On the fringes of the Great Spice Road, Maia Tamarin works as a seamstress in her father's shop. She dreams of becoming the best tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well.
When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as his son and travels to the Summer Palace in his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she’ll take that risk to save her family and achieve her dream of becoming the imperial tailor. There's just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.
Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia's task is further complicated when she draws the unwelcome attention of the court enchanter, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.
And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor's reluctant bride-to-be: from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.
Star rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was one of those books that was a little intimidating because of all the amazing reviews I've heard. It took me a while to get into this book because I had such high expectations. Now, I'm a sucker for retellings. I typically love them a lot (5 stars or super duper close) but this one was just lacking that special touch to make it a 5 star read. It was nearly there.
I really liked the plot of this book. It's split into three parts, and the first part covers the Mulan retelling. The next two sort of follow their own path (ish), which I liked! I liked that the story followed Mulan enough that you could tell that this was a retelling, but also had a lot of artistic liberties.
I cannot speak highly enough of these characters. Maia is the girl we all aspire to be. She is tough and strong but also shows emotion. I liked how she wasn't always a super put-together person. She was allowed (to some extent) to be an actual human being. Was I a little concerned when Edan came into the picture? Yes. I have this weird thing about not liking relationships with huge age gaps (*cough* ACOTAR *cough*), but he wasn't sexist or a total jerk-face, so it worked out ok. Overall, these characters were very interesting to read about!
To sum up my review: I really liked this book. I think it gave a nice twist on the story of Mulan, but was also different in its own unique way
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