Unravel the Dusk

The Blood of Stars, Book 2

By: Elizabeth Lim

Narrated by: Kim Mai Guest

Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's Summary

From the New York Times best-selling author of Six Crimson Cranes comes a fantasy filled with courtly intrigue, deceitful demons, and breathtaking gowns...the stakes are higher than ever in this thrilling sequel to Spin the Dawn!

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. Edan, the boy she loves, is gone - perhaps forever - and no sooner does she set foot in the Autumn Palace than 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. When the emperor's rivals learn of her deception, there is hell to pay, 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, and in the meantime, she will stop at nothing to find Edan, protect her family, and bring lasting peace to her country.

©2020 Elizabeth Lim (P)2020 Listening Library

dark but beautiful

You know, I wasn't sure how much I was enjoying this for the longest time, but by the time I got to the end, I realized that actually I loved it.

I posted earlier in my reading that it was just a string of bad decisions, Maia not wanting to tell anyone what was happening or ask for help, and avoiding Edan. And it was, but there was also a lot of character growth happening as Maia wrestled with her demon and what she wanted to do with the life she had left.

Edan's insistence that she was still good, and his patient determination to stick with her no matter what was beautiful. In the end, it helped Maia stay true to herself.

It is a dark and painful read but it is also beautiful. The narrator does an excellent job, and the writing is excellent.

Fine, but the first was better...

I had a harder time with this one... This second installment of The Blood of Stars has little to do with the first one in many ways. The characterizations are different, the magic is different, one character is conspicuously absent for most of the book, and there's almost no Sewing! The story is good, but felt more disjointed than the first, and just didn't pull me in as much. The conclusion was lovely but overall I can't give it more than 3 stars.

Narrator ruins it, IMO

I feel bad for disliking this narrator's voice, but I still believe she sounds like a young child and it makes the story feel... weird. The first book was much better, even though I hadn't liked the narrator's voice then either. But the storyline for this second book didn't make as much sense to me as the first. I really wanted to love both of these books as much as I love Six Crimson Cranes, but unfortunately that's not the case. Maybe after some time has passed, I'll read the physical books and see if the lack of a young-sounding narration makes a difference. I couldn't even finish the last couple of hours, I had to skip through just to get the gist of the ending.

First book was amazing, narration is still stunning.

This book was beautifully narrated but so painfully depressing. The first book was my favorite, and I noticed with this one all I wanted was for the sweet “good” ending.

I’m really sensitive with dramatic reads, but I love Elizabeth Lims works. This series was amazing, I just find I have more bookmarked in book one than book two.

I still loved Maias adventure though. Was worth the read :)

excellent read

a great conclusion to the duet. highly recommend. the story and performance were both well done.

wonderful conclusion!!

This was a really great book that exceeded my expectations and had a wonderful story arc and ended the characters adventure! the writing is great the performance was great and the overall story was awesome, I finished it in like 4 days!

Terrible worst than book one

I was hoping this book would help me get over how horribly written the first book was. NOPE! This book is filled with bland characters and terrible YA romance. The author writes terrible cliche scenes and over uses tropes. So glad I’m free from this mess. I will not read any more of her books.

It also didn’t help that the narrator used an overly breathy voice with childish inflections. The whole experience was so annoying.

Phenomenal!

This is a must read for anyone who loves adventure, fantasy, romance, and more! The author has an amazing gift of tying several genres together to create a book that one cannot put down.

The stakes are high in this follow-up story

What kind of book is this?
Unravel the Dusk is a fantasy story with magic, demons, shapeshifters, goddesses, and romance. There is a classic struggle between good and evil with a wonderfully original backdrop.

Spoiler-Free Summary:
Unravel the Dusk is the continuation of Maia’s journey from Spin the Dawn. In the previous book, she made a deal with an evil entity out of love for her family. As this book begins, the demon has come to collect their debt and Maia must find a way to break her pact or accept the consequences of her choice.

General Ideas (Spoiler-Free):
I regret having waited so long to read this duology (Spin the Dawn and its sequel, Unravel the Dusk). The cover art is absolutely beautiful. I must have picked up this book and its prequel a dozen times in the story. The cover blurbs and comparisons are not particularly accurate, so if that is holding you back, don’t put too much stock in them. Lim recently published Six Crimson Cranes, set in the same world, and there are tons of easter eggs about the Cranes’ story in this book which I loved!

This is the third Elizabeth Lim book I have read and I am so impressed. Her stories are fantastic and always have satisfying conclusions, even when there is a sequel to follow.

Overall, Unravel the Dusk was a solid 4.5 out of 5 for me. I enjoyed the book slightly less than Spin the Dawn because its pacing was a little slower and the content of the story was almost entirely focused on Maia’s plight rather than developing secondary and tertiary conflicts with the awesome cast of characters in this world. Nonetheless, together, this duology is a power combo and is sure to be a hit for any fans of fantasy, adventure, magic, and suspense.

Excellent

A riveting ride full of great characters and tons of twists and turns. A magical journey!