Review originally posted at Pages Unbound.
I never reviewed the first book in The Blood of Stars duology, Spin the Dawn, because my co-blogger Krysta had already written a review, but we had similar feelings: the book was fun, refreshing, and original but had its flaws. I think going into Unravel the Dusk having measured expectations helped me truly enjoy what, ultimately, was an exciting story about a girl who loves her family and her country and all the sacrifices she is willing to make to save them.
The flaws, I think, are largely the same as in Spin the Dawn. First, there doesn’t seem to be much actual sewing, and though Maia is supposed to be the most talented tailor in the kingdom, she consistently relies on her magical scissors instead of doing her own work. Worse, I have never actually understood the magical scissors. The book generally just says she uses them, whether she’s sewing a tear, making a carpet, painting on fabric, etc. so I have this mental image of Maia just placing the scissors on her fabric and a sewn garment just making itself while she does…nothing. I have no idea if that’s what the author imagines happening.
There’s new magic in Unravel the Dusk, and I think that it was similarly not explained. There’s demon magic and magic from the three dresses Maia made in book one, and somehow they’re different but can work together but might work against one another but…I don’t know. I never understood what was happening, and since most of the book was based around this, I was confused and never really understood what the stakes were for one type of magic being used or not used or what Maia should be trying to do. The books are very atmospheric, but I think Lim can work on the technical explanations of her magic systems in future books.
That said, I really did enjoy the story. It was exciting (sometimes to the point of too much happening?), and it does highlight Maia’s heart and love of her country, which I think are the true driving forces of the narrative. There’s still a romance and there’s still sewing, as in book one, but the real focus is the lengths Maia will go to save the kingdom she loves, even when the actual people in charge seem to have no interest in doing so. I also loved that the solution to the story is not necessarily what readers will be expecting and not necessarily what one might pick as the “ideal” ending.
The book is imaginative and really held together by Maia and her strength (and occasional mistakes and insecurities!), and I can’t wait to see what Elizabeth Lim writes next!