Book Review: Unravel the Dusk

I couldn’t let Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month pass by without doing a book review of Unravel the Dusk , the sequel to Spin the Dawn in the The Blood of Stars duology. I first read Spin the Dawn a few years ago when I was invited to a book launch event in the city with author, Elizabeth Lim. The second book came out in 2020 and I’ve mentioned it on here before but never did a proper review, so no time like the present!

Unravel the Dusk picks up where Spin the Dawn left off. If you haven’t read that yet, you may want to stop reading now to avoid any spoilers to book 1!

The novel starts off with Maia Tamarin back at the palace serving as the imperial tailor. In Spin the Dawn she had impersonated her brother in the competition to become the tailor to the emperor in order to save her family. She was tasked with sewing the dresses of the sun, moon, and stars. She succeeded, but she paid a steep toll. She was touched by the demon, Bandur, at the end of Spin the Dawn and will eventually become a demon herself. Her love, Edan, the king’s former enchanter, is on the run and trying to regain his powers.

The novel follows Maia as she tries to save her kingdom from war, keep herself from turning into a demon, and reunite with Edan. Can she succeed or will she lose herself before she can save her kingdom?

It was so nice to be back in the world of A’Landi and following Maia on her journey. I love that Maia is willing to sacrifice everything including herself and her own happiness to save those she loves. I also love that Edan isn’t there to save her like a damsel in distress, but is always there to support her because he knows how strong she is.

Elizabeth Lim has another duology, Six Crimson Cranes, and the second book – The Dragon’s Promise – doesn’t come out until the end of the summer. I haven’t read Six Crimson Cranes yet, but I think I’m going to wait until book 2 is out so I can read them both.

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