tailoring that Maia does and the passion that she has for her craft. There is magic not just in the magical things in this book, but also in the ordinary, and that is what I love. The actual magic system, however, is one that even at the end of this book, I still don't quite understand. I waited a long time in Spin the Dawn to grasp somewhat the basis for this system within the scope of the worldbuilding that Lim does, and yet I never quite could come around to it. The legends and myths behind the beliefs of the people, the basis for magic, and even which people can or cannot use it is something that I feel like could've been *greatly* developed more in this series. Because of this, basic questions that relate to how Edan uses his magic, how Maia uses it as she transforms, and so many more are raised and only half answered throughout the book. I understand that some mystery is necessary when it comes to these things, but this simply felt like one portion of worldbuilding that was very underdeveloped.

One thing that was definitely not underdeveloped, though, was character growth. The change between Maia over the two books is tremendous, and it is done in a way that perfectly reflects all that she has been through over the course of this story. She becomes stronger in the areas where she has been broken, and she loses herself to find herself again in those that she loves. Don't let anyone tell you any differently: possibly transforming into a demon is great for character development!

I also really loved how this book takes a realistic look at the struggle between the Emperor and his challenger, and how neither man is perfect for the job. The struggle for the throne is one that could happen in real life (without the magic) and the battle at the end is one that doesn't give us a perfect leader, either, but the most realistic one that can hold a country together, even if for a little while.

All in all, I thought this book was a wonderfully exciting and intriguing conclusion to Spin the Dawn! I wish we could've had a trilogy just to get more of some of these characters!!

an absolutely epic conclusion to this duology, filled with action, demons, and true love. Lim has such a beautiful way of writing that sucks the reader right in and makes everything feel so atmospheric. ⁣
I’m kicking myself a bit for not rereading Spin the Dawn prior to this because I did find myself a little confused in parts. But honestly, I don’t think I could have dreamed up a better conclusion. There were laughs and tears throughout and I want to reread both of these immediately. ⁣

After all the events in Spin the Dawn the sequel cuts into a few new problems right in the beginning. Maia has to take the place of the bride and wear her own sewn dress. All the while no one can notice that she’s not Lady Sarnai and she has to hide the changes in her body. Initially, hardly any references are made tot he events in the previous book. as a reader, you should therefore rely I little more on your own memories of the first book. This might be quite a task because there are many different characters names in the beginning. As the story progresses, the happenings in the first book become a little less important, even though Maia is in a situatie that arose in the previous part. But this story takes you on a completely different journey. Where in Spin the Dawn Maia has had to convince others of her sewing skills and of the fact that she took on her brothers identity, she has to fight for herself now. The struggle that rages within her is dark and makes it difficult for her to trust or get close to others. These moments when the author described the struggle inside Maia, are quite impressive and controversial. She did a great job replacing herself in the character. That’s why the battle between good and evil within a humon body is written beautifully and strong.

As the story goes on, it gets more exciting. Maia seems to lose herself more and more, while a war is coming and she still wants to fight for what is right. She doesn’t want to abandon her family and she wants to protect the people she loves. Even though she doesn’t know how to do so. Magic, gods and old stories slowly take on a more important role and provide more depth into the story. Maia meets some old acquantances who give her wise advices, but she doesn’t know exactly how to follow their advice. That is iltimately up to her. The story is written entirely from Maia’s perspective, and that is good enough. Because ghosts, demons and gods sometimes speak to her inside her head. But it’s not always quite clear which voice belongs to whom. Only at the end it becomes clear what the intentions were and then the puzzle pieces fall in place, into a beautiful whole.

Unravel the Dusk is a dark and magical story including some wonderful elements as friendship, hatred and love. Where a young girl tries hard to keep her family and friends safe, even if that means she has to protect them from herself.

Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim is the sequel to spin the dawn and is the final book of this duology. To avoid spoilers, I’d recommend checking out my review of the first book!

And yes, lately all I have been posting is reviews, but I promise once I catch up I’ll have some fun posts planned!

This E-arc was sent to me for an honest review.

Introduction To Unravel The Dusk
Maia’s journey on sewing three dresses made out of the sun, moon and stars may have come to an end. However, she has returned back to a kingdom on the brink of war which isn’t as bad as her inner conflict. She was touched by the demon Bandur, and has been losing control of her magic and herself. With Edan gone and the need to protect her family, Maia finds herself on a conflicting journey.

Plot Of Unravel The Dusk
For the first half of the book, Edan doesn’t make an appearance. Although this didn’t bother me that much, it was still weird going from book one where he was a main part of the book. This book felt like it was focusing on Maia as a person. I felt that I was getting the same inner conflict for the first half of the book. It even felt too tense (don’t get me wrong, I love it when YA books include dark themes). But at times I felt that it would have benefited with some light moments. Elizabeth Lim has such beautiful writing, that I did binge this within two days. It’s just a shame that I felt overwhelmed with the pacing and many plotlines. Plus, I never truly understood the limitations of the magic system.

Characters
What I adore about this series, is the girl power and female empowerment. The change of direction in this book is something I didn’t mind as I felt like readers got to see the development of Maia.

She did at times keep people at arms length. So I think this is why it felt tense, because character interactions were deep discussions on wanting to help out Maia but her feeling afraid to let them.

Although Edan appeared in the second half, he hadn’t changed much! He is still whipped as ever for Maia and has that sass we all love, but I missed the chemistry they both had in the first book.

Lady Sarnai is a character I actually came to empathise and admire! I love the feminist vibes I got from this book in general. Lady Sarnai definitely contributed to that with her being a strong leader.

And as for the demon, well he’s still a little shit like he was in the first book 😉

I won’t talk much about other characters but just know that secondary ones from the first book made an appearance which I loved!

Conclusion
Although I’m a little disappointed that this book didn’t live up to my expectations, I did enjoy it! Specifically within the second half, filled with emotional battle scenes. But I appreciate the Asian inspired elements and mythology, it’s what makes this book stand out from other YA fantasy. As much as I want to rate this higher, Unravel the Dusk is a three star for me.

If you’ve read my blog tour review for Spin the Dawn, the first book in the Blood of the Stars series, you KNOW that I am absolutely in love with the book. If you haven’t, you can listen to me sing its praises here.

first, I’d like to point out how beautiful the cover is???? Like, look at Maia on the cover and tell me this cover isn’t gorgeous. I dare you. I want to frame it and put it on a wall (if someone makes Unravel the Dusk posters I will buy them pls) I’m also kind of ashamed to say that I didn’t realize how the covers of both Spin the Dawn and Unravel the Dusk incorporated the most important parts of each book on the covers ;-; but now that I’ve said it, take a good look at the cover, notice the details, and find yourself exclaiming in glee(actually, sometimes maybe not but well) when you find the details in the book. Think of it like a little treasure hunt of sorts.

well, to the book! did this take a turn I did not expect (in a good way!) In Unravel the Dusk, Maia’s three legendary dresses prove to play a larger part in the story than before. Not only breathtakingly beautiful, these dresses are interwoven within Maia’s very being in more intricate ways than we could ever imagine. These dresses are not just wearable pretty works of art, and I love that. These dresses represent both physical and emotional(?) power to me; graced with Amana’s power (physical power that can end armies, wow) while simply giving confidence to the wearer (in this case, only Maia, but be honest, who wouldn’t feel powerful in a beautiful dress, hm?).

also, this book is really fast paced. action from the beginning to the end. I read very fast to begin with, so I had to force myself not to instinctively speed up and missing important parts in the action. If you’re not used to fast paced reading/storytelling, you might have to take a break between sections so as to not end up breathless like I did (it was a thrill to me, but might not be for others). I do think there is *one* part of the story that seemed a bit rushed while I was reading it, but in hindsight it really wasn’t the highlight highlight of the book (Maia faces bigger and more fearsome opponents!!!) so I sort of get it. while Spin the Dawn was Project Runway x Mulan with a dash of romance, Unravel the Dusk is not as centered around romance, although the main motives are powered by love (both for family and lovers). This book follows Maia more as she deals with relationships with her family, friends, and even formerly hostile acquaintances.

i’m in love with how the characters have developed. We didn’t get to see too much of the personalities/values of many characters other than Maia and Edan in Spin the Dawn, but these are revealed here, in Unravel the Dusk. In my previous review of Spin the Dawn, I *definitely* did not have a very high opinion of Lady Sarnai (was I salty that she was treating my dearest girl Maia badly? maybe), but in Unravel the Dusk, I have a newfound awe and respect for her. In fact, I want to be able to be as strong and committed to herself and her loved ones as her. we love strong women!! thank you Elizabeth for giving strong, passionate women for girls to look up to ❤

thank you again to Elizabeth for writing such a stunning sequel to the story I fell in love with before !! I’m so thankful to have multiples heroines from this series that I can look up to ❤ also, it seems like this is the end of the series unless we see other character arcs (which I would love to see!) so if you’re the kind of person that needs encouragement to pick up series since they might be hard to catch up with, I encourage you to pick up Spin the Dawn and Unravel the Dusk!! You will NOT regret it.

Spin the Dawn was one of my favorite books of last year, so I was beyond ecstatic when I was approved for the sequel on NetGalley. Unfortunately, while this was not necessarily a bad read, it pales in comparison to its predecessor, which made me a very disappointed K-Specks. Although still beautiful, Unravel the Dusk lacked the same magic and emotional pull that made me so enamored of Spin the Dawn.

So, quick summary: (warning: there are spoilers here for Spin the Dawn, though none for this book.)

At the end of Spin the Dawn, Maia was technically safe, as she had successfully managed to create all three of Amana’s dresses, with the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars, thus securing her role as the imperial tailor. However, that success came at a cost: she sold her soul to the demon Bandur to secure the freedom of Edan, the enchanter she loves. In an effort to keep Edan safe, Maia has sent him away, even as she finds herself slowly turning into a demon and the kingdom of A’landi teeters on the brink of war yet again. When the marriage of Lady Sarnai to Emperor Khanujin–a marriage that was supposed to create peace and avert the war–goes horribly wrong, Maia finds herself uniquely situated to resolve things…but only if she can delay her own transformation long enough to use her demonic powers for good. So begins another quest, to reunite with Edan, face Bandur, and hopefully save the kingdom.

Let’s start with the obvious: Elizabeth Lim is a tremendously talented writer. As in the first book, the language in this book is absolutely gorgeous, and even if the content did not always grip me, the words themselves positively sang. They were artful yet colloquial, poetic but never pretentious–a delicate balance, but Lim never faltered. The premise, too, was entirely fitting, an excellent continuation of the saga from the first book, that raised the stakes and tied up loose ends. Lim’s OwnVoices use of Chinese mythology and culture to shape this world brought the story to life, with vibrant details ranging from the elegant dresses to a fleet of enchanted folded cranes made of cloth. And even the smooth pacing was done well–fast enough to hold interest but slow enough to savor. On a purely technical level, everything in this book was done impeccably.

However, on a subjective level, the majority of the book was a slog for me. While in the first book, Maia was surrounded by other characters, her experiences colored by her interactions with them, much of this book was a solo adventure for her. True, she was accompanied at times by her friend Ammi, and she did reunite with Edan, but her relationships with them were stunted. Some of this was necessary–her demonic transformation made her cagey and reluctant to trust others, because she wanted to protect them–but for so much of the book, it was just her being filled with angst over her internal battle with the growing darkness inside of her. Instead of being fiercely independent but still healthy, she became destructively isolated, and it made her not just harder to root for, but harder to be invested in at all. And because she lacked further social support, there was nobody else for me as a reader to hold emotional ties to, either.

I think some of the disappointment here was also just in the nature of the book. As a sequel dealing with heavier themes, this is a darker tale: no Project Runway-esque fun here, and no joy of newfound love. The problem is that this dulled some of the lively sparkle that brought Spin the Dawn to life. There was nothing wrong with it, except that it was not what I expected, and felt like a disappointment as a result.

And then there is my last grievance: Edan. In the first book, the enchanter who could shapeshift into a hawk was a phenomenal character and an excellent complement to Maia, strong when she was uncertain and wise when she was naive. Yet in this book, with Maia’s increased independence, and with Edan’s magic decimated, he became unspeakably bland. His support for Maia was wonderful, but his actual personality became almost nothing beyond “the guy who loves her.” I always get frustrated when romances cause characters to lose their personalities, so…yeah, my frustration there should be obvious.

As a whole, this is a perfectly adequate sequel and, if you enjoyed Spin the Dawn, a worthwhile conclusion to the duology. It may not have been my favorite, but at the end of the day, especially by the end, it was a satisfying knot tying off of the narrative threads. (And yes, that was a very clunky sewing metaphor. I will not apologize for art.)

Unravel The Dusk was one of my most anticipated reads of this year and I felt so happy to be reunited with my favourite characters. This book is so different from the first one. It’s more intense, darker and more mystical. Maia’s adventures get more dangerous and chaotic as she starts experiencing the effects of her bargains made for the divine dresses.

I was instantly hooked from the very first pages of this book. It was such a page-turner. Once I got into the story, I could not put it down. I tried reading the story as slowly as I could because I wanted to relish every little detail. I loved the turn that the story took. While the first book was super fairytale-like, this one dealt with the darker side of magic and it was so beautiful.

If you’ve read my Spin The Dawn review, you can see that I wanted to read more about Lady Sarnai. Well, thank you Elizabeth for fulfilling my wish! I loved reading about her! Her character development was great and even though she was so selfish at times, I could not help but like her in the end. What’s better was that the author allowed us to understand her a bit more and gave us the option whether to like or hate her. Let’s talk about my favourite character: Edan. I was a bit bummed that I did not get to read a lot about him but his journey was already made clear to us in the first book. I missed the cute moments between him and Maia. I loved how he was still so supportive and patient, despite having lost an important aspect of his life.

There’s so much to say about Maia that I could write paragraphs about her but, let’s keep it short and non-spoilery. Maia’s character development was amazing. I enjoyed her whole “transformation” process and how it kept getting more difficult for her to make decisions. She had to deal with a lot!! But her being Maia, never gave up. I loved her persistence and her selflessness when it came to fighting for her country. I really enjoyed reading about the different voices in her head and about her struggles at every step of her quest to save her country.

This book was packed with action and epic war scenes. There were lots of killing, fighting, creepy creatures and utter chaos. The magic got darker and more complex and at times, I found myself struggling to keep up with how it worked. I was taken aback by some of the twists in this book and just when I thought that something good was going to happen to Maia, everything got worse. I kept rooting for her throughout the story. However, I was so pleased with the ending of the book. It was the perfect ending to this epic, mystical, heart wrenching, magical duology. I absolutely loved this book and I cannot wait to read more by this author 🧡✨.

Thank you so much Elizabeth for creating such a magical world with such interesting characters and for taking us on this memorable journey! And, big thanks to Penguin Random House (International) for providing me with an early copy of this book via NetGalley.
(4.5 🌟 s)

3.5? Maybe? It's hard to say. I did really enjoy this, but there were still things that fell short for me.

First and foremost, the positives of this sequel: it really was a thrilling and action-packed follow-up to the first book. Maia's inner struggle with turning into a demon was the focus of the novel and the most interesting part. The writing is still amazing, too. In depth magic and world-building.

However, despite this plot being quite exciting, I just couldn't get into it as much. This could also be attributed to me still being in somewhat of a reading slump. Who knows.

Everything I loved in Spin the Dawn just wasn't here (although, that's not all necessarily to the detriment of this one): the subtle, beautiful magic; the romance; the fairy tale-esque storylines. The magic here was raw and powerful, which was really an interesting thing to explore. Edan didn't appear until halfway through the novel and even when they were together, it wasn't the same. I missed his charm. And the plot was a lot darker and included more action, which, again, isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just different.

Then end, too, didn't quite hit the mark for me. I think I expected more? I won't give it away, but to me it was just a bit anticlimactic. Especially after the big lead up with the war and Maia's demon self.

Overall, it was still really exciting and interesting. I've seen a lot of fantastic feedback, so take my review with a grain of salt.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unravel the Dusk: Mature, Melancholic and Reverent

“You must be swift as the coursing river, with all the force of a great typhoon, with all the strength of a raging fire, mysterious as the dark side of the moon.”

Although the Disney writers penned the iconic line for Mulan’s transformation into military star, little did they know that it would end up describing Maia Tamarin’s war against herself. Where Spin the Dawn was an exciting three-part adventure to capture the sun, the moon and the stars, Unravel the Dusk is an introspective journey of Maia coming to terms with her magic and her fall into becoming a demon. And her sacrifice and salvation; in love, family and fate.

Plot and Pacing

Told in three parts, the plot once again revolves around the three dresses but this time, we see them in action and their creator at the centre of that power. It starts immediately after the events of Spin the Dawn with Emperor Khanujin’s marriage to Lady Sarnai. Maia’s secret identity has been revealed, she has been separated from Edam and her soul is sold to a demon oath. As the days pass, Maia continues to sink even further into dark depths, fighting a literal inner demon that threatens to consume her whole and leave her without her humanity. Even the magic of the dresses is not enough to save Maia from herself. She fights it every step of the way; but there is war on the horizon, fought more with magic and spirits than with weaponry and military tactics. To save her country, she has to sacrifice bits and pieces of herself; the more she uses her dark demon magic, the more she is consumed.

The story is told with a lot less of flash and bang. Instead, it is suffused with melancholy and revolves around Maia’s internal conflict, mirroring the mounting war in the world around her. There is also a very strong sense of loneliness; after all, the road to salvation and redemption is lonely. Despite being stuck in Maia’s head, it is fast-paced. The magic and the lore is woven cleverly into the plot and there is rarely a dull moment. Like a river flowing to the ocean, Unravel the Dusk builds slowly as it leads to it’s final conclusion.

"What little I had left of my tailoring gift wasn’t for sewing with needle and thread, it was for crafting a future, stitch by stitch, for the people I loved. That future would hold tight, even as I unraveled."

Maia Gets An Upgrade

Gone is the cheery and relentlessly optimistic tailor; in her place, a broken and downtrodden woman with the world on her shoulders. Maia is severely melodramatic and often morose, rejecting every offer of help she is offered. She has achieved her dream of becoming the imperial tailor but it has come at a terrible price. Despite this, Maia remains headstrong, determined and filled with love. And as she fought the demons, ghouls and voices in her head, Maia remained elegant and delicate, a far cry from the fierce and unapologetic YA female characters we come across today. Some might see weakness in Maia’s gentleness but hers is a quiet strength born of emotion and self-sacrifice; Maia is a talented tailor, not warrior. It was very refreshing to see Lim keep these roots rather than transform her into an all-powerful killing machine.

Although multiple complaints I came across on Goodreads lamented Maia’s refusal of help, it is not hard to see why accepting help would be out of character. And when she finally does accept help, it is justified why she constantly flies solo. Throughout the series, Maia has been fiercely independent and resourceful, having grown up in an environment where she had to rely on her self. Maia often solves problems on her own and as the darkest moments of her life approach and the multitude of dangers that come with it, it would make absolutely no sense for Maia to accept help and put the lives of those she loves at risk. After all, almost every decision she has made was ultimately a selfless one; she is constantly thinking of her loved ones and her country.

Even though we see a rather changed Maia, the same cannot be said for the rest of the characters. They tend to fade into the background or become one-dimensional, cookie-cutters versions of their previous selves. They feel stilted. We do see a few familiar faces pop up from Spin the Dawn which I thought was a very cute and clever way to tie the narratives together such as Ammi, Master Longhai as well as a few faces that will warm as well as break your heart.

Here is just a quick and brief but non-exhaustive run through of the main players:

Edan: Having lost most of his charm, he has become somewhat of a doormat in his blind devotion to Maia. It is rather cringey, for lack of a better word how he seems to have no other goal except to lay down his life for Maia.

Lady Sarnai: We were introduced to the fearsome warrior woman in Spin the Dawn who has an illicit romantic relationship with her father’s general. She remains one-dimensional⁠—ruthless and fearless.

Emperor Khainujin: While the emperor is relatively unchanged from the first book, we are shown another side to the him. In spite of the cruelty he exhibits, Emperor Khainujin is shown to be a good ruler; one that cares for his country and his people.

The Shansen: It is hard to believe that being possessed by a bloodthirsty demon leaves you with absolutely no personality other than revenge, death and bloodlust even though the shansen is showed to also be in control of his thoughts and actions.

"The moon was as starved as it had been the night before, a fragile crescent⁠—according to legend, that meant the Goddess of the Moon could not see her lover, the God of the Sun. When the moon was full she could see him, so she was happier."

Confusing Magic System and Beautiful Prose

But, it is not just the characters that have suffered. The worldbuilding is for lack of a better word, not great. I can overlook the locations and setting even though they are vague despite the map provided because we spend so much time in Maia’s head that it doesn’t really matter. A green field of battle is still a green field no matter where they will be. However, there is much left to be desired with the magic system.

There are two sources of power conflicting in Maia. She is able to wield the power of the three dresses; supposedly a power granted to the goddess, Amana. At the same time, her demon powers are manifesting and the more she uses them, the deeper she falls into the spiral of demonhood. But, the more she wields the power of the dresses, the more she uses her demon magic. Both magics are equally powerful when used to defeat the shansen and his demon. At the same time, the dresses are the only thing keeping her demon side from consuming her whole. And in this world, demons possess an amulet: a sort of physical storage for their power. And Maia uses this to store her dresses. And her demon powers. See where it starts to get a little confusing?

It was the times when Maia wielded her magic that I had to read the paragraphs multiple times in order to grasp what was happening. I gave up trying to understand after a few times. Understanding the magic system wasn’t important to the story: just that she uses her demon magic and she gets worse.

Lyrical and poetic, Lim’s writing brings Maia and Unravel the Dusk to life. To be honest, it is not a book that would leave you breathless in its wonder nor will it ever astound you. In fact, if it were written more like a modern YA novel, it would have been a painful read because we spend so much time in Maia’s thoughts rather than the action or plot. The characters are fairly lackluster and the worldbuilding, safe to say, is confusing. Thankfully, there is a beautiful romantic quality to the way Lim describes Maia’s journey which seems almost like a reverse of how she became the imperial tailor, taking her back to her roots and her heart.

"Astonishing, that a cowherd’s son and a simple weaver, separated by centuries of starfalls, should find each other. If Edan hadn’t taken his oath as an enchanter, and I hadn’t dared to step beyong the path that was laid out for me and gone to the palace, we might never have met. Whatever history remembered of us, whether it likened us to the sun and the moon⁠—only permitted to meet once a year⁠—or simply to a boy and a girl touched by the stars, fate had danced to bring us together."

Frustrating Romance and My Favourite Myth

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: The Blood of Stars duology has a problem with its romance. For a book and a character so driven by her love, the romance feels hollow. It feels insubstantial and filled with pretty, romantic words. While I tried to justify Edan and Maia’s relationship in my initial review for Spin the Dawn, I can’t keep pretending I have any feelings for them. More so with how little agency Edan seems to possess here. With so much going on in both Spin the Dawn and Unravel the Dusk, the romance seems like a second thought and it is reflected in the lack of chemistry between Maia and Edan. In the end, there were so many factors driving Maia’s decisions; Edan was only a small part of it. It was her love for her country, her love for her father and brother, for Ammi, her respect for Lady Sarnai and so many others. Edan was merely a blip on her radar.

Unfortunately, their romance had already been set up in the first book and for continuity’s sake, it had to be continued. Their relationship is held together by Lim’s determination to write a legendary, wuxia-quality romance for them.

And, dear book fam, Lim succeeded!

While The Blood of Stars duology is based on Mulan, it also holds elements of my favourite Chinese myth: the weaver and the cowherd. I made mention of this in my initial review and referenced the Sun-Husband and Moon-Wife myth as this was the story where the stars bled. I only assumed that Lim used the mythology around the blood of the stars and failed to pick up on the tinier details that likened Maia and Edan to the Weaver and Cowherd instead. Literally because Maia is the descendant of the Weaver and Edan was supposedly born to a farmer.

There is even a specific scene towards the end of the book that truly makes Maia the Weaver in the tale and it was just so beautifully written with the lyrical wuxia quality that I could not help but begrudgingly accept Maia and Edan’s relationship.

"Now that I’ve found you again, Maia, I will never leave you. I will stay by your side until the fire in the sun grows cold and the light in the moon is no more. Until time blots out the stars."

The Darkness of Fairytales

The one thing that truly perplexed me about Unravel the Dusk was Lim’s decision to take the series in a darker and more mature direction. While this is definitely a trend in YA books where each book needs to be more violent and explicit than the one before, Unravel the Dusk is reserved and elegant in it’s dark tone. It didn’t try to one up Spin the Dawn with gore and violence; it completely changed the narrative.

When I asked Lim if this was planned and if so, why did she decide so, she said: “As I wrote the end to Spin the Dawn, I realized that the story was going in a darker direction so yes, the nature of [Unravel the Dusk] was planned in that regard. I also wanted to explore the darker side of fairy tales, and how in them, there’s often a cost to pay for using magic/saving your loved ones.”

And for a brief moment, that left me speechless. We’ve grown so accustomed to the Disney renditions that we often forget that these fairytales have much darker origins and a moral undertone. Cinderella was bloody and gory, Little Mermaid turned into seafoam and the original Mulan, well, let’s just say she didn’t really have her Li Shang. We seldom see this flipside exploration in mainstream media; after all, it is the sanitised version that appeals to children and parents. Lim achieved this spectacularly when she turned the focus from the high-paced adventure to Maia and the question of what happens when you use magic.

In most media, there is always a favourable outcome to the usage of magic, turning zero to hero. Characters become shining parables of good and the forces they defeat, bad. Characters continue to signal virtue their goodness by being the victim, hunted by all in the world. Their sacrifices are body counts and they never selfless. By all accounts, Maia should have been the imperial hero, seated at the right hand of the emperor. Perhaps like Aelin Galathynius, she would have faced terrible challenge after terrible challenge and emerge victorious. But instead of fighting an external force, Maia has to grapple with her own morality and her very existence. The lens is turned inward and we get a glimpse into what it would be like if we were to be in Maia’s shoes. What would we do with that immense power? What bargains would we strike?

"No longer was I a humble seamstress from Port Kamalan: I was the tailor of the gods."

Conclusion

While Spin the Dawn is the Mulan fantasy retelling, Unravel the Dusk is all Lim. It’s her own exploration of the story beyond the warrior, her own creation of the Maia fairytale and I think that is beautiful. Maia is not and will never be, a warrior but she is full of heart and fighting spirit. Although there are quite a few flaws with Unravel the Dusk, Lim’s writing andthe unique diversion from the original narrative and plot make this one a worthwhile read and a worthy conclusion to the duology.

I absolutely loved Spin the Dawn when I read it last year, so you can imagine my excitement when I was approved for an eARC!

This book is filled with the mythology, culture, and whimsical storytelling I loved so much from the first one. And it was nice to see Edan again!!
I thought the beginning was strong, like, holy cow!! We're thrown into where Spin the Dawn left off and things get pretty intense right away and the story sucked me in. But then it started to go downhill, and I think it's because the structure of the novel dissolved. There would be a problem, Maia would have to solve it; oh look, another problem that Maia needs to solve and so on and so forth until the end of the book. And *of course* she had to solve all these problems by herself.
However, I did like that Maia wandered into a morally gray area from time to time! I do like my morally gray characters.

Just like Spin the Dawn there was a lot of traveling and I don't think the traveling trope worked well in this one. I loved it in Spin the Dawn, but it somehow felt forced here. Also I felt the magic system could have been explained better. It left me feeling very lost and confused at times.
The ending was what I expected, but I'm not mad about it. It's honestly what I was hoping for!

Overall this sequel wasn't everything I was hoping it'd be, but I still loved seeing the characters again and being back in this world!

I really loved Spin The Dawn, published in 2019. There was stunning world building, folk-lore, and characters. This continues in Unravel The Dusk, but this book has more political intrigue, and a personal reckoning for the main character, Maia. All this adds up to a satisfying ending to this duology.

What I Liked:
World-Building:
As with the first book, Unravel The Dusk continues with the folk-lore of this world of demons, gods, and ghosts. We see more of the world of demons, in particular, as Maia is slowly becoming one! This is a long process where a person will slowly lose control as they give in to the temptation to use magic. Maia has many reasons to use magic as she defends her kingdom against the evil warlord Shansen.

But this world is also filled with the textures of fabrics, the aromas of food, the sensations of hot and cold. All of the senses are involved in this book. I particularly like all the references to clothing (Maia is a tailor, after all).

Characters:
I enjoyed Maia's journey as she fights her transformation from human to demon. She is never self-pitying. She's made her bargain and is resigned to her fate. But she also wants to do the best she can during the time she has left.

I also like that Edan, Maia's lover, doesn't try to "save" her. He wants to be with her, even if her time is short. Neither character wastes time with melodramatic sacrifices or ridiculous misunderstandings.

Relationships:
Maia's life is not just defined by her romance with Edan. This book shows her ties to her family, particularly her brothers, and to her friend, Ammi. This shows her full life, something that YA books, often don't do.

Ending:
While I won't go into too much detail (no spoilers!), I will say that there was a great resolution to the story that incorporated love, sacrifice, and folk-lore. It was beautiful and satisfying.

This book was the one I expected from last year, I finished it very quickly, I did not love it as I would have liked, Ethan comes out in the middle of the story, it is my favorite character, I hoped it would come out more, from the beginning begins the action and Maia have changed a lot, I love the darkness that is taking over it because it is a demon.
It does not lose the essence of the description of the author, the three dresses of the smile of the sun, the tears of the moon and the blood of the stars, remain very important in the story, plaster is what fascinates me of the story.
I'm not going to deny that if I got stuck about how the story was going to end, two chapters were missing and there was still the war and the mystery of Maia demon, wow, I must say it was good the end but I think it could be better, I don't know, I didn't feel the mine or love I felt with spin the Dawn, definitely my favorite of this lodge duo is spin the dawn.
These cookies are inspired by the cover and history of the books.

What a fabulous conclusion to this story! There's a lot of moving parts but mostly everything is wrapped up well. This sequel has less awesome tailoring moments that give the story so much unique style, but it may be even better than Spin the Dawn. Claps for a satisfying conclusion.

Again I can’t start this review without first thanking NetGalley and Knopf publishing for providing me with an EARC of Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim. Spin the Dawn, the first book of this duology, was another book that I was able to read an EARC of last summer before it released and had been absolutely blown away by. So naturally I had been counting down the days until Unravel the Dusk's release date of July 7th, 2020. Just as with Spin the Dawn, this book did not disappoint! Definitely one of my favorite reads of 2020.
-So first things first, let's start this review with the books synopsis:

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, andbring lasting peace to her country.

YA fantasy readers will love the sizzling forbidden romance, mystery, and intrigue of UNRAVEL THE DUSK.

Now for some some reasons why I adore this book and believe you will too.

-For one I found the focus of the strong Chinese culture woven into the book to be extremely refreshing, it makes you feel all the more for a young girl who is just trying to do her best in a society that historically treated women as more ornamentary beings, rather than those able to stand up and fight for what they thought was right. I especially love seeing that severe cultural standard absolutely decimated with the character of Lady Sarnai. Known as the Jewel of the North, Lady Sarnai is treated by her father as just a beautiful prize to be traded to whatever ally suits his political ambitions and even though you’re made to dislike Sanai throughout the books I really have to admire a woman who was willing to train her ass off to prove herself one of the most fearsome warriors to exist, rather than just a pretty face.

-Now that brings me to Maia. Maia is the kind of character that young girls should look up to. Throughout this entire second book we watch as she struggles and fights against the demon that is lurking under the surface waiting to consume her entire being and yet all she cares about is keeping safe those she loves. All she wants is to see her country at peace and the ones she loves most safe and happy, even at the cost of her own life and it is absolutely heartbreaking to watch but at the same time so very inspiring.

-And lastly seeing Adan and Maia reunited in this second book warmed even my little black heart. They are the kind of fictional pairing you just can’t help but root for.


This book has everything you could hope for- a country divided coming together to fight for peace from their evil oppressor (while being led by a woman might I add), love, heartache, terrible life and death decisions, and an ending that will leave you so very satisfied with this duology and the journey it took you on you’ll wish is was longer.


Now if you have not read Spin the Dawn I HIGHLY recommend you get on it!

Unravel the Dusk follows Maia Tamarin after the events of Spin the Dawn. I can’t describe much of the plot lest I spoil what happens, but Maia is forced to grapple with darkness and cling to her humanity before she becomes something worse. The demons and enemies she faced in the previous book are ever-present in this book, and with epic battles and heartfelt reunions, I should have loved this book. Sadly, that was not the case.

My issue with this sequel was that I, simply, did not care. About anything. Perhaps if I had read this at another time, I might have loved it, but I didn’t connect to Maia at all and wasn’t too invested to see how her story would end. I also typically enjoy the “descent into darkness” type of character arcs—though I’m biased because I’ll always want the character to actually crave the darkness and not try to fight it—but for some reason, this time it didn’t work for me.

Maia’s internal conflict felt so repetitive to me; there was no growth over the course of the book and it was essentially the same thought process over and over. This was made especially worse with her “narration” of what she thought or knew was going to happen—it was like foreshadowing, except you were told it instead of it being subtly hinted, and it made the plot lose all its suspense.

If you loved Spin the Dawn for its romance, you might be in for a disappointment with this sequel. Edan doesn’t show up until halfway through the book, and even then his connection with Maia didn’t feel as deep as it was in the first book. This might not have been an issue, since I do think the main focus of this book was meant to be Maia rather than her relationships with any of the other characters, but unfortunately it made the ending feel shallow to me.

Aside from Maia, it didn’t really feel like any of the characters went through much development. Edan essentially was there to be a love interest to Maia (and he actually had a setback that would have been so interesting to explore!), so that made both him and the romance feel very stagnant. The other side characters also fell flat. I recognize that this book was meant to mainly focus on Maia, but I still wished that the other characters got some love too. Because if you were like me and didn’t care about Maia, the lack of side character development meant you also didn’t care about any of the other characters.

Finally, my last complaint with this book was its ending. I don’t really know where I stand on it, in terms of what I actually wanted to happen between the two options presented, but I didn’t like either of them. Either she died and stayed dead, or was revived for her happy ending with Edan. I’m annoying and I hate happy endings that are unrealistic, and to me, the revival was unrealistic. But I also hate when main characters are killed off without a good conclusion to their arc, and if she had stayed dead, her arc would have been incomplete. So I’m conflicted! But I know for sure that I wasn’t happy with the conclusion.

So far, it looks like Unravel the Dusk is receiving mostly positive feedback, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, if you will! There’s a chance that my indifference towards this book might be on the book itself, but it’s more likely that this was a personal issue. Elizabeth Lim’s writing is still gorgeous as ever, and of course the Asian-inspired worldbuilding and mythology was beautiful. I also appreciated the themes of female strength and power that shone through with Maia and another character.

But unfortunately, Unravel the Dusk just really did not work for me. Perhaps the worst thing was that I didn’t even feel a particular sadness about it disappointing me—because that was how little I cared. I’ll still be looking forward to Elizabeth Lim’s future books, though, and I’m excited to see what she can cook up next.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children’s Books, and Elizabeth Lim for the opportunity to read Unravel the Dusk in exchange for an honest review.

Spin the Dawn was one of my absolute favorite books of 2019, so of course I was excited for the second and final book in the duology. While not quite as exciting as the first novel, this was still a fantastically satisfying book. For me, I think it was the magic of the contest, the budding romance, and the quest adventure that really just made Spin the Dawn an utterly amazing novel. With Unravel the Dusk, the reader doesn’t even get to see Maia’s romantic love interest, enchanter Edan, until about 50% of the way through the novel, and the intensity has a different frequency in this installment.

While the intensity of the first novel comes from the sewing contest, the romance, and the quest to get what is needed to sew the mythical dresses of Amana, Unravel the Dusk‘s intensity comes from the looming fate of main character Maia and her country, A’landi. The novel starts off with a swift pace, establishing the tensions between Emperor Khanujin and the shansen, who waged war against each other in years past. Maia tries to save the joining marriage between the Emperor and the shansen’s daughter, Sarnai (but she doesn’t love him and tries to escape with her lover).

As Maia shows her true colors, a strike against the shansen brings newfound war to A’landi. With the dresses of Amana, Maia holds back the fact that she is turning into a demon from a curse placed upon her during one of her quests in the first novel.

This novel revolves around two plot-lines: Maia’s quest to try and break the demon’s curse, and the war between her country and the shansen. While still breathtakingly action-packed and exciting, it didn’t make my heart skip a beat the same way the first book seemed to do.

That being said, I still absolutely adore the Asian mythology woven in throughout this book (mostly Chinese, I believe). I also found the end to be quite wholesome, giving me a nice sense of completeness to this story. What a great series!

I love this duology more than enough to have in my personal collection, as well as to have a set for my students to select from my classroom library. Whatever Miss Lim writes next, I’ll definitely give it a read!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed the first book, so I was really looking forward to Unravel the Dusk (although I actually was approved for UtD prior to finishing Spin the Dawn). And this is one of those sequels that impressed me and did fairly well following up on the potential built in book one, something that can be hard to do.

Once again, the cultural influences remain a high point. I loved the Chinese-inspired politics and mythology, and I enjoyed how it was fleshed out further in this one.

I also appreciated the greater focus on Maia’s personal journey, especially as the effects of the demon attack begin manifesting. There was a genuine question of whether she would sacrifice herself for the good of others.

As a result of this personal journey, the romance was less pronounced in this one, which I preferred, because I didn’t absolutely adore the romance between Maia and Edan in book one. But I think, even if you love the couple, you’ll still like the way their pairing manifests in this book. I liked that Edan is also a bit weakened, so he’s on a journey that parallels Maia’s to an extent, although he is characterized as more passive here, amplifying Maia’s strength.

This is a fabulous sequel, and it has me curious to read more from Elizabeth Lim. If you are looking for a culturally rich Chinese-inspired fantasy, I recommend this one.