Thumbs up for Spin the Dawn and Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim. Young adult fantasy.
Let me start by saying that I don’t typically like young adult books, and I instantly put down novels in first person. Nevertheless, I picked up this duology because it was billed as “Project Runway meets Mulan,” and that is my ill-spent youth in a nutshell. Here’s what kept me reading: 1. Maia is already a world-class tailor by the time the story begins, so there’s no (to me, boring) “training section.” She might be only nineteen or so, but she’s an adult in the eyes of her society and she acts like it. 2. The writing. It’s evocative and concrete and there was never an off note. 3. The setting. It was clearly inspired by the Silk Road, but without being a straight-up knockoff of any one culture. 4. No love triangle! I’m actually kind of neutral toward the romance in this duology, overall – one of my many issues with first person is that I don’t like seeing only one side of a relationship. However, I didn’t dislike it, either, and there were a lot of other things going on that kept my attention. 5. Without being spoilery, things go satisfyingly sideways at the end of the first book. It wouldn’t be out of character for me to say “oh, that was good” and then never read the second book, but in this case I was glad I had it lined up. I would unhesitatingly recommend these to YA readers, or to readers of adult fantasy who, like me, are attracted by the tagline.
“A tailor’s worth is not measured by his fame, but by the happiness he brings,” Mama said, seeing how disappointed Baba’s words made me. “You will hold the seams of our family together, Maia. No other tailor in the world can do that.”
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