From the New York Times bestselling author of Six Crimson Cranes comes a fantasy filled with courtly intrigue, deceitful demons, and breathtaking gowns ... the stakes are higher than ever in this thrilling sequel to Spin the Dawn!
Maia Tamarin's journey to sew the dresses of the sun, the moon, and the stars has taken a grievous toll. She returns to a kingdom on the brink of war. Edan, the boy she loves, is gone--perhaps forever--and no sooner does she set foot in the Autumn Palace than she is forced to don the dress of the sun and assume the place of the emperor's bride-to-be to keep the peace. When the emperor's rivals learn of her deception, there is hell to pay, but the war raging around Maia is nothing compared to the battle within.
Ever since she was touched by the demon Bandur, she has been changing . . . glancing in the mirror to see her own eyes glowing red; losing control of her magic, her body, her mind. It's only a matter of time before Maia loses herself completely, and in the meantime she will stop at nothing to find Edan, protect her family, and bring lasting peace to her country.
I hate it when a sequel falls flat. I LOVED the first book so much but this one just didn’t do it for me. I don’t know if it was a mood thing or what but I just didn’t care about anything that was happening. Maia’s struggles in this book were the exact same the whole way through. There was no character development and at the end everything was wrapped up so easily. (And quickly?) I love it when a character is struggling with that dark side but that struggle never changed. It never got worse so that I really felt for her and there was never much of a sacrifice.
I also kinda hated that this was mostly a solo adventure for Maia. We hardly saw any other characters and they’re what I loved from the first book. Eden only shows up around half way and he literally does nothing except be a love interest which was REALLY disappointing.
I found the plot super rushed and things like the big battle at the end weren’t as long as the boring travel stuff in the middle. There was a battle at the beginning of the book that lasted 2 pages and suddenly we were off to wherever to do another big thing but that didn’t last long either. Why was the travel soooo long but the actual plot points so short? I was never satisfied. Shouldn’t the final battle be longish and exciting? I felt none of that while reading and that’s what disappointed me so much. I was reading just to be finished instead of enjoyment. The conclusion was too perfect but also didn’t really add anything to the story since Maia’s character had no development. Maybe my expectations were too high after the first book.
Also just a random pet peeve but this magic system made no sense. It was unlimited half the time and the other half Maia had none at all. It was confusing.
To end on a positive note, I really do love Elizabeth’s writing style. It’s very pretty without being too flowery which is perfect for me. I’m hoping we see more from her!
