Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim | Book Review

“I know that for every dawn, dusk must unravel its darkness.”

Elizabeth Lim, Unravel the Dawn

Title: Unravel the Dusk
Series: The Blood of Stars, #2
Author: Elizabeth Lim
Published: July 7, 2020
Publisher: Knopf
Genre: YA fantasy romance
Pages: 355
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Goodreads page

—– ●⚫● —–

Synopsis

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. The boy she loves is gone, and 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.

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, but she will stop at nothing to find Edan, protect her family, and bring lasting peace to her country.

YA fantasy readers will love the sizzling forbidden romance, mystery, and intrigue of Unravel the Dusk.

[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]

Mood Board

Patrick Pulkkinen || changan moon || the Gorgonist || https://pin.it/6NNYMyQ || Jenna Barton

—– ●⚫● —–

Thoughts

I’ll be honest; I rarely read all the books in a series back to back because 1) I usually start them before all the books are published because I’m impatient and 2) I have book commitment issues. Because of these two reasons, I was very surprised that I wanted to immediately pick up Unravel the Dusk AND it was already released by the time I finish Spin the Dawn.

I DEVOURED this book. I’ve been in a YA reading slump for the past three-ish months (all I’ve wanted to read were trashy adult romance novels), but this brought me back to my roots and made me excited to read YA again. Normally, it takes me about a month to finish a book. I managed to finish this one in under a week. It was that good. Plus, it was super easy to read. I didn’t feel like I was fighting myself to stay interested or fighting the story because it was too complicated to understand. The world and characters are very three-dimensional and complex like in the real world, but not so much so that I was spending a lot of time and brain power trying to figure out what the author was saying.

(Also, on an unrelated note, can we appreciate how gorgeous the cover is? I really liked the first book’s cover, but this one is just stunning!)

Excuse me as a drool over this gorgeous cover art! ❤

It was interesting to see how the author incorporated the topic of power clashing within several layers of this story. Not only is there two powerhouse kingdoms at the brink of war, there is also a battle between demons and the power of the heavens as well as demons vs enchanters. Basically there was a lot of conflict within the story, and it was glorious.

While Spin the Dawn had elements of Mulan within its story, Unravel the Dusk doesn’t appear to be a retelling of anything. The author took the story and gave it a life of its own.

There’s something about this series that is absolutely beautiful that I can’t quite put into words. It’s the combination of the plot, the world, and the writing style that makes it feel like I’m consuming a piece of art. It feels like I’m looking into a beautiful, intriguing painting that tells a heart-wrenching story. The more I look at it, the more I want to learn about it. Something about it makes it hard to look away. Once you’re forced to stop admiring it, you can’t stop thinking about it. That’s how I feel about this book. While I was reading it, I wanted to dive deeper and deeper into the story, the world, and the characters. When I forced myself to stop reading (because it was 3 AM and ya girl needs to sleep before her morning classes), I couldn’t stop thinking about the book. I was consumed by the world, and I couldn’t be happier.

Overall, I’m super happy that I read and finished this series. While it wasn’t mind-blowing or life changing, it still brought me a lot of joy to read it. I hope you decide to give this series a try and it brings as much joy to you as it did for me!

Conclusion

I give Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim 4 out of 5 stars!

—– ●⚫● —–

What were your thoughts on this sequel? Do you plan on reading any of Elizabeth Lim’s other works in the future? What are your thoughts on retellings in general? Do you love them? Hate them?

❤ Let me know your thoughts! ❤

Stay awkward and amazing!