review on the blog later today (will update when posted)

I remember when the book first came out it was being compared and sold as a Mulan retelling meets Project Runway. I am not familiar with the later, but after a quick search, I understand why it can be similar, but the Mulan comparison can be a bit missleading. I admit that part was what got me intrigued, but it is NOT a Mulan retelling, and I want to stress that because I have seen some people disappointed by that. Maia takes her father's place in the competition, and has to pretend to be a man after that, but do not think it follows the same storyline as Mulan. So it is that initial part and conflict that is taken from it, but Spin the Dawn is so much more.

The book had two very different and clear storylines, the first half focuses on the competition and in the second half we get a quest, and they are both enjoyable, yet very different, and I would have love to see both parts expanded, especially the competition. I was surprised how much the synopsis reveals about that.

The first part of the book let us see and understand Maia's character perfectly, from every decision she took to her family story. We were introduced to the world and how everything worked in a way that did not feel overwhelming or confusing.

I had read some critiques about the romance in this book, saying it was too rushed, or even insta-lovey, but it did not feel like that to me. We spend a lot of time with our main characters. and they as well are together a lot. The second half of the book, however, the quest, did feel a bit like that, and that is because for such a difficult and never-before-done task, we knew how to do everything, there were no doubts or confussion about how to go about things and that was too convenient. However, that did not pick up the pace, on the contrary, it slowed down compared to the first part. That is another reason why I think having these two parts expanded, even broken down in two different books, would have been beneficial, because A LOT happens.

For a book with magic, it does not rely that much on it. It does appear, and it is quite important, especially in the second half, but it is quite centered during the first part, which makes it easier to get into and understand. Magic features more prominently later on, when we are more familiar with the world.

I am surprised how much I enjoyed this book, especially since I had been put it off for a long time, but I am so glad I started the year with it. It is only a duology, so you bet I'll read book 2, even if we didn't end book 1 with so many open doors and questions. And, of course, I would love to continue with Six Crimson Cranes after that, another duology set in the same world as this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim.
First of all, I am very sorry it has taken so long for me to get around to reading this book. I am making my way through those I haven't gotten to yet, and picking up this one made my jaw drop that I hadn't read it at the first possible moment.

Spin the Dawn was like Aladdin, Project Runway, and Mulan all in one. I was instantly sucked in by the tailor competition, and stayed sucked in throughout.

I am picking up book two immediately, and still kicking myself for letting this sit on the shelf for so long. It will for sure have it's place in my favourites of 2023.

I am here for all the court drama and magic. Lim knows her fantasy and how to grip the reader. I am quite impressed with her ability to tell a story. The competition elements were the best in my opinion.

Really enjoyed this book. The world building was amazing, can’t wait to read other books by Elizabeth Lim.

Having just finished reading both these incredible books in Lim's breathtaking duology... I am craving even more of her works!
What an absolutely captivating cast of characters she weaves. The details involved in this fantasy, give it such such power in visualising the world she has built.
Maia the main character is fierce yet lovable. She's an easy character to root for from the get go.
I adored the use of the Sun, Moon & Stars... what a delightful stunning adventure this duo was.

3.5 stars
Never did I think I'd enjoy reading about a tailoring contest more than an exploratory quest-focused fantasy... yet here we are.
I LOVED the first half of this. The court drama and the magic of the competition were such a joy to read, and I was completely captivated. Whilst I did enjoy the shift to a quest storyline, it didn't quite have the same sparkle as the first half, and I didn't enjoy how it became more romance-focused.

Nevertheless, it's a lovely concept and an enjoyable read. I picked the second book up straight away after finishing!

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Maia dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, showing the world her passion and creations - but girls aren't allowed to tailor. In fact, the only thing girls are really good for on the fringes of the Spice Road are marrying off. When a summons from the royal court calls men to compete to be the royal tailor, Maia seizes her chance and enters disguised as a boy. But the tasks put before the competitors seem impossible, and magical. Can Maia rise to the challenge?

The main feeling I took away from this story is that I wanted it to go deeper and darker. Althought the competition aspects were interesting and light-hearted, I thought it really missed an opportunity to up the stakes and tension. It's used more as a plot set up for the second half of the book, to essentially move Maia from one location to another, in her search for dress materials. In this sense it's very disjointed, as the competition is left to the wayside rather than being fleshed out and a larger part of the story and feels a bit pointless. In terms of the second half, adventure quest type aspect of the story,Maia seems to stumble through each situation rather too easily and conveniently for me. I wanted more conflict.

I also really wasn't a fan of the romance. What starts as a decent forbidden romance with a healthy dose of sexual tension becomes way too sappy and unrealistic as the story progresses, to the point where it takes over the plot. I don't mind a hint of romance in stories, but this felt very YA, very over the top and a bit too much all round for me. The characters separately are ok, nothing special, with that dash of YA 'not like other girls' elements that I don't necessarily dislike, but feels a bit tired at this point.

The writing is nice, and I thought the world building and magic felt very grounded in fairy tales and mythology and as such one of the better aspects of the story. However again it could have down with being a bit bigger, grander and fleshed out more to really feel like Maia is on this epic journey. It almost reads like fantasy lite.

Some interesting aspects, I liked the competition elements in particular, but this needed to be bigger in every respect for me. Bigger world, bigger risks and bigger plot.

I really enjoyed Spin the Dawn, it wasn't quite the story I was expecting, probably because the synopsis only covers the very first events of the novel, however it was still a great read. I found the characters to be very likeable and although there were definitely some very predictable elements to the story I don't think this took away from the overall enjoyment. I'm excited to find out the events of the sequel and how the author will wrap up this tale.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! Elizabeth Lim is a favourite writer of mine, and I just love all of her books!! I would recommend this to anyone!!

Spin the Dawn was everything I thought it would be and more! Usually with retelling type book I either love or hate them with no in between. Thankfully this was the former!

I loved the authors writing style, it was so easy to read and it kept me engaged the entire time. Lim has created a truly magical world that wonderfully blends magic, romance, family and adventure!

It was a pleasure to read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

trigger warning
<spoiler> violence, grief, trauma, slavery </spoiler>

When her invalid father gets summoned by the emperor, a young woman disguises herself as her brother - who also is an invalid since he came back from the war - and takes his place in a competition to find the next imperial tailor.

This starts out as Mulan, then feels for a bit like a reality tv competition only in a historical-inspired setting, and concludes with an epic quest based on mythology.
I have no clue if this is historical fiction and I am just unable to recognize names of tribes I never heard about or if this is entirely in a fictional universe, with some myths sounding like something I heard about. Something that sounds a lot like Obon is mentioned, for example.
Also I am really tired today but want to read on, so I had to decide between either a rambly review or reading the second book before writing anything and then having trouble to say what happened in which book. I think you can guess what my choice was.

I liked that this is no chosen one narrative. Maia has learned how to sow because she's from a sewist's family. In theory, everyone in the family learned the craft to some degree, the problem is more that constant war-mongering has decimated the population and everybody feels it.
Maia always <i>wanted</i> to become the best tailor in the country and sew for his imperial majesty, but always thought it would remain a daydream, one of those everybody has.
She happened to come into this story by chance, and then was threatened to play nice or else.

I am astonished as to how much plot fit into this novel with not-so-many pages, if we're speaking in fantasy terms. The pacing was quick, the characters three dimensional, the world building feels very real. I appreciate that our heroine has a skillset that is rather unusual for YA fantasy novels but so very relevant for life.
Not only do I plan on reading on, I am very happy about the fact that I have book two also as an arc, and that I finally decided to read all those long overdue books before they become even more overdue.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

Spin the Dawn promises Mulan + Project Runway, and the first part of the book definitely delivers on that. Unfortunately, once the plot shifts into a magical items quest with a heavy dose of romance, it loses me a bit. I wouldn't mind the quest plotline, or for that matter the romance (I love a good fantasy love story), but the Project Runway section is simply stronger, like it wasn't long enough and the entire second half was stuck on just to make a full-length novel.

The writing is rather bland, and it's all sort of vaguely pretty but just not very compelling. I don't care much about Maia, or at all about Edan (they're...fine! They're just not very interesting), and get frustratingly little real texture from the world they live in. Impossible quests are accomplished and mystical secrets revealed with remarkable ease (people are so keen to tell Maia exactly what she needs to know, right when she needs it! Never before or too late!). Just a little lackluster, on the whole. Spin the Dawn is meant to be a sweeping romantic fantasy, but it failed to sweep me away.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really like the writing style. Very easy to read. I often find it difficuot to focus while reading, even when I like a book.

Sadly there wasn't much else I liked about it. Didn't care about any of the characters, or the story or anything.

I though Maia and Edan were boring, and found the other characters to be even more boring.

The romance wasn't convincing to me at all, though I actually thought it would be a bigger part of the story.

Thought it would be at least a little bit more similar Mulan, but this is just very loosely based on the movies ... or is it maybe based on the story the Disney movies are based on? If they are based on something, which they probably are.

Anyways, what I love about the Disney movies (Mulan, the music, Mushu, other characters) wasn't really part of this book.

I did like that Maya is supposed to be a strong character without being physically strong, even though I personally didn't necessarily find her to be either weak or strong.

The book got this feeling that no matter what bad things happen, everything will be fine in the end, which is one of the reasons I found it so boring.

Such a wonderful and fresh retelling! I really found this story to be engaging and faced paced YA fantasy. This was very fun.

Absolutely loved this, it’s just so perfect . The world building is amazing, the story superb with marked changes in tone as it goes on and those final chapters , oh the tears in my eyes in , but at least there is another book. I’m jumping into that asap

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Wow! Just wow. How could I not love this!

We’ve got some cross dressing, some bisexual energy going on, some enemies to lovers and forced proximity. Okay not exactly enemies to lovers but likeeee kind of? We’ve got a competition and some lovely fighting the patriarchy Hua Mulan style! I will never not love the dressing as a boy and confusing men into realising they’re bisexual vibe. Also confusing women into realising they’re bisexual too.

Anyways we have a great story with lots of twists and turns, lyrical prose, and an enjoyable romance which doesn’t take complete centre stage. Maya also grows up so much during her quest, and learns a lot about herself. I enjoyed the romance and the ladyhawk vibes that happened, and how the story felt like being inside a fairytale or folktale from how it is told. I cannot wait to read book two immediately.

A beautiful and stunning book, that I really enjoyed. I'm sure that this book will be enjoyed by the YA readers.

So I started reading this book and I really enjoyed it, premise, characters, acting, but I am reading many books parallely, so I didn't finish this fast enough and the next time I opened the file, it did not work any longer and I also couldn't download it from Goodreads again. Gonna buy the book now, so that's praise, right?

This was a fun and light hearted fantasy weaving inspiration from East Asia and using those beloved tropes we know and love. It was very difficult to stop reading at times because it was quite honestly the only light read I had on my currently reading list 🥲

While the plot is predictable, it was still enjoyable and I'd recommend it for fans of fantasy, the done-with-everything mc and her cocky, arrogant love interest, Mulan, fashion/clothes and a fast paced book.

This would be perfect for new YA readers however there is an implied s*x scene (it fades to black) just so readers are aware.

Aside from that, the depiction of family, loss, grief and love was incredibly harrowing to read about and Maia will definitely be a new fan favourite 💜

4.5 stars

This book was so good! I've been in a bit of a slump lately and Spin the Dawn was exactly what I needed. It's a fun and light fantasy with a nice plot and a cute romance.

The "Project Runway meets Mulan" promo definitely interested me and it did not disappoint.
Maia Tamarin is a tailor who decides to take on her brother's identity to enter a contest to become the emperor's new tailor. She's embarked in a series of tests and challenges to determine who's tailor is the best. But she did not expect how far these challenges would take her, and what they would cost her.
The story was captivating and so fun to read, you go from challenges to challenges, always wondering what will come next. And the characters were so lovely, the relationship between Maia and Edan was so obvious but so cute to read. I was just grinning every time they interacted. And Lim had the wonderful idea to include the "fake marriage" trope which is one of the best romance trope ever.

After loving Spin the Dawn, I started reading Unravel the Dusk right away and I'm excited to see how this second book will go!