I loved reading about Maia, Edan, Ammi and the whole crew again. I enjoyed that Ammi featured as much as she did here as it would have been easy for her to get lost by the wayside. I also grew to understand and empathize with Lady Sernai just a little more. One thing about her is that she is awesome at her craft even if she is not the most likeable.

To our main characters, there was not as many Maia x Edan interactions as I would have liked and yet I understood completely why that had to be. This book is more about Maia's journey and not both of them. However, that doesn't stop me from being greedy. I think the main drawback I had was that although the battles seemed impossible and all the odds were clearly heavily stacked against our heroes, I didn't feel scared for them as I knew everything would turn out good in the end.

All in all, a fitting finale. ( )

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Random House Children's Publishing for letting me read and review this fabulous book!
I had Elizabeth Lim on my radar and one of her books on my TBR for a while when earlier this year, I was able to read and review Spin the Dawn, which is the first book in this duology and I LOVED that book so when I saw this pop up on NetGalley, I knew I had to read it and was so happy when I was allowed to read and review it.
This sequel to Spin the Dawn is amazing, wonderful, fantastic and everything I hoped for with a perfectly fitting ending to this magical story.
Elizabeth Lim weaves magic in her tales like starlight in the sky, she is very talented and if you haven't read her books then you're missing out.
Unravel the Dusk picks up right where Spin the Dawn left off and is easy to follow. It flows and is written very well. We get to continue to see Maia's story unfold more and get to know more about some of the other characters like Lady Sarnai, Ammi, The Emperor, The Shansen. We also get to know a bit more about the demons and what it's like for Maia as she fights her bargain with Bandur trying not to turn into a demon or give in to the evil desires and wishes for power and such.
There's also more of my favorite swoony romance with Maia and Edan and other developing romances with other characters etc. Also in this book, there's more focus on Maia, it seems than in the previous book with her figuring out herself, her journey with her identity, hopes, wishes, dreams, love.
It's a wonderful, uplifting story with hard parts much like real life and left me feeling happy, upbeat and inspired.
I was enthralled and entranced by this story that she weaves of this girl, Maia and her dreams and how it is for Maia once she gets her dreams and has to figure other things out and learn of self-sacrifice and true love for herself, for her family, those she loves, others and her country. I can't wait to read more of her magical books like this one that sweeps you away to another enchanting world where anything is possible and good triumphs in the end.
If you haven't read Spin the Dawn then get on it to be ready for Unravel the Dusk, go now and make sure to put Unravel the Dusk on your list, pre-order it and prepare yourself for an otherworldly trip to a beautiful lush world filled with magic. ( )

The girl who pretends to be her brother to compete to be the Emperor's tailor has completed a quest to make the 3 gowns from sun, moon, and stars at the request of the emperor's bride so the marriage can save the land. But the bride is unwilling, runs away, is found and then the dress of stars almost kills her. Then things get worse. Much worse. It's all rather dull because well, the angst, and inconsistencies and lack of a clear vision and simpering need for a happy ending. Just not worth it. ( )

This is the second book of a duology. I remembered the first book of a girl who assumed the identity of her brother to enter a contest to design clothes. And then she went on a quest with the enchanter to create some mystical dresses .... In this book, we endures the price she paid to make those dresses. Maia is becoming a demon.

I figure a lot of book #1 would come back to me as I read this book. But it didn't. The book had a lot of magic in the story, but for me the story lacked magic.

( )

SHORT REVIEW: A decent story. Great Narrator. Some really powerful moments but this was a bit painful to get through. Lots of inner dialogue. Less romance. More action (battles towards the end). Still think #1 is better. ( )