In Spin the Dawn, there is a good development of the romantic relationship and it’s an absolutely crucial part of the plot. Maybe I’m just too used to slow burn romance in book series where there is no “I love you” until at least the end of the first book, but sometimes until book 2 or 3. I must say first that I loved that romance, but I had to force myself to believe it.

My other problem with the story was the romance. It’s just pushed the limits of my suspended disbelief. I know it’s intentional, but I’m not a fan of this aspect. My only critique on characters would be that sometimes I found that Eden is too much of a boy for a man of his age. Eden, the lord enchanter, is complex, mysterious, yet undeniably adorable. She is a good girl, yet she must challenge her own judgement of good vs bad, which creates an interesting dynamic. Maya is a great, strong female lead without losing her feminine side, which is especially hard in a story where she actually pretends to be a man. If anything, there could have been a little more. Not to mention, Elizabeth Lim did that without ever making the reader feel that there’s an infodump. Magical scissors, a girl who pretends to be a boy for her family, a thief that stole from the gods, an enchanter bound by oath, a complex history and countries on the brink of war: they all come together in a perfectly woven mysterious world. I love myths and stories based on mythology, and Spin the Dawn mixes existing myths with its own unique world perfectly.

The worldbuilding in Spin the Dawn is absolutely amazing. Each part has its own unique story line that builds on everything that happened before. It comprises three parts: The Challenge, The Journey and The Oath. Spin the Dawn is a lot more than a simple competition story, though.

With the help of her family’s magical scissors, she overcomes impossible odds and starts sawing dresses worthy of a goddess. While the competitors turn the challenges into a dangerous game, Maya finds an unexpected ally in the emperor’s lord enchanter. But when she arrives at the palace, it turns out that to win the job, she must impress the emperor’s reluctant bride who would do anything to delay the wedding. She competes to become the imperial tailor and save her family from starvation. In Spin the Dawn, Maya, the only daughter of a tailor, dresses up as her brother to undertake a series of challenges.

Spin the dawn book 3