Six Crimson Cranes Duology by Elizabeth Lim || East Asian Folklore Blended With Fairy Tales

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Perfect for readers who want:

• Fairy tales mixed with East Asian mythology
• Slow burn, sweet romances
• Adorable sibling bonds
• Retellings/remixes of common fairy tale tropes
• Badass women who can save the day
• Magic and mayhem and maybe a dragon or two
• Or, you know, an entire kingdom of them

Many thanks to Knopf Books for Young Readers and TBR and Beyond Book Tours for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Quotes taken from an unfinished product and may differ from the final copy.

People have been recommending Six Crimson Cranes to me since it came out, basically, and I had reservations. Why? I don’t really know. I always thought the cover was gorgeous, but the story always felt like one that wasn’t quite for me. Boy was I wrong about that, though! I sat down and read both books over the course of two days, because I just simply couldn’t put them down. Once I started, I was simply in Kiata for two days and had absolutely no desire to leave, thanks.

The Six Crimson Cranes duology blends East Asian mythology and culture with popular fairy tales to create a beautiful, romantic story with sweet romance, sibling bonds, magic, adventure, and, best of all, DRAGONS!

Lim’s writing is absolutely gorgeous, conjuring up the atmosphere of a fairy tale as she weaves popular, well-known fairy tale elements into her story in refreshing, new ways. I loved seeing all the different ways these seemingly familiar ideas pop up in novel reincarnations! While I didn’t love the second book as much as the first (and it has a dreaded love triangle that really never needed to exist), this is an incredibly solid duology that I will forever recommend to everyone going forward. Speaking of which . . . have you read it yet? What are you waiting for?!

Six Crimson Cranes (Six Crimson Cranes #1)

Shiori'anma, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted. But it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother.

A sorceress in her own right, Raikama banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes. She warns Shiori that she must speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die.

Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and uncovers a dark conspiracy to seize the throne. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in a paper bird, a mercurial dragon, and the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she's been taught all her life to forswear--no matter what the cost.

Lim’s writing is gorgeous and masterful, weaving a welcoming fairy tale atmosphere that is sure to pull readers in.

The setting is gorgeous. Lim really sells the world she creates, from the peaceful setting of Kiata to the snowy mountains of Iro. This is a world I would be glad to get lost in for a while! It’s also a world of magic and danger, though Shiori doesn’t know that until she leaves Kiata for the first time. Her peaceful kingdom has created a false sense of security for its citizens when the world outside is much different.

Not only does the plot take inspiration from fairy tales, but Lim manages to weave an atmosphere that feels like a fairy tale. There’s magic and romance and plotting. If you’re a fan of fairy tales, you’ll love the way this book is written! I was sucked right in and didn’t want to leave.

The protagonist, Shiori, is impulsive and immature and definitely has room for growth . . . but also possesses a forbidden magic that she needs to keep secret for her own safety.

All of which is obviously problematic, for different reasons. Shiori’s impulsivity causes her problems, as one might expect, but also gives her character plenty of room to grow. It’s easy to excuse her for this, too, considering how young she is and that she’s the youngest (read: spoiled) daughter of the emperor.

Her magic is a little flutter of a thing . . . literally. Unintentionally, she brought to life a paper crane, which she named Kiki, who is her best friend and constant companion. Except magic is forbidden and even feared in Kiata, which is not great news for Shiori. Especially since she’s not the only person in Kiata with magic, and she’s about to make some powerful enemies.

Shiori is one of seven children, and in a retelling of The Wild Swans, her six brothers are cursed to be six crimson cranes. But not even magic could make the siblings any less close.

Some of you may know that sibling bonds are one of my favorite things in books, and this has that galore! Since there are seven siblings, there are plenty of bonds to go around. It’s a lot at the start to keep all the characters straight, but they soon separate themselves into their own characters.

Despite the struggles they go through (or maybe slightly because of them?) the siblings couldn’t be any closer . . . even as they’re torn apart by magic. It’s such a beautiful thing to see! Being someone with a bunch of siblings of my own, this is easily one of my favorite tropes, and Lim does it well.

There’s an incredibly sweet romance in this that is sure to steal the hearts of readers who enjoy that sort of romance.

As most of you know by now, that’s not me. Obviously, I can recognize the romance for what it was, and yes, there were some moments that definitely warmed my heart. I just prefer my romance a bit more . . . problematic? Conflicted?

I confess, though, that Shiori’s love interest is charming, in a quiet, geeky sort of way (which is definitely my type!). He’s a cinnamon roll, through and through. Their romance is right from the pages of a fairy tale . . . literally. Lim blends many popular fairy tale elements into the story, many that will be recognizable to most readers, while still making it entirely her own, which I really enjoyed!

Even though this isn’t my particular flavor of romance, it was still enjoyable. The way Lim weaves it, readers get to fall in love not only with each character but with the idea of them as a couple, as their relationship slowly unfolds. It’s hard not to get whisked up in all that. Don’t let all my pointy weapons fool you, I’m really a big ol’ softy on the inside. Probably.

The Dragon's Promise (Six Crimson Cranes, #2)

A journey to the kingdom of dragons, a star-crossed love, and a cursed pearl with the power to mend the world or break it...

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.

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.

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, Takkan. It will take every ounce of strength Shiori can muster to defend the life and the love she's fought so hard to win.

I have two words for you: Dragon. Kingdom. Oh yeah, this book takes us there.

I’m sure it comes as no surprise that the dragon kingdom of Ai’long is my favorite. Because duh. Dragons. It’s also not surprising that they don’t love humans, having infinitely longer lifespans and, you know, magic. Makes sense to me.

The dragon world isn’t all rainbows and sunshine, of course. It’s actually fear and scheming and political machinations. Since they live so long, it’s easy for resentments to build and foster, for things to stagnate and stay the same. It’s certainly not an easy world to navigate, and it’s one that’s heavily moored in its traditions. Would I still visit it anyway? Don’t be silly, of course I would.

I would have gladly spent more time with the dragons than we did, and not only due to my selfish interest. There were characters I was incredibly curious about and really hoped to learn more about. There were arcs that I thought were going to play out that were never brought up again, which was a little bit disappointing, but more due to my own curiosity than anything else. Of all the settings we’ve seen in this duology, though, the aesthetics and ruthlessness of this one appeal to me the most, and I really enjoyed our visit there! You know, even if Shiori didn’t.

If you thought there was danger in the first book, hold on to your bonnet. This book ratchets the danger level up to 11 and turns up the action.

If the first book was a fairy tale of a romance, this one was an explosion of action and adventure. It’s basically a quest story (which I like even better than romances, if I’m honest, though I know that’s not the case for everyone). Now that Shiori’s secret is out, though, there is so much danger. Everyone wants her for their own nefarious purposes. Even the dragons. Though, to be fair, I don’t necessarily consider it a bad thing to be wanted by dragons. Not even these ones.

I would say that the pace was a little wonky in some parts of the book, where it went forward at breakneck speed and then slowed to a crawl at times. For the most part, though, there was almost always some sort of big action or threat to be contended with. Made only worse, of course, by the fact that magic is a thing and it . . . shouldn’t be? According to a surprisingly large number of people who obviously have their priorities mixed up.

Now that Shiori has learned to embrace her magic, she’s finding that not everyone in Kiata is so eager to do the same. So she has to grapple with her love for her home versus the fear of its people.

Specifically, they’re afraid of her and what her magic means. Also, maybe a little bit what it can do. This follows the pretty basic tropes of fear of the unknown, but the important part is how Shiori reacts to it, right? This sets up some really interesting scenarios and opportunities for Shiori to grow, but also for the kingdom to grow. It challenges the status quo, which is always a hard thing to do, and forces people to think about things deeper than “that’s just the way it’s always been,” which isn’t easy.

If you thought all the danger came from outside, think again. Because as I said, not everyone is as enamored with magic as Shiori is. Some will stop at nothing to prevent its return.

Gen is a new character, and I found him utterly delightful and I wish his role in the book had been bigger, because oh my gosh, he’s my new favorite.

Would it be too much to ask to just get a Gen spinoff? I mean, what’s not to love about this character? He’s a sorcerer obsessed with learning and knowledge, intent on becoming the greatest and learning all the magic he can. Whatever the cost. Whatever the danger. Even if that means sneaking into the Dragon Kingdom, because why not? What wouldn’t one do for knowledge?

He’s also maybe a teensy bit sarcastic, a bit nihilistic, and very blunt. As I said, what’s not to love about him?! I was super curious about his history, but even more curious to find out what new troubles he was bound to get himself into.

I’m not usually one for love triangles, so it’s maybe no surprise that I hated the love triangle in this.

In fact, it felt a bit shoehorned in. Part of it, I think, is because Shiori’s friendship and relationship with Seryu isn’t really earned. It’s not shown on the page. We’re just told that they spent all this time together and that they’re close, but we’re not actually shown that. Certainly not in this book. The way they interact throughout this makes it feel like they’ve only just met, which is confusing for how close they’re supposed to be. Since the reader spent the last half of the first book getting to know Takkan and falling for him, it seems late to try to shove a (wholly unnecessary) love triangle in here when a platonic friendship would’ve served perfectly. Especially with the way this triangle ends, which I found very unsatisfactory. It’s wiped away almost as suddenly as it appeared.

The plot of this sequel feels a bit all over the place and like it doesn’t completely fit together into one cohesive story.

There are, dare I say, too many things going on in this book. Yes, a lot happened in the first one, too, but it was all part of one solid goal: break the curse and save her brothers. Everything went to that ultimate goal. The goal for this book is sold as returning the pearl to its rightful owner, but there are so many detours and so many times that goal is forgotten or dismissed for other subplots that it felt disjointed and like the plot was pulling in multiple ways.

I loved the politics and scheming and danger of Ai’long, the dragon kingdom. However, it was only about a third of the book, and then promptly forgotten, and had very little bearing on the rest of the book. There are cults and demons and varying new romances, the characters growing up and fulfilling their obligations as rulers. Not all of these threads are neatly tied up at the end. Some are left waving in the wind, and by the end, there had been so many meanderings of the plot that I was curious about the ways all these different characters and storylines that had simply been dropped had actually ended.

About Elizabeth Lim

Elizabeth Lim is the author of the critically-acclaimed and bestselling The Blood of Stars duology (Spin the Dawn and Unravel the Dusk), the New York Times bestseller So This is Love, and the USA Today bestseller Reflection. Forthcoming books include the Six Crimson Cranes duology, expected summer 2021 and summer 2022, respectively.

Elizabeth grew up on a hearty staple of fairy tales, myths, and songs. Her passion for storytelling began around age 10, when she started writing fanfics for Sailor Moon, Sweet Valley, and Star Wars, and posted them online to discover, “Wow, people actually read my stuff. And that’s kinda cool!” But after one of her teachers told her she had “too much voice” in her essays, Elizabeth took a break from creative writing to focus on not flunking English.

Over the years, Elizabeth became a film and video game composer, and even went so far as to get a doctorate in music composition. But she always missed writing, and she turned to penning stories when she needed a breather from grad school. One day, she decided to write and finish a novel—for kicks, at first, then things became serious—and she hasn’t looked back since.

Elizabeth graduated from Harvard College with an A.B. in music and a secondary in East Asian Studies, and she completed her graduate degrees (MM, DMA) at The Juilliard School. She grew up in Northern California and Tokyo, Japan, and now resides in New York with her husband and two daughters.

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You can find the full tour schedule here.

August 29th

The Litt Librairan – Promotional Post
Just Geeking By – Review
The Bookwyrm’s Den – Review
Justice For Readers – Top 5 Reasons to Read The Dragon’s Promise
Eye-Rolling Demigod’s Book Blog – Review & Favorite Quotes

August 30th

Modest Hiccup – Review
B for Bookslut – Review
& She Reads – Promotional Post
The Ink Slinger – Top 5 Reasons to Read The Dragon’s Promise & Mood Board
Mallory Books – Journal Spread

August 31st

The Book Dutchesses – Promotional Post
Metaphors and Miscellanea – Review & Favorite Quotes
Inkhaven – Review
pluvioreads – Review & Playlist
Book Notes by Athina – Review

September 1st

Nine Bookish Lives – Promotional Post
dinipandareads – Review & Favorite Quotes
Bookwyrming Thoughts – Review
Mochas and Madness – Review

September 2nd

The Clever Reader – Top 5 Reasons to Read The Dragon’s Promise
bookloversbookreviews – Promotional Post
The Bookish Coven – Review & Favorite Quotes
Betwixt The Sheets – Promotional Post
Books Over Everything – Review

September 3rd

Stuck in Fiction – Promotional Post
This Soul’s Devouring Words – Review
Littlefoot Reader – Review
One More Chapter – Review
itsKoo reviews – Review & Favorite Quotes

September 4th

Lemmi Bookmark That! – Review
The Nerdy Nook – Review & Favorite Quotes
Kait Plus Books – Promotional Post
The Girl Who Reads – Review
Lost Girl in Bookland – Review

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