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jesenice's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
sofia_santana's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
michellechien930's review against another edition
2.0
First of all, the cover of "Spin the Dawn" is absolutely gorgeous! It perfectly encapsulates what this novel is supposed to be: a brave seamstress who uses her nifty sewing skills to impress the emperor. I really loved the premise of this novel (mostly because I absolutely adore period dramas), but somewhat found it lackluster due to its world building. I understand that it was not set in a particular historical Chinese period, but felt that it lacked a richness to Chinese culture. It could be set in any country, I suppose, but it's built without a true cultural colorfulness. I liked the background with the war and the main character's family, but other plot lines were somewhat easy to guess. The length of the book was also quite concerning, I felt that the competition lasted for quite a long time, and it became tedious when the main character had to venture out of the palace for kitsch materials like the sun and moon. The verdict is I really liked the premise; the actual story not too much.
cebege's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
bluejaybooks's review against another edition
4.0
I found this gorgeous . . . like the cover :) I had a few quibbles about some of the tropes used, but, overall, this was stunning.
rereader33's review against another edition
1.0
Stopped at 163 pages.
Guys, nothing makes me more upset than to say that I'm dropping this book. I was looking forward to it for so long and was really enjoying it, but I can't fathom finishing it at this point. To make this easier on myself, I'm only going to rant about the two biggest issues I had with this and leave all my other petty hang-ups out. Okay? Okay.
1. HOLY FUCKING SHIT, I FUCKING HATE EDAN! I am so DAMN tired of the "smarmy, snarky, smirking asshole" trope, please just FUCKING STOP. While I was suffering through reading his interactions with Maia, I kept thinking, "wow, I fucking hate this character, but who does he remind me of?" It took me a few minutes to realize that he's almost EXACTLY like Ferid Bathory from Seraph of the End. For those of you who don't know, Seraph of the End is a manga series that pits human against vampires (for the most part) and EASILY the most obnoxious character in the WHOLE SERIES is a vampire named Ferid Bathory. Why is he so obnoxious? Because he's literally just a snarky, smarmy, smirking asshole. That's his ENTIRE FUCKING CHARACTER. And guess what? That is predominantly Edan's character until about page 150 where he becomes the "caring, supporting savior" to Maia. Holy fuck, can we just fucking stop with characters like him? Especially if you can't do it well? Also, if characters like him are going to be staple love interests in YA, I might bail out now while I'm ahead. I don't hate the trope, but it is waaaaay past overused at this point and I frankly have no time with it. I kid you not, you have no idea how quickly I considered dropping this series after he was introduced. I only pushed for as long I did out of curiosity towards the story, but after he became Maia's "savior" I was done. Speaking of Maia...
2. I'm sorry, Maia is not a strong female character and her attempts to disguise herself were weak at best and laughable at worse. She was way too easily riled and her interactions with Edan were became almost playful towards the end, which made me think, "um, hello? Aren't we supposed to be concealing our identity because if we're found out we could be KILLED?!" Oh, but that's apparently not as important as bantering with our love interest. For fuck's sake, why does she even need a love interest?! Honestly, I felt the story and characters (as one dimensional as they were) carried the story well enough without a love interest. On top of that, when she commented on how lovely she thought Lady Sarnai was, I was thinking the story would pair her with Lady Sarnai. Sadly, the story had to pair her with Lord Smarmy Smirks A Lot and I quickly lost interest. Bare in mind, I have nothing against romance in YA, just terrible ones and I absolutely HATE Maia and Edan. And I don't want to hear, "oh, but their relationship develops over the course of the story" because I DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK. I was willing to excuse Maia's terrible male impersonation because I still liked her character, but her character started faltering once Edan showed up. Not to mention she barely accomplishes anything on her own and has to depend on Edan or Longhai to give her hints or actual help to accomplish her goals. Fuck, I am so done with pseudo strong female characters. Either try harder or don't bother in the first place.
*deep exhale* Okay, I'm done ranting. I hate how much I grew to resent this book because I really had high hopes for it. Sadly, it let me down when it promised so much. Would I recommend this book? Honestly, not really. If you want to give it a try, go for it, but I would personally look elsewhere.
Guys, nothing makes me more upset than to say that I'm dropping this book. I was looking forward to it for so long and was really enjoying it, but I can't fathom finishing it at this point. To make this easier on myself, I'm only going to rant about the two biggest issues I had with this and leave all my other petty hang-ups out. Okay? Okay.
1. HOLY FUCKING SHIT, I FUCKING HATE EDAN! I am so DAMN tired of the "smarmy, snarky, smirking asshole" trope, please just FUCKING STOP. While I was suffering through reading his interactions with Maia, I kept thinking, "wow, I fucking hate this character, but who does he remind me of?" It took me a few minutes to realize that he's almost EXACTLY like Ferid Bathory from Seraph of the End. For those of you who don't know, Seraph of the End is a manga series that pits human against vampires (for the most part) and EASILY the most obnoxious character in the WHOLE SERIES is a vampire named Ferid Bathory. Why is he so obnoxious? Because he's literally just a snarky, smarmy, smirking asshole. That's his ENTIRE FUCKING CHARACTER. And guess what? That is predominantly Edan's character until about page 150 where he becomes the "caring, supporting savior" to Maia. Holy fuck, can we just fucking stop with characters like him? Especially if you can't do it well? Also, if characters like him are going to be staple love interests in YA, I might bail out now while I'm ahead. I don't hate the trope, but it is waaaaay past overused at this point and I frankly have no time with it. I kid you not, you have no idea how quickly I considered dropping this series after he was introduced. I only pushed for as long I did out of curiosity towards the story, but after he became Maia's "savior" I was done. Speaking of Maia...
2. I'm sorry, Maia is not a strong female character and her attempts to disguise herself were weak at best and laughable at worse. She was way too easily riled and her interactions with Edan were became almost playful towards the end, which made me think, "um, hello? Aren't we supposed to be concealing our identity because if we're found out we could be KILLED?!" Oh, but that's apparently not as important as bantering with our love interest. For fuck's sake, why does she even need a love interest?! Honestly, I felt the story and characters (as one dimensional as they were) carried the story well enough without a love interest. On top of that, when she commented on how lovely she thought Lady Sarnai was, I was thinking the story would pair her with Lady Sarnai. Sadly, the story had to pair her with Lord Smarmy Smirks A Lot and I quickly lost interest. Bare in mind, I have nothing against romance in YA, just terrible ones and I absolutely HATE Maia and Edan. And I don't want to hear, "oh, but their relationship develops over the course of the story" because I DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK. I was willing to excuse Maia's terrible male impersonation because I still liked her character, but her character started faltering once Edan showed up. Not to mention she barely accomplishes anything on her own and has to depend on Edan or Longhai to give her hints or actual help to accomplish her goals. Fuck, I am so done with pseudo strong female characters. Either try harder or don't bother in the first place.
*deep exhale* Okay, I'm done ranting. I hate how much I grew to resent this book because I really had high hopes for it. Sadly, it let me down when it promised so much. Would I recommend this book? Honestly, not really. If you want to give it a try, go for it, but I would personally look elsewhere.
shiqingxuan34's review against another edition
3.0
The first part, of the competition at the palace was really captivating, but unfortunately, I wasn't as interested in the latter journey portion of the novel. The pacing felt like it changed, and I wasn't a fan of the romance that became more prominent in that portion. Oh well, it had potential, and I really enjoyed the premise.
kaylee_kdc's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I really really enjoyed this book, the beginning gave me the 5 star feeling but towards the end it felt a little rushed??? The characters interactions didn’t hold up like they had in the beginning??? I didn’t dislike the turns it took or any of the plot points really I just felt like I wanted more time to process and more detail than just moving to the next thing. I will 100% read book 2 and I’m so excited to!!! Also the lil romance was lovely, having it be a kind of side quest to the whole story was nice :)
kissylou_'s review
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0