Spin the Dawn
Ratings94
Average rating3.8
DNF - PG 34
Why?
It's not that I dislike it - it's just that I have no interest in it. (Well, that and my mental block with the Mulan aspect being because she wants to be a tailor and women can't do that.)
I've had the book out from my library for something like four-five weeks and this all I've managed to read. (And the lack of interest is what's been plaguing me the most lately with my DNFs.)
Anyway, yeah, what I've read wasn't bad, just unmotivating.
Beautifully written, but the romantasy elements came unexpectedly and almost seemed like part of a different book. My interest dwindled as the romance intensified - while this is entirely a matter of personal taste, it just really didn't seem plausible to me.
A fierce contender for favourite asian-inspired fantasy author, Elizabeth Lim has given me another interesting concept with a worried by inevitably strong female lead.
I enjoyed the first half of this, with the competition, more than I did the latter half, in which I felt the romance side of the story was rushed, though Maia is young I suppose (Edan shouldn't you know better??)
Overall I good read, looking forward to reading the sequel.
What would have happened if Maia would have had her period if she was faking to be a boy cause there is no way she would have avoid that and also what would she do if some girl starting to flirt with her and there is also way no one couldn't tell from a girl voice to a male voice and no one even notice that she had breast? They also say that lying is no good but they keep doing it and I also found Maia annoying always complaining about anything and everything and the pace for this book it was very slow and boring and I thought the narrator who was reading this book was annoying and why did she had to whisper when some parts of the words that came up the narrator had to do that and that annoyed me. And it was a good thing that I didn't waste my money on buying this book thank god for the library and I gave the first book in the series a 1 star.
I quite liked this book, though i did not agree with every pacing but its ok since it worked out
Dit verhaal begon erg sterk, met de introductie van een interessante wereld, fascinerend magiesysteem en een intrigerend plot. Na een tijdje echter krijgt de bloeiende romance een meer prominente plaats in het verhaal, wat naar mijn gevoel ten koste ging van de uitwerking van de plot. Niet dat die romance niet leuk weg las, maar ik vond het toch wel jammer dat die de belangrijkste drijfveer werd van alle ambities en acties van de personages, terwijl het uitgangspunt van het verhaal aantoonde dat het zoveel meer had kunnen zijn. Ik wou bijvoorbeeld dat het dieper in was gegaan op de mythologie, de werking van de magie en de opbouw van het rijk.
Dat gezegd hebbende, het was toch een leuk sprookje en ik gezien het ietwat cliffhanger-einde, zal ik sowieso het vervolg lezen, dat precies toch belooft wat duisterder en diepgaander te zijn.
Was such an amazing adventure. I can't wait to read the second book translated to Spanish.
3.5 - i enjoyed this a lot, but i did find the first part more immersive than the last two
The fact that this book claims to be similar to Mulan seems really far fetched and clickbaity to me at least, it could never come close to the masterpiece that is Mulan and that is flat. But anyways that's just the hardcore Mulan stan in me speaking. Overall, the main idea was interesting, but the wordbuilding really put it off for me. The author was moving way too fast between passages, the descriptions were lacking (for example: one minute they were fighting, the next, morning came and everything seemed to go back to normal???? Don't even get me started on the tasks the protagonist had to accomplish, they all seemed so rushed i couldn't even visualise the scenes in my head) and it was kind of annoying to read. I wish the plot had developed in a totally different manner..
WOW - I am speechless. I had a feeling I was going to like this book, but I ended up LOVING IT SO MUCH! It just got better and better and I couldn't stop reading.
Did anyone say uni projects? Cause all I heard was “I need to finish this book ASAP”.
It's magical, beautiful and everything you could ever want. Maia is a strong and amazing character, Edan is dark and intriguing, the Emperor surprised me and Lady Sarnai... Let's just say I kinda wanna slap her and hug her at the same time.
I absolutely love Elizabeth's writing, it's so beautiful and it flows so smoothly that you don't even realize you read... 400 pages instead of the 40 pages you said you were going to read. THAT'S MY KIND OF BOOK
Now I can't wait to read Unravel the Dusk and see where Maia's journey is going.
there is so much that i liked about this book: the setting, the premise and most of the time i liked the protagonist
but man, the romance did not work for me. generally speaking there were a few moments too many where the guy saved the girl and whatnot, which can be fine, she also got a few moments to shine, but in this case he just came across as way too capable, nothing is an issue for him i guess and look at the weak protagonist who needs to be protected by him!! not going to lie, i hate how often he said that he has to protect her lmao, okay my dude, we get it. (i am curious how that is going to be in the sequel)
and i didnt like their development or their chemistry :') it's a shame because i think i would have liked them a lot as friends, but the romance aspect did not work for me at all. the shift from “ohh idk about this guy” to “omg i think i love him...” happened a bit too quickly for me... i think in this case it would have been more interesting to keep it platonic for this book and only hint at romance, develop them a bit more, give us some tension, etc.
i also think some parts of the story were a bit rushed while other parts dragged on in comparison. i dont know, some of the things that sounded exciting as a concept were solved really quickly and even if they were hard or strenuous to solve, it didn't properly come across like that in the story and how it was paced
if i ignore the setting and some of the plot then this is a very generic YA fantasy novel, which isn't bad of course, but also nothing too special unfortunately. although i am extremely glad to see more and more (YA) fantasy novels with protagonists of colour and settings that aren't your standard “medieval-ish central europe” and since we don't have enough of those yet i will gladly accept all of the novels, even the “generic” ones.
I've seen this book advertised as “Project Runway meets Mulan” but that's unfortunately not very accurate. Yes, teenage tailor Maia disguises herself as a boy to enter a competition to become the next imperial tailor in order to protect her father and brother, but that set up is tossed out almost immediately in favour of standard YA foolishness.
Maia's disguise barely factors into the novel as she's discovered almost right away, and presents as female for the majority of her page time. (Also for some reason she doesn't consider the fact that if she wins the competition she will have to live as a man forever until someone else brings it up??) I really enjoyed the idea of the competition, and the challenges were interesting. However, the competition ends less than halfway into the book. Afterward, Maia is sent on a very long and boring quest with her boring 500-year-old love interest and makes a bunch of stupid decisions.
This is the type of YA insta-love where it is impossible to see what the two characters see in each other and they reiterate how all-encompassing it is over and over. Maia constantly puts the love interest and his wellbeing ahead of herself and her family, which is annoying in a story comparing itself to Mulan.
Every problem that the characters encounter except for the sequel hook is solved almost immediately via wizard magic so the stakes feel very low. There is one singular interesting character and she's hardly in the book.
I really can't recommend this to anyone interested in it for the concept.
3.5 that becomes 4 because of the enjoyment factor.
The book took an unexpected direction and now I have no idea of how it will continue in the next installment. The sequel seems promising, fingers crossed!
Project Runway meets Mulan is kinda accurate, but at the same time, not really.
“Lady Sarnai's damned dresses. They were the reasons everything had gone wrong.”
This is now one of my favourite books. I LOVED this with all my heart. What a wonderful, wonderful story. It reminded my a little of Tamora Pierce's books so I was thrilled when I finally noticed that Tamora has a quote on the front of the book. I honestly can't wait until the next book comes out so I can go back into this world. I never wanted to leave it.
I confess it was a bit of a slow starter for me. Initial thought: ok so it's Mulan except it's about making clothes? I'm so happy I stuck with it because I was WRONG. A tense royal competition unfolds into this beautiful and adventurous fantasy. I happen to love myths and fairy tales, and Spin the Dawn is a wonderful addition to those ancient stories. The writing style and thematic material is very reminiscent of those classic fairy tales, so what I initially perceived to be somewhat stiff writing revealed itself to be intentional and powerful. Perfect for fans of Tamora Pierce. I will definitely be reading the rest of the trilogy!