Title: Spin the Dawn
Author: Elizabeth Lim
Series: The Blood of Stars #1
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
Date Read: 8/26/19
Spin the Dawn is sold as Project Runway meets Mulan and usually when books are sold as similar to Mulan, it is not, but this one, I could see the similarities and I do agree with this sales pitch of the book.
We follow Maia who is the daughter of a tailor and when a royal messenger summons her father to compete for the position to become the imperial tailor, she poses as a boy and takes his place. She is also given the impossible task of sewing 3 dresses, made out from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars.
This book takes place in a fantasy world that is inspired by East Asia and there are quite a few cultural references that I recognized and really appreciated when reading. As an East Asian myself, I defiantly want to read more fantasy books inspired by it.
The romance in this book is hate to love and I really enjoyed it. I usually find myself thinking romances are eh or not necessary but I really ship this one and I love the banter between the two characters. I really wanted them to be together but at the same time I wanted them to not be because I loved the bickering and wanted more of it.
The ending left me wanting more and I really wished I read this later because now I have to wait a year till the next book comes out and I need to know what happens next like now. I am glad I read it and highly recommend this book and will be continuing on with the series.
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Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Contemporary Book Recs
Edit: I was suppose to post this in July, but completely forgot. Whoops. So here are contemporary recs in October even though most of these are cute summer reads.
Hello everyone! Today I will be recommending some of my favorite contemporary reads since summer is here, or at least it is summer where I live, and I love reading contemporary during this season. I really enjoyed all of these and hope that if you pick any of them up that you will too!
The first book I am recommending is Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West. Kasie West is a pretty well known for her fluffy YA contemporaries. Based on all the book I have read by her, they are either a hit or miss for me. Love, Life, and the List is my personal favorite and I absolutely devoured this book when I read it. We follow a girl name Abby who enters her artwork into this art show but gets rejected because apparently her art does not have enough heart. She creates a to do list in order to gain experiences and improve her art work throughout the summer. This book also has the friends to lovers trope which is quite a popular trope that people really enjoy. If you want something quick and easy to read, this is definitely the perfect book to read, especially for those who are wanting to get ahead of or catch up on on their reading challenge.
The next book is an older release and that is Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen. Like Kasie West, Dessen is also another very popular YA contemporary author, yet I do not hear people talking about this book that often. In this book we follow the main character Auden as she spends her summer with her father and stepdaughter in a town called Colby. Auden is a straight A student and lives with her mother who works at a university resulting in Auden's life being very academic based. This book has a cute romance while also dealing with self discovery. I love how Sarah Dessen books are always realistic and the things that happen in them feel like they could happen in real life.
Another recommendation I have is Pride by Ibi Zoboi. This is a modern day Pride and Prejudice retelling that takes place in Brooklyn New York. We follow Zuri who is Afro-Latino. The rich Darcy family moves across the street and Zuri is not very happy about that. Her sister starts falling for one of the brothers and Zuri cannot stand the other brother Darius. There are so many similarities to the original story of Pride and Prejudice while at the same time having enough differences to make it its own story. It is a diverse read for those who are looking to diversify their reading as well.
The final book I am recommending in this post is Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson. Morgan Matson is such a well known contemporary author and this one is one of my favorites of her works so far. I have read all of her books that are released so far and they are all really good. Since You've Been Gone follows a girl name Emily who is an introvert and is known as the friend of her best friend Sloane who is extremely extroverted. Her best friend leaves with no traces except for a to-do list for Emily to complete over the summer. She decides to complete the list in hopes of it giving her clues to where Sloane went. This was such a cute book and I actually ship the ship which does not usually happen.
Those are some of my contemporary book recommendations. If I were to recommend all of my favorites then this post would be very long so keep an eye out for part two in the future. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in my next post!
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