This was a duology I absolutely fell in love with. I've heard of Elizabeth Lim and about some of her novels but I never felt compelled to pick up her books until I saw the gorgeous cover of Six Crimson Cranes. And I know that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover but I can't help it, sometimes I see a pretty cover, I pick up the book, and I loved it. I also fell in love with the cover for the FairyLoot Exclusive Edition of the sequel, The Dragon's Promise.
While my love for this series partly is the result of the gorgeous covers, I still have heaps of praise for it, so, here's my review:
This was what I'd been born for: to bring magic back to Kiata
Shiori, p. 460, The Dragon's Promise
FairyLoot Exclusive Edition Hardcover Art
In Six Crimson Cranes, we are introduced to Shiori, the princess of Kiata. She has magic, something that is forbidden in Kiata, and while she usually is able to conceal her magic, on the day of her betrothal to Takkan, she loses control. The incident caught the eye of her stepmother, Raikama who has magic as well.
In an unclear decision, Raikama banishes Shiori away, cursing her to have a wooden bowl stuck on her head and forbidding her from talking about her curse or else her brothers will die. Raikama also turned Shiori's brothers into cranes at night.
Shiori spends her days now searching for her brothers and uncovering Raikama's plan for the throne. In doing so, she finds an unlikely ally in a dragon, a paper crane and the man she was trying to avoid marrying.
In the sequel, The Dragon's Promise, Shiori made a promise to the dying Raikama to return a cursed pearl back to the dragon it belongs to but returning the pearl may prove to be deadly.
Shiori needs to travel to the kingdom of dragons to find the owner of the pearl but back at home in Kaita, demons threaten to break free and cause havoc over humankind. The pearl, on the other hand, is magical and has a mind of its own, sometimes helping Shiori, while other times, betraying her.
Firstly, the plot is brilliant. I heard that it is a retelling of Hans Christian Anderson's Wild Swans with East Asian folklore entwined. I don't think I've ever read Wild Swans so, the majority of the retelling aspects of the plot were completely new to me. That worked for me because it meant that everything about the plot was new and unpredictable. I had zero ideas of where the plot was going so, if you're also unfamiliar with the source text then it does work to our advantage. The East Asian-inspired folklore that was also included in the series just made the plot and world-building that much more fantastical and mystical which really just added more appeal for me to continue reading. Simply put: the plot and world-building are beautiful.
In saying so, I have come across commentary that by combining Western stories with Asian folklore is inadvertently whitewashing Asian cultural stories. I only recently came across this critique so I am currently undecided about where I stand on this point. However, I think is it interesting to consider this point, hence why I wanted to briefly bring it up.
The characters are also amazing! Shiori is the main character and she is charming and troublesome. She is truly a huge troublemaker. She is constantly making mistakes, fixing her mistakes and still, she manages to achieve the impossible. She also has a lot of heart and determination. She gets things done, she fights demons and evil dragons and she's still kind and adorable. She's a sweet, wholesome and busy character.
Shiori's brothers are featured in the novels a lot as well, so we do have a range of personalities surrounding Shiori. She has too many brothers for me to comment about individually but just know that they are all loveable and still unique from each other.
Takkan is Shiori's betrothed and he is an absolute sweetheart. I'm sure I've mentioned this before but I love male characters that show me more personality than the stereotypical 'bad boy' trope. Takkan is a warrior of a noble family from an icy region of Kaita but he's also extremely kind and patient, he's good at archery and is a poet and most of all, he is head over heels in love with Shiori. This is a sweet puppy-love/ first-love romance storyline between Takkan and Shiori and it is the cutest thing ever.
And of course, there's an honourable mention to Kiki! Kiki is Shiori's enchanted magical paper crane pet/best friend. She's cheerful and sassy and is a great comic relief personality. Kiki kind of reminds me of Iko from Marissa Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles (which I have previously reviewed on my blog which is linked here if you're curious about who Iko is).
Overall, this is a fun and magical duology. The characters and plot both pull their weight and ultimately, this is an extremely fun duology. There's heaps of magic, dragons (I didn't mention Seryu earlier but I want to let you know that you HAVE to keep an eye out for him in the novels), betrayal and more MAGIC. It's fun. That's it. This duology is fun.
So, that is all for my review. Thank you for reading, let me know what you think of this duology if you've read it or if you're planning on reading it, and of course, I hope you all have a lovely day.
Before I go, I mentioned that I managed to get my hands on the FairyLoot Exclusive Edition of The Dragon's Promise; I have a few more images I want to share of the exclusive edition novel so, for your viewing pleasure, enjoy:
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