Spin the Dawn was a pleasant surprise, as I wasn’t that thrilled about it after reading the summary on Goodreads. I guess the lesson is don’t judge a book by its blurb?

The plot is pretty unique - a tailor/seamstress hero and her magic scissors go on a journey to provide for her loved ones. It sounds like an old fairy tale, which added a cool dimension to the book. There is a bit of a love story, but it’s more of an accompaniment to the main plot rather than the focus. And thankfully, it wasn’t the dreaded insta-love so prevalent in YA.

Lim has created a very detailed world, providing a solid base for the books to come in this series. The main characters (Maia and Edan) were very solid and well constructed, but unfortunately the rest of them were a bit flat. The princess whom Maia was creating dresses for spends the entire story in a miserable state, but we don’t get to really explore her situation. Expanding her role would have added a bit of intrigue, and would have given some depth to the tailoring competition Maia was a part of.

Overall, Spin the Dawn is a solid start to a new series. If you enjoy fantasy I highly recommend it.