Unravel the Dusk (The Blood of Stars #2)

 Synopsis

Maia Tamarin has already proven herself to be the greatest tailor in the land. She out-stitched her competitors in the emperor's contest to select a new imperial tailor. She journeyed to the ends of the earth to gather the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. And out of these ingredients, she sewed three magic gowns- each worthy of a goddess. But her trials are far from over.

She returns from her journey 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 runaway bride-to-be. 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 her encounter with a demon, she has been changing: glancing in the mirror to see her own eyes glowing red; losing control of her magic, her body, her mind . . . Maia will stop at nothing to find Edan and bring lasting peace to her country-- before she loses herself completely.

Loved

• Edan. Edan is just the best, let's be real. The sad thing is that he's gone for a lot of this book, which was a little disappointing. He just never fails us- always selfless, wise, humble, and willing to do the right thing for everyone else. I wish he was more a part of this second book because I missed him! I was surprised how much more I enjoyed the book once he was back on the scene.

• The intensity. This book does feel a little more intense than the first because of the constant pressure of Maia's changing into a demon. We never know how long she is going to keep her memories, be able to control her demon-rage, and whether or not she will actually be able to defeat Bandur and stay human. The pace of this book felt much faster because Maia is on the run, racing against the oncoming slaughter of her country and her own race against the demon inside her taking control. I enjoyed the pace of this story since the quest in the first book seemed to lag a little.

• Ammi. Ammi is another character who never fails in that she is always loyal and sticks with Maia through everything- even the whole turning-into-a-raging-and-sometimes-violent-demon thing. It was refreshing for Maia to finally have a friend and have someone who could keep her sane and lucid while she is trying to stay afloat and keep her head amidst her hastening transformation and her need to save everyone and everything.

Didn't Love

• To be honest, I had a lot of issues with this story, but many of them were probably because I wasn't completely invested in this second book to begin with. I really only read it because I already owned it, and it was a duology, so I wanted to just say I had read the whole series. I enjoyed the first book, but wasn't completely invested in the story, so that may be why I found a lot of faults in this second book.
• While the plot of this was unique, I wish the first book had been a standalone and we could've done without all the politics and the demon-transformation thing. I felt like the author had a lot of cool ideas that didn't quite come together neatly- and it felt like we were chasing different plot lines sometimes.
• I loved Maia in the first book, but in this second one she was quite angsty. Now I get it- if I was turning into a demon I would probably have some rage and angst too, but the rage fits, sudden changes in mood, and impulsive decisions did get old pretty quickly. Luckily Edan is the best and he kept her steady, reminding us that we liked Maia in the first place before all the demon stuff :)
• The magic was confusing and we never really get an explanation of any kind of magic system. In the first book it worked to have a non-structured magic system because it was more of a fairytale, but in the second book when we get more of a higher level of fantasy, it would have been nice to have a deeper and more well-thought out magic system.

Content

• Language: 
• Occasional uses of "damn" and "hell."
• Uses of curses from the world ("demon's breath," etc.)

• Sexual content: 
• This second book had hardly any kissing, mostly because Edan and Maia are separated for most of the book. There are some kisses described and they sleep in the same bed, but nothing sexual is described.

• Violence
• Lots of war violence- soldiers dying from arrows, daggers, and swords.
• Characters getting whipped and tortured by lashing, having tongues cut out, getting beaten, etc.
• Fights with demons involving daggers and magic.
• Main character becomes violent at times due to becoming a demon and hurts her friend- throws her against the wall.


• Other themes:
• One of the main themes is demons and magic relating to them. Main character has to fight becoming a demon, and has her own demon that manipulates her and tries to get her to make selfish decisions. She has to fight her own demon voice and the demon that cursed her throughout the book.

Overall Thoughts

This is a creative story with a unique oriental setting, a creative plot, and lovable characters. I think I went into it with the wrong attitude- just wanting to read it to say I did, not because I was super invested in the story. I do feel like this duology could have been a good standalone because the politics and the whole demon-plot were a little convoluted at times, and at times the magic was difficult to follow. However, I'm glad I read this because I was interested in Maia and Edan and I enjoyed seeing their characters develop and their stories unfold. I think many readers will love this story, and I definitely recommend this duology to anyone who loves the oriental setting, fairytale-like magic, and adventure romance.