Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

Ioanna Lee 

October 4, 2019

Rating: ★★★★☆

Hello readers! While it did seem like I was going to do a continuation review of my last post, (I was going to write a review on the sequel of the book I wrote about in my first blog- The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants by Ann Brashares) I decided not to. I finished the sequel before I even started writing the blog post for the first book. After long weeks have passed, I just don’t think I can remember anything about the book right now, and I really don't want to read or research it again. Because of this, I have decided to write my review on a different book I recently read (and enjoyed much more)- Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim. Please forgive me for this long rant (I really hope I did not spoil it) and check out Elizabeth Lim's novel- Spin the Dawn ASAP!

Maia Tamarin is a girl with aspirations to be the greatest tailor in the land, but because she was born in a patriarchal world she is forced to hide her work behind the facade of her father’s shop. After her family is torn apart by war and her father’s health and quality of work is rapidly deteriorating, all she can hope for is to give up on her talent and marry the nasty baker’s son to save her family and secure her future. 

However, when her father, a renowned tailor in his own right is summoned by the royal court, Maia decides to pull the Mulan (lol get it?) and pose as her wounded brother to compete in her father’s place. As a parting gift, her father gives her a mysterious pair of scissors that have been in her family for generations. Aware that the penalty of death is imposed for her actions, she’s determined to overcome the hardships to become the best tailor. As she is one of twelve tailors eyeing the coveted position, she becomes caught up in the schemes tailors who are willing to use any method to win. She ends up being saved by the royal court magician Edan, who has seen through her disguise. His motives, however, are unclear and made her job much more difficult due to the new, unwanted attention. 

The final challenge is the most difficult: crafting three dresses for the king’s bride-to-be using the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of the stars. Her journey will set her on a path that she never imagined, to achieve the title of her dreams. Will she survive the cutthroat competition, put enough faith in magic to use the ol’ scissors, and be able to trust the magician who claims he can help?

There are many things I love about the book. The first is the prologue. When I first read it, I was vaguely confused at what was happening and wondered why it felt so depressed and hopeless. While it felt that way, it seemed to be confusing on purpose, as I became determined to read the book and figure out what the prologue was hinting at. After finishing the story, I went back to the beginning, and I was overjoyed at how I could understand the subtle hints that the author dropped in the prologue, realizing that the narrator was speaking about her current situation at the end of the book. After witnessing Maia’s story, I could feel her emotions and see where she was coming from with her dramatic words. 

Part Mulan, part fairy tale, and part Project Runway (though I have never actually watched it before, it was on the back cover of the book so I looked it up and decided it worked), this adventure kept me on my toes until I had finished the whole thing. Almost every time I thought I knew the outcome, I was wrong. This was true, especially at the end which put me in a state of shock until I came to and bawled on the inside like a baby. No spoilers though! I do think, however, that it got a bit cliche at some points, but the fascinating mythology made up for it. For example, the romance is pretty typical but the stories behind Edan, Maia’s scissors, and the three dresses are very enchanting.

I think one of my favorite aspects of this book was the competitive element of it. I loved the Hunger Games and the fourth book in the Harry Potter series, The Goblet of Fire, due to its competition-based plot. Sadly, about halfway through the story, Maia ends up going on a quest and the tone of the story significantly changes. I think the two elements could have been fleshed out more and broken into two different books to make it more enjoyable. Also, the romance was a bit creepy, as the guy was really, really, really old and he was in love with a teenage girl. Especially since he looked young (who knows what else he is hiding under that perfect face?). Does looking young mean you also act young? Because he certainly does not act like an old grandpa who is almost a thousand years old with a pretty face. If I was Maia, I would have gotten the heck outta there. You have to admit, this is just wrong. These were my reasons for giving it 4 stars and not 5. Other than these few things, it really was an entertaining book!

P.S. As a person who loves choosing books by their covers (I know, its bad), I have to point out how much I loved the cover. Bravo, cover artist! It wasn’t flashy and fake-looking like many YA books I know, but very pretty and eye-catching at the same time. The only problem I had with it were THE SCISSORS. THEY LOOK LIKE THOSE ALL-PLASTIC SCISSORS FOR KIDS AND DO NOT SERVE JUSTICE FOR THE BEAUTIFUL MAGICAL SCISSORS IN THE BOOK.