My book reviews for the Six Crimson Cranes series by Elizabeth Lim, including Her Radiant Curse, Six Crimson Cranes and The Dragon’s Promise.  Please be aware that reviews for the later books contain spoilers.

Sisterhood bonds and courage are tested in the new magical standalone story from the New York Times bestselling author of Six Crimson Cranes and The Dragon's Promise.

Channi was not born a monster. But then her own father offers her in sacrifice to the Demon Witch, and she is forever changed.

Cursed with a serpent's face, Channi is the exact opposite of her beautiful sister, Vanna -the only person she loves and trusts.

But when a vulgar competition is set up to marry Vanna off to the highest bidder, only Channi will defend her sister from the cruellest of her suitors.

In doing so, she becomes the target of his wrath. To save her Vanna, Channi will face a battle royale, a quest over land and sea, a romance between sworn enemies, and a choice that will strain her heart to its breaking point.

Elizabeth Lim is at the absolute top of her game in this thrilling yet heart-wrenching tale of courage, loyalty and the deep bonds of sisterhood.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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For my blog organisation, I have listed my review for Her Radiant Curse first, as it is listed as #0 in the Six Crimson Cranes series. It is up to you whether you read this book first or the other two books that form a duology. All my reviews are spoiler-free, and in this review, I also explain in this one how Her Radiant Curse by Elizabeth Lim fits in with the original duology.

Before I get to the review proper, I want to note that Her Radiant Curse is a standalone novel. I’ve seen some reviews mentioning that they didn’t realise that it is part of a series, especially when they picked it up on NetGalley, and that’s because it can be read on its own. It’s set in the same universe as the Six Crimson Cranes duology, and reading the duology will give you some extra information. However, the duology is not required reading to enjoy this book. Personally, I would read the Six Crimson Cranes duology first, as I think reading Her Radiant Curse will give away part of that story, but that’s up to you.

I wasn’t sure about reading Her Radiant Curse by Elizabeth Lim because I didn’t know if there was much of a story to be told. Lim told us Channi’s story in the Six Crimson Cranes duology, and sometimes prequels just repeat a story that we already know, just with more detail. I didn’t need to worry. Her Radiant Curse is as rich and fulfilling as the original duology. I personally loved this book more than the previous two books and found it much more compelling.

What Lim had told us about Channi’s story was just a tiny portion of this woman’s story, and the rest is told with raw power and brutal honesty. I’ve seen people refer to this as the villain’s story, and I dislike that description. Channi is very much an unwilling victim whose life is turned upside down when her father drags her into the jungle and leaves her at the mercy of a witch, attempting to exchange her life for her mother’s. When he fails, his wife dies after giving birth to a second daughter, and he takes it out on his eldest daughter, especially when she returns with the face of a snake, a constant reminder of what he did.

I was in awe at Channi’s strength and tenacity, as Lim’s wonderful storytelling built up a little girl and her older sister to the stepmother who carefully watched over Shiori in Six Crimson Cranes. I loved the way that Lim showed Channi’s love for the Emperor’s children even before she met them, confirming that she was never a villain and everything she did was for love. She used her experiences to protect her new family to the best of her ability.

I don’t know if Elizabeth Lim will return to this universe again, but she has definitely found a place as one of my go-to authors after this book.

A princess in exile, a shapeshifting dragon, six enchanted cranes, and an unspeakable curse....

Drawing from fairy tales and East Asian folklore, this original fantasy from the author of Spin the Dawn is perfect for fans of Shadow and Bone.

"A dazzling fairytale full of breathtaking storytelling." (Stephanie Garber, New York Times best-selling author of Caraval)

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.

Weaving together elements of The Wild Swans, Cinderella, the legend of Chang E, and the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, Elizabeth Lim has crafted a fantasy like no other, and one that will stay with listeners long after they've turned listened to the last minute.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

Six Crimson Cranes is “a reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Wild Swans’ (a translation is available here) blended with East Asian folktale and legend”, explains Lim. I’ve seen Six Crimson Cranes referred to as a retelling of a Grimm fairy tale (and Waterstones actually has it listed as that), so I wanted to start this review off with the correct information in that regard.

I went into this novel with no previous knowledge of ‘The Wild Swans’ fairytale or Lim’s previous duology. Six Crimson Cranes is set in the same universe as The Blood of Stars duology, and I can confirm that not having read that duology did not impact my reading of this novel at all. Maybe I would have recognised a few things, names or places if I had, but I certainly didn’t feel like anything was missing, let’s put it that way. I purposefully didn’t read the fairytale because I prefer not to know what is going to happen in a story, and when you know the fairytale, that gives you a pretty good idea of what is going to happen, i.e. in a Sleeping Beauty reimagining, the princess will inevitably fall asleep at some point or Red Riding Hood will find herself meeting a wolf. If things like that didn’t happen, then they wouldn’t really be fairytale reimaginings after all; they’d be original stories.

Six Crimson Cranes was a beautiful story filled with evocative language, and Lim uses food as a tool to connect people and memories, especially regarding family, throughout the novel. Food is its own language, and when princess Shiori is unable to speak, it becomes a way for her to express herself and take back some control when she’s banished and alone. It features in so many scenes and is used to bring people together, to make them happy and also to hurt them. I’ve read essays by other people about the language and importance of food in fiction (Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and The Famous Five by Enid Blyton are two that I recall being mentioned), but this is the first time I have seen it represented so vividly for myself.

The overall story is wonderful, and the magic system is beautiful with delightful twists as the story unfolds. Unfortunately, like Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust, I found the story a little predictable, and that is a bit of a turn-off for me. I also came out of Six Crimson Cranes feeling a little deflated, and I’m still finding it hard to put my finger on why exactly that is. Even writing this review, I struggled to put down on paper what I actually thought about this one. This book was magical, it was fun and lovely, but it didn’t grab me by the heart and make me fall in love with it. This one just didn’t quite do it for me; however, I will definitely be checking out the second book as I’m intrigued to see how Shiori’s story continues!

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

This book was provided for free by NetGalley, Rockstar Book Tours, TBR and Beyond Book Tours and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

I’m excited to be taking part in the blog tour for The Dragon’s Promise by Elizabeth Lim today! This is the sequel to the wonderful Six Crimson Cranes and the end of the duology. I enjoyed the first book, and the way it ended, I had to know what happened next, so I am thrilled to be taking part in this blog tour hosted by TBR and Beyond Tours.

Today is the first day of the tour, and there are four other bloggers and six bookstagrammers taking part today with a wide range of content, including the “Top 5 Reasons to Read The Dragon’s Promise”, and that’s just day one! This is a jam-packed tour with some amazing content happening, so please take the time to head over to check out the full tour schedule. You’re not going to be disappointed!

While I enjoyed the previous book, there was something missing in it for me. I found the story predictable, and as I wrote in my review, it caught my interest, but it didn’t grab me by the heart. I felt like it was a precursor of things to come, an introduction rather than a full story, which sometimes happens with the first book in a duology. It’s not a bad thing; it’s just the way it works out, and that is definitely the case for the Six Crimson Cranes duology. Read back-to-back, the two books are going to fit perfectly together.

Everything that I felt was missing in Book One is in The Dragon’s Promise. From the very start, Lim had my attention; she had me on the edge of my seat, and oh yes, she most definitely had my heart, and she was ripping it in two at times!

In the first book, Princess Shiori and her brothers have been on a whirlwind adventure, their lives turned upside down when they are all cursed by their stepmother. The boys are turned into cranes, and Shiori is told that if she speaks, one of them will die. On top of that, a pot is jammed on top of her head. We eventually find out that all of this was their stepmother’s convoluted way to save them from their enemies, especially since Shiori is special; she has magic in her blood. Her blood can open the mountain doorway to let demons back into the world, and some see her as a living threat while others want to use her as a weapon.

As her stepmother lay dying, Shiori learned her stepmother’s full story and her real identity, including that she carried with her a dragon’s pearl. She made a promise at that moment to return the dragon’s pearl to its rightful owner, and The Dragon’s Promise starts where the previous book ended, with Shiori headed for the kingdom of dragons with Seryu, the dragon prince she befriended. Those who have read Six Crimson Cranes will remember that Shiori had promised the pearl to the Dragon King, and that is not the only obstacle that she comes across during her time with the dragons.

Once again, Lim’s descriptions are magical, bringing the underwater palaces of the dragons to life, and yes, I say palaces. The action starts right from the outset as Seryu and Shiori swim into trouble on their way down to the kingdom, and from then on, the trouble doesn’t stop coming from Shiori. Despite so much happening, everything flows along naturally, and I never felt like too much was happening at once. Things are messy and chaotic, but so are the situations that Shiori finds herself in!

When Shiori returns from the dragons, still with the pearl in her possession (you didn’t think it would be that easy, did you? 😉 ), she finds herself in a kingdom that she doesn’t recognise but recognises her a bit too much. Magic is returning to her homeland, Kiata, a land which has shunned magic for centuries. While Shiori is away, people have realised, and attacks from a powerful sorcerer turned demon who managed to escape the mountain have stoked people’s fear of magic. Ministers of her father’s court are arguing against magic, with one suggesting that Shiori be killed to protect the kingdom. Shiori quickly realises that until magic has a place in Kiata, she would not.

Hatching a wild plan to deal with the demon Bandur to save her people, and to get the pearl to the dragon it belongs to, Shiori enlists the help of her brothers once more, and this time they are joined by her betrothed, Takkan and her brother Andahai’s wife, Qinnia. Qinnia is a new character introduced in this book, and it was great to see Shiori bond with a female character that was not a paper crane (as awesome as Kiki is, she is still a magical construct, not a flesh-and-blood person). She’s clever, quick-thinking, kind and makes the effort to get to know Shiori at a time when people are shying away from her out of fear.

Kiki is even more fabulous than the last time, and had me cracking up with some of her commentaries. There was more time spent with Shiori’s brothers this time, as they were with Shiori more often and in human form most of the time.

And of course, there is much more of Shiori and Takkan! Their relationship is very different from the first book for obvious reasons, and it is beautiful. It is such a strong relationship based on trust and friendship, and what I admire most about it is that Lim has emphasised the way they communicate with each other. It has become a trope in pop culture, especially in YA novels, to have one partner go behind the back of the other to keep secrets. Usually, for some ridiculous reason, such as protecting them. Lim has created a healthy relationship with open communication and trust, and I am here for it. That’s not to say that neither Shiori nor Takkan doesn’t want or try to protect the other, but they don’t do something stupid like not trusting their partner. I also felt that the interactions between them were so genuine and reminded me of conversations I’ve had with my own partner.

Shiori grows a lot in this book. She has to deal with everything that gets flung at her. The Dragon’s Promise deals with a lot of themes and ideas, drawing again on Eastern folklore, and this time, the ending felt very satisfactory. I am going to miss these characters, and I cried buckets during some of the scenes and at the end, but Lim has given them a proper send-off. This is a very solid five stars for me, and while I wait to see what Elizabeth Lim has next for us, I’m going to be catching up on her previous duology!

Thanks for reading my book reviews for the Six Crimson Cranes series by Elizabeth Lim!

Don’t forget to check out the rest of my reviews if you’re looking for some more book recommendations 🙂 You can also now sign up for my newsletter to get an email each month with a list of my new reviews!

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