Title : Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars #1)
Author : Elizabeth Lim
Demographic : Young Adult
Genre : Fantasy, Retellings, Romance
When Maia has to pretend to be her brother to save her family, is it worth the risk against the emperor?
Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she'll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There's just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.
Maia's task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise. And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor's reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.
The book starts off with Maia working at her father's tailor shop, after the news of the war happening within her country of A'landi. The emperor has decided peace by marrying his enemy's daughter and gifting her with the opportunity of hiring a new tailor to embroider her wedding dress. Maia's father is physically unable to go, and her brother, not much a tailor himself, cannot go. So she decides to take her brother's place and competes against others for the chance to be the soon to be the Emperor's tailor. As the competition proceeds, she is given more tasks and has to adventure out of the imperial palace to compete with the new bride's demands. Maia has a certain enchanter to help her along the way, which complicates more than just her position.
Maia is such a headstrong and determined woman, who wants honor for her family and to show off the skills that are similar or better than any man. I admired her will to go and compete with these men, and how she progressed as a character. She wanted more for her family as the war wore her father and brother down, but she wanted to make sure they can be happy as well. She isn's necessarily delicate in the beginning but just someone trying to find her place among this world, where a young woman can't do much. Maia has a talent for embroidery and her skills makes her a Master tailor, but since that wasn't possible, she wanted to show the world what she could do.
I do have to point out that I didn't think this book was going into the direction it would take, yes the competition is still the main point of the story, but it becomes more intense once her feelings for someone is thrown in and they both are fighting to be together while she has to embark on these tasks. The fact she plays off as a boy doesn't take much affect in that regard and I'm I glad it didn't as I shipped these two characters from the get go. So on to him . .
The love interest. Oh man, he wasn't someone I initially thought I was going to love but he grew on me so quick. He's this mischievous man, who loves to tease Maia on the simplest of things, but she gets such a rile out of it. He's the magical part of the story as I didn't think it was going to have as much romance as it did. He's part of an oath that is practically unbreakable and Maia wants to save him as much he wants to save her. It's heroic on both their parts and unbelievable sad that they couldn't get their happy ending together. . . yet.
There were some important side characters to note. Like her Highness Lady Sarnia, who is to marry the emperor. She's a bit spiteful of her position and uses it to prolong her eventual marriage to him, but we can see through Maia's eyes that she pities her arrangement. The emperor is still a young man himself and he uses Edan to his advantage. There were some other characters involved but I feel like these two are the most important, and I don't want to reveal more without giving alot of spoilers.
I loved the world building. This fictional country of A'landi is vastly amazing with each regions having their own food and customs, and each new place Maia traveled was so very detailed. I love Lim's writing, by the first two chapters I was already absorbed into this intricate world where this young woman has to do so much for herself and her family. Obviously, some base of it has parts of Mulan in it but Lim crafts this story to its' own original story, I hardly thought it was a retelling besides the fact that she dresses as a boy. The magic she inserts into the story is pretty cool, and she also adds some ghosts and demons in there as well. It made the adventure all the more thrilling.
Rating : 5+ Stars
This book was everything I wanted but didn't know I needed. It had so much challenge for Maia to endure but she was a strong, thoughtful, and selfless heroine I haven't read in awhile. I want more books like this because I couldn't get enough of it and that sequel is waiting for me to read soon.
Romance Rating : 5+
They were so cute together, I couldn't get enough of their idle chatter or his shameless flirting. The romance was somewhat unexpected but it didn't change how they were as characters because of how stronger they wanted to be, and how they wanted to do the right thing to actually be together.
Recommended : Hell Yes!
I loved this book, it was so romantic and adventurous! I don't know what to say, as it was so different from what I imagined. If you love this one, make sure to pick up the sequel, as that is what I'll be grabbing next.
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