Maia Tamarin is a secret seamstress from a small coastal town within the empire. Her father was a master tailor, but age has crippled his ability to sew. Maia stepped up in his absence, and her talent is unmatched, with offers from everywhere coming in for her work. Or her father’s work. It is illegal for women to have a trade, so she works under her father’s name. This angers Maia, but she understands the consequences if she were to come clean. When a messenger from the emperor demands her father’s presence in a competition between the best tailors in the country, Maia knows she must take his place. She decides to leave in the dead of night, disguised as a boy and claiming to be her father’s son. As she enters the competition and sees the prize, she wonders if the risk of being found out is worth the reward.
I really liked this book. It was fast paced but not overly so, and the story drew me in almost immediately. I felt Maia’s emotions through the page, and I couldn’t stop reading. That being said, I did have a slight problem with the character development. It wasn’t great and some of it was predictable, as well as some motivations that seemed a bit forced. The book was advertised differently than how I perceived the book, which is fine, but I was expecting a different feel than I picked up on. Overall, I would rate this book a three point five out of five, as I did highly enjoy it but experienced some downfalls.