If you enjoy Asian-inspired YA fantasy, I recommend checking these books out!ĮLIZABETH LIM grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she was raised on a hearty diet of fairy tales, myths, and songs. Issues aside, I did really enjoy this book and the duology overall. It also does feel a bit more episodic in places, like it could easily have been split into two books. And there are other moments of lull in the middle as well, with it only really picking up toward the end. The first part felt very slow, although it does pick up where book one left off. But it did feel odd when converted to how the story was paced. It’s not that long books are unusual for Lim the first book was pretty long too.

I do feel the length bogged the story down a bit. Takkan and Seryu are both solid romantic prospects, and it’s hard not to feel bad for Seryu, even if I do like Shiori and Takkan together. I did quite like the romantic relationships, even if it is a love triangle. The bonds she has with her brothers, while somewhat sidelined here, are also lovely. I liked the scenes with her father and reflecting on her relationship with her stepmother. I really liked the development for Shiori’s character, especially seeing more of her interactions with her family. Getting to see the dragon-realm in particular is a lot of fun. I appreciate how it expands on the first book, particularly in terms of providing more exploration of the world in which the series is set. The Dragon’s Promise is the second half of the Six Crimson Cranes duology, and I enjoyed it overall. It will take every ounce of strength Shiori can muster to defend the life and the love she’s fought so hard to win. The pearl itself is no ordinary cargo it thrums with malevolent power, jumping to Shiori’s aid one minute, and betraying her the next–threatening to shatter her family and sever the thread of fate that binds her to her true love. She must journey to the kingdom of dragons, navigate political intrigue among humans and dragons alike, fend off thieves who covet the pearl for themselves and will go to any lengths to get it, all while cultivating the appearance of a perfect princess to dissuade those who would see her burned at the stake for the magic that runs in her blood. Princess Shiori made a deathbed promise to return the dragon’s pearl to its rightful owner, but keeping that promise is more dangerous than she ever imagined.

Six crimson cranes series