Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars, #1) in Turning Pages by Penguin Books NZ

Jun 17, 2019 CW ✨ rated it really liked it

My full review is now up on my blog, The Quiet Pond.

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I... I'm amazed. This romantic-fantasy blew my expectations out of the water, and this was such a splendid and sweeping read.

- Follows Maia, the daughter of a tailor who disguises herself as her brother to compete to become the Emperor's court tailor. To save her life and ensure peace in her kingdom, she is then given a test to make three dresses to symbolise the goddess Amana's children: the sun, the moon, and the stars.
- Though this book sou ...more

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Nov 13, 2019 Anna (Paper Hearts) rated it did not like it

Shelves: listenedtoaudiobook

DNF at 81%

First part was a fun, light read. I enjoyed how very Project Runway esque it was even if predictable.

My main gripe here was with the second half of this book. Im not sure if I just didnt realise that more things would happen besides rhe sewing competition (I really thought that was the premise) but I was surprised at how quickly it wrapped up and a whole new subplot came up that it felt like a second book altogether.

The second half was a real struggle because in this part the romance r ...more

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Sep 14, 2019 Annie rated it liked it

3.5

this was a pretty book. I liked the second part the most. The first part was a bit to slow and I thought the ending was horrible and just ... way too sudden. the magic system was weak and i think if it was stronger it could have made the story way better. I liked edan, even though i thought i wouldn't. Not sure if i will read the next book ...more

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May 29, 2021 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, audiobook

Read via audio. I wasn't sure if I was going to find the voice actor's voice annoying to begin with as it has a soft and sweet aspect to it, but it grew on me pretty quickly and I stopped noticing it and became engrossed in the story.

So the prologue to this book almost put me off reading it cos it was just such a blatant example of obsessive love, plus I'm just not a massive fan of when they hint at the ending at the start, it annoys me, like can't you just get on with telling the story and trus ...more

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Nov 13, 2019 Anjali (This Splendid Shambles) rated it really liked it

When the description reads ‘Project Runway meets Mulan’ then you know you’re in for a treat. Mulan is one of my favourite Disney movies (up there with The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast), Project Runway is a brilliant show, and I’ve just taken up sewing again; what a great start to a novel already.

I thoroughly enjoyed Spin the Dawn. The characters of Maia and Edan were excellent, and I felt like the timeline of them getting together was long enough that it wasn’t insta-love like in so many Y ...more

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Nov 09, 2019 Grace Hughson rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

Very interesting story concept but feel that the execution was a bit lacking. The timeline felt jagged, like we were skipping information which the reader was supposed to fill in. I would have love a little more detail in places, in particular the events of the quests first two tasks.

There would be times when two characters were described as being on opposite sides of the room but in the next sentence they were touching each other. Another instance which annoyed me was when the two main charact ...more

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