I loved Six Crimson Cranes so much, and the worlds Elizabeth Lim creates in her books are always so vivid and beautifully written and her characters are always so easily brought to life, that it makes for such incredible reading.

The plot of the story is good, I liked it, I think sometimes Shiori can be a frustrating lead with such an indecisive way about her and chapters feel like some of the plot being covered multiple times, which feels like you can begin to skim read and I don’t want to do that when this world in the first was so incredibly immersive and beautifully written.

The characters I feel are this book’s greatest strength, I think Shiori though complicated is a strong lead and is just being human, well as human as possible in fantasy about the worries and fears she faces as she holds the pearl in her grasp, but other characters didn’t seem to fare as well with little character growth. I feel like the whole love triangle subplot was needless, especially after the struggle of the romance in the first book, it felt futile, I mean after all that she’d really just give it up? I didn’t get it at all.

I really wanted to love this book and I love Elizabeth Lim’s writing so she’ll always be an automatic read for me, I think Takkan and Shiori are cute as heck, and where there is world building, especially the dragon underwater city, it really does really read brilliantly and I wanted so much more of that, and I hope maybe in other books if we continue you to see more of this world, we get to see more of that.

All in all, a good read.

From a spoiled princess to an incredibly brave and resourceful woman. Shiori’s journey in “The Dragon’s Promise” picks up immediately after the events in the first book. It’s not much I can tell without spoiling that wonderful book (which you should read) so let’s say that because of what happened our heroine Shiori and her paper crane companion Kiki follow their friend Syriu, the young water dragon, to the Dragon King’s realm deep under the sea. The must find the ‘Wraith’, and return its heart-pearl. I can’t tell you how that precious yet dark pearl happens to be in Shiori’s hand but it belongs to the dragon and she was told to give it back, leaving her six brothers and Takkan back home in Kiata. She must be quick because time runs differently in the deep blue sea, much slower than in the human realm.

In this book Shiori will meet new friends and foes and she will have to be brave and smarter than the Dragon King Nazayun and his court of marine fauna. There’s magic in her but that doesn’t guarantee that she will succeed in her mission and there is still darkness under the mountains back home which may or may not be restrained.

This book is darker than the previous one, for the perils Shiori and Kiki find along their journey are difficult and quite dangerous. The tension is almost overwhelming for them and the reader can feel themself more and more engaged in the story. Shiori can trust no one in the dragon realm with the exception of her loyal companion; the dragons and the demons are wondrous creatures but they are also twisted and untruthful and terrifying. Once again Elizabeth Lim delivers an utterly compelling story, masterfully crafted and mesmerizing. She’s like one of the storytellers of old and I need to read everything she’s written in the past and whatever she writes from now on.

Magic, myths, legends and untrustworthy creatures. All set in a fantasy world with a beauty that comes from the east and Studio Ghibli, sometimes. I couldn’t put his book down until I finished it. It is the second and final book of a bilogy, one in which Shiori, Takkan, and her brothers grow, mature, and become a true family with unbreakable bonds and faithful loyalty that will resist and vanquish everything, even death.

For a beginner, this book has no problem and maybe will have a slightest only and definitely enjoyed it.

For readers who already read a lot, it might have some problems.

3 stars.

Going to the plot, why it is so thick and packed? You can make some parts to be a little bit shorter and not forced everything to it. I love the adventures, very challenging but not so tense maybe to suit with young readers. Idk. Anyway, love the Ai'long journey, it is very fast pacing and interesting. The disappointment part is that THE ENDING OF SERYU'S CHARACTER. Seryu is so sweet and deserve more but his character was put aside just to give chances to Takkan. As well as, Bandur's plot was almost abandoned like you can easily forget the real reason for this fighting in this book. I even though that it ends at Lake Paduan but nope, surprise!!! so it becomes more lengthy because of another adventure which should be balance and not too packed. YA should be not too way thick.

Going for characters, we also got less characteristic of her brothers. Her brothers doesn't have enough chances to shine a bit. This is the imbalance of characters as we speaking. As for Shiori, I don't know on how many times she has to be so reckless, when will she has her character development? Not having it. As for Takkan, he's a loveable character as much as Seryu although Seryu will be higher spot in loveable characters. He's nice and gentleman. Adore that. For the villains part, Bandur seems easy to forget as his characters did not give much villainous impact. He's jus plain boring villain.... even Raikama gives an impact.

Tbh, the world-building saves and some 70% of plot. we have so much things and story to be discovered in this book's world. So much potential but yet a bit loose from it's target.

This was a good sequel! I will admit that I loved book 1 more but it doesn't take anything away from this book.

I loved the beginning, it was action packed and full of chaos! Lost me in the middle but redeemed in the end!

I needed more dragons!! Shiori and Kiki though, love them!

I read the first in this duology 'Six Crimson Cranes' and loved it, So when I spotted 'the Dragon's Promise', I had to read it too.
This is a really brilliant book and a very good follow on from the first. However, there is something i found with this book which I also found when I read the 2nd book in Lim's other duology 'Spin the Dawn/Unravel the Dusk' that although the story was completed, and it was wonderful, there felt like a tiny bit of a disconnect in the stories. I think perhaps the first books are a bit more relaxed and laid back (though still very full of an amazing story) and the second books are a lot darker and full of battles. I'm not saying this is really a bad thing, but it's just something I noticed with both series that took me a while to settle into when reading.
I wouldn't read this book unless you've read six crimson cranes, as it'll make no sense at all. It really is very connected to the first book.
It is a wonderful tale. I love the main character, Shiori. She feels very real, strong and capable. Her little paper bird Kiki is her constant companion, and a brilliant character in her own right.
It took a while to get going, as Shiori spends quite a while in the Dragon realm at the start of the book, which I found a tad slow. But once she leaves there, it's just go go go! which kind of made up for it. And without spoilers, the ending is fantastic.
I highly recommend this book and series. It was just wonderful. A truly excellent tale that feels like reading a properly fleshed out legend in the making.

4.25 stars
Lim expertly balances romance and fantasy in the final book of the duology. Not to mention the way Shiori is written is a breath of fresh air when you’re used to ‘strong female characters’ who are just Mary Sues. I’ll upload a full review soon but this is certainly a worthy successor to Six Crimson Cranes. And, as always, bonus points for dragons!

3.5 out of 5 stars

This sequel picks up right after the ending of Six Crimson Cranes and starts at a really fast pace. It’s almost non-stop action from very early on and that results in a very engaging start, but it comes to a point when everything can feel a bit too chaotic, cause it feels like there’s not enough time to take a breather or to absorb the amount of information provided that at times seems to be randomly thrown out there out of nowhere. And then, in contrast, there were other parts that felt a bit repetitive and that I thought didn’t need as much emphasis.

I enjoyed the story and the world and liked both revisiting the characters from the first book and meeting some interesting new ones, but I missed spending more time with some of those side characters and getting to know them a bit deeper.

I definitely think that there was enough material in this sequel to fill two books and having it all in one made it a bit heavy for me, but I still had a good time reading it and think anyone who likes action-packed and adventure-filled stories could enjoy it.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for approving my request for this book via Netgalley.

(3.5 stars!)
The Dragons Promise is the Sequel to Six Crimson Cranes and takes place right after the first book.
I absolutely love the word Elizabeth Lim created with these books so I was very excited to dive back into it.

While I have to say that I liked Six Crimson Cranes a little better, I also really enjoyed this one. We continue to follow Shiori on her journey to free magic and where Shiori is, Kiki (my favorite) can’t be far.
At the beginning of the book we read about Shiori following Seryu into the dragon Kingdom, which I found very interesting. I would’ve loved to learn a little bit more about it and Seryu tho, because I found myself missing him in the second half of the book. (Maybe he’ll get his own story one day? Fingers crossed!)
The storyline itself was super captivating, but sometimes I got a little lost and it felt a little stretched out. That might just be my personal opinion tho since I love fast paced books.
Towards the end I got more invested again and I absolutely adored the end, because it was kind of perfect and kind of bittersweet and (spoiler) I’m sooo glad we got Kiki back!

Overall I can say that I really loved this duology and I really fell in love with the characters and The Dragons Promise is a good book with the perfect end to this journey!

THE DRAGON'S PROMISE is a great follow up to SIX CRIMSON CRANES. Shiori travels across the continent to new lands - dragon and demon and ghost realms - to reunite her stepmother's pearl with its rightful owner and protect her homeland from demons and people fearful of magic.

So much happens in this book, and the crises Shiori faces twist and turn. It made this book so hard to predict in the best possible way. Every time I thought we were getting some sort of resolution, I'd see how much more book there was to go, and then get hit by another twist or stumbling block. It made for a really engaging narrative and also meant that Shiori really had to earning her ending.

I also liked how the relationships with Takkan and Seyru were handled. Despite there being two boys with interest in her, it is never a love triangle, and that's made very clear from the start. Every chance the book has to make it one, it doesn't. Instead, Shiori makes it very clear where her affections are, and the other boy respects that. He does push or demand a chance, just decides to accept the friendship and fight for her because he's her friend. It was so nice to see a healthy reaction to that portrayed.

In all, it's a lovely duology finish and I look forward to more books by Elizabeth Lim.

The Dragon's Promise follows Shiori on her journey to fulfill the promise she made at the end of Six Crimson Cranes, so I highly recommend reading that one first.

In this story we see more interactions between Shiori and her brothers, and more interactions between Shiori and Takkan. We are also taken into the vast and mystical underwater realm of the dragons, and get to know Sryu a little better. Of course, we can't forget Kiki, who is always at Shiori's side to give her opinion or a quick one liner.

All in all, the part of the story about fulfilling the promise and exploring the dragon realm was great, but I'm personally not the biggest fan of love triangles, especially ones that aren't even triangles but rather a love Y - why not make it a real triangle △?

4 ⭐

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞-𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

This second book takes place right after the end of the first, so it is not difficult to follow the chronology.

Once again the author creates a world full of magic and Asian mythology, which makes us feel in an unreal world. She continues to show us the close relationship between Shiori and her siblings, as well as the love she has for her loved ones; and although I felt that some parts were a bit messy and that she used too many characters, I enjoyed the book a lot and I quite liked Shiori's evolution.

Six Crimson Cranes is one of my favourite fantasy books so naturally I have been very excited for its sequel, The Dragon’s promise!

While Elizabeth Lim’s lyrical writing style, Shiori’s stubbornness and Kiki’s sharp wit remain, this fell flat in comparison to SCC.

This book felt a little drawn out, and definitely could’ve been a considerable amount shorter and still had the same impact, that being said, I also felt there were a few stones left unturned (minor, admittedly but there are still some characters I’m left guessing about). I would’ve loved to see a bit more of the dragon realm, and wholeheartedly hope Lim will give Seryu his own novel someday!

• • B O O K R E V I E W • •⁣
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The Dragon’s Promise by Elizabeth Lim was gifted to me via #netgalley, thank you! I read the first book a couple of months ago, if you scroll a little you’ll be able to see my review, in which, I talk about how much I adored the book. ⁣
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We follow on from the second book and dive right on in, no preamble or building up to drama (which I loved, because I just wanted to get in this book asap). Shiori made a deathbed promise and she is honour bound and kind of sort of curse bound, to make sure that promise is kept. We go with her into the dragon kingdom, under the sea no less, and balance act her duty with other kingdom politics she doesn’t understand. Going into the dragon kingdom was my favourite part. ⁣
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Unfortunately, this one was only a three star read for me. It wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it just didn’t deliver what I expected it to. I wanted more more more. I don’t know if Lim is planning on writing a third instalment, but if she does, I do wonder if my undelivered wishes will come to fruition there instead. ⁣
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I know I’m kind of being unfair here, but what’s the point of writing a review if honesty isn’t a key feature? ⁣
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What didn’t work for me was the romance and the love triangle that we see building up. One element of the love triangle actually just fizzles, dies and we never see it again. And this is what got me, because that love interest WAS WAY BETTER. If you know, you know. The one she actually gets with is charged with boringness. I feel like we had an amazing opportunity to follow the triangle and explore the different worlds, but we didn’t. And much of the book was Shiori trying and fowling, trying and failing, trying and failing, and I’ll be honest I sort of got bored of the format. ⁣
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Have you read this one yet? What did you think?

Six Crimson Cranes was one of my favourite books from last years, so I had high expectations for this book but I wasn't disappointed in the slightest.

It took me a little time to remember what had happened in the last book (I was confused for a little while about why she had made the promise to Raikama until I remembered them reconciling), but it quickly came back to me and I fell back in love with the characters once more. Shiori is one of my favourite characters of all time and Kiki has a special place in my heart, so it felt very much like coming home again. I'm really going to miss these characters.

I loved how so many elements of Chinese mythology are bound up in this duology. From the dragons and their pearls to the red string of fate that connects Shiori and Takkan, it is full of Lim's take on these very Chinese elements while adding her own fantasy elements as well.

I also thought it came together in a very satisfying way. I definitely hope this isn't the last we hear from the characters as I know she's had cameos before.

I was so relieved that I still have the Spin the Dawn duology on my shelf to read as I'm so in love with Lim's writing.

I decided to give this a try after giving 3 stars to the first book but unfortunately this series definitely is not for me. I could not finish it and feel that Elizabeth Lim has gone from an auto buy author to one I won't even be excited for anymore which is such a shame. I loved her book Spin the Dawn but Unravel the Dusk was a huge letdown and then for me, this series was too.

Following Seryu, Shiori reaches beneath the mortal sea and into Ai’long, home of the dragons. Angered by Shiori’s refusal to give The Wraith’s pearl to him, King Nazayun imprisoned Shiori. In the dungeons, Shiori meets an enchanter boy who is cursed to turn into stone. Carrying Seryu’s pearl, Shirori was threatened with a binding ceremony, never to return home, forever losing the memories of her past including her loved ones. With a magic mirror, a harrowing sight appeared: Bandur, the King of Demons, is free.

Shiori’s trip to Ai’long brought her news of The Wraith and let her experience the dragon territory. The dragons aren’t the nicest creatures, though there are some like Seryu who helped Shiori in her journey. It’s a little awkward between the dragon prince and the human princess. Feelings are tricky things.

Regardless, Shiori knows that her heart is with Takkan. I won’t go too much into Takkan and Shiori’s relationship but know that they’re really sweet with one another. Always stepping in front of the other when danger approaches. Always find one another amidst the chaos. There’s nothing that will tear them apart.

Though she was only gone for one week in Ai’long, back at home, her family have been waiting for Shiori’s return for six months. As the bloodsake of Kiata, any drop of Shiori’s blood will unleash the demons. Returning back to Kiata with her streak go white hair invited whispers and rumors. With her brothers, Takkan, and Kiki beside her, Shiori braved the obstacles in her way. Shiori’s life is in danger every moment she stayed at the palace.

“Surround yourself with those who’ll love you always,” I began, “through your mistakes and your faults. Make a family that will find you more beautiful every day, even when your hair is white with age. Be the light that makes someone’s lantern shine.”

I adore the connection between this Six Crimson Cranes duology and Elizabeth Lim’s first duology, The Blood of Stars. If you’ve read her debut duology, you will know who Bandur is and how the demon is linked to the Forgotten Isles of Lapzur. With the ending, there were elements of certain legends and stories that readers are familiar with. Since I don’t want to spoil all the fun, you’ll have to find out what those are.

Instead of just having Shiori face the demons, the zealots, and the dangers by herself, everyone was with her all the way. In the dragon realm, there were Seryu and Gen. At home, Shiori has her six brothers, Takkan, and Kiki. Though she’s determined to not let anyone of them be in harm’s way, all of them rival her stubbornness and insisted on being with her. Shiori’s relationship with her father is really sweet as well. The father-daughter duo loves each other a lot, and it’s so obvious.

My heart is really full. Shiori’s not weak. She has her family and loved ones with her throughout the journey. She has ventured into the sea with dragons and roamed the land with demons. While doing that, she’s thinking about her stepmother and the promise between them. Shiori will do anything she can to keep that promise: Give the pearl to The Wraith. I’m sad that this duology is over but excited for what books Elizabeth Lim will write next.

I would probably rate this book a 6.5/10 – so to convert that into a 5-star rating I’ve made it a 3/5.

Let me start by saying that I did enjoy the book, and I have nothing terrible to say about it; I also, on the other hand, don’t think it was ground-breaking and won’t be blindly singing its praises.

I enjoyed the characters the most, it was lovely to see Shiori and Takkan grow together, and as always with Lim’s writing, I adore the sibling’s bonds.

Form this point on this review may contain spoilers for the Spin the Dawn duology (while I won’t be tagging these spoilers, I will try and keep them as isolated as possible so try to think of it as an “if you know, you know” kind of situation) and almost definite spoilers for Six Crimson Cranes and The Dragon’s Promise.


Let’s start with the negatives so I may leave this review on a high as I only feel it is fair to do so.
I am not a fan of the whole underwater/sea/pirate thing that seems so be taking over YA fantasy at the moment; it’s almost creating an entire subgenre. This isn’t an issue, if this is what you like you go for it babes, I fully support you in your endeavours and hope you enjoy yourself along the way. I, however, am not a fan – especially when it’s thrown upon you with almost no warning. When almost this exact scenario happened in the Cruel Prince trilogy, I really didn’t enjoy it, and the first third of this book felt like I was back reading Wicked King.

While Shiori was in Ai’Long, we didn’t get any kind of insight into what was happening on land. We have no idea what was going on with her brothers and Takkan, other than one tiny glimpse from the mirror that Seryu’s mother had, and considering the time moves slower in Ai’Long than it does on land (so for the full time Shiori was under water SIX WHOLE MONTHS PASSED) I would have liked some kind of way to see what the boys were up to (and just for the record, in case you were wondering, I also don’t like the whole, “time moves differently here” trope). Now don’t get me wrong, I know it’s difficult because the book is first person, but… idk. Maybe that point is a little unfair because I can’t think of a way around it, but it is something that annoyed me, so in the review it goes.

There were also writing inconsistencies in this part of the book that I picked up, and they’re literally a chapter apart.

On page 105 (of the ARC so it may be different in the printed book) we have the quote:

“ ‘I take it [this dragon] is the dragon that lured you to Ai’long.’
‘Very perceptive, Shiori,’ replied Gen as we sat. ”

And then on page 109:

“ Ever since we’d arrived, I’d been puzzleing over how [this dragon] had recognised Gen…
‘You’re the dragon who brought Gen to Ai’long,’ I cried. ”

Erm.. yes. We’d already established that less than five pages ago. You spoke to Gen about it, granted as part of a larger conversation, but this is not news to us.

The plot of this book also felt so similar to me, and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was until Bandur and The Forgotten Isles of Lapzur became such big contenders in the story; the latter part of this book is literally the same as the part of the Spin the Dawn duology that is spent on Lapzur. Like- so similar. To the point that both couples jump off the tower into the lake because it’s their only option. I don’t know if this was written in as a kind of easter egg, but – probably because I had literally just read Spin the Dawn to get myself back into this world – I picked up on it so easily and it grated on me. The whole time we were in Lapzur – with the SAME villain no less – I was making comparisons. It was annoying. And if I’m being brutally honest, I kind of expected better from this author because I had loved literally everything else by her so much, for this bit of the book to just be recycled from her other story really deflated me.


Now.

Onto the good.

Gen. Little baby Gen. Yes. Please and thank you Elizabeth Lim for little Gen. And we got to find out how he broke his nose, which honestly made be burst out laughing. Also, the fact that Gen saw through Shiori’s disguise the moment she came to the mountain dressed in Hasho’s clothes brought me so much joy; chef’s kiss.

Kiki kills me. I adore her. The way Lim writes her is with so much spirit, so much sass. The amount of personality that one little paper bird holds is incredible. She says what we’re all thinking and I love her for that. The relationship she has with Shiori and her brothers is so wholesome – she walks the line between pet, friend and family. She also shows that while she is literally a piece of Shiori, she has a mind of her own; they share a spirit, they are of each other, and yet they have differing thoughts and feelings.

I wish we’d gotten more of the brothers in this book because I just love them. So. Freaking. Much. I have a big brother, and let me tell you friends, he is nothing like any of Shiori’s brothers. Not one of them. They all love her and protect her so well. Its so wholesome and lovely to see.

And Takkan. Sweet, lovely, melodic Takkan. I’m so in love with him. I’m such a sucker for a soft boyTM and Takkan is everything. If you have to read about a bad boy or an enemies to lovers story line, this book is NOT for you, my friend. No way. Takkan’s character is so brave, so loving but he’s not irritating with it. So often when authors write about love interest (mainly in YA fantasy novels, I must say) they make the so freaking infuriating. They want to sacrifice themselves at every turn, they keep secrets, they make dodgy deals that never turn out right, they run away for “the greater good” or some other bs reason. Not my Takkan. Oooohh no, not our boy Takkan. They talk through everything, they communicate! And yes okay, there were some points where he’d do something a little reckless, but not annoyingly so; and I very much appreciate that.

One last point. The epilogue. The epilogue was so perfect. I loved it. Wholesome. Adorable. Everything I wanted. I would have liked to have seen the wedding, but we can’t have everything.


So, in conclusion, pals, I did enjoy this book. I did.
Did I find it frustrating at parts? Yes, 100%.
And do I wish parts of it had gone down differently? Yes, obviously, didn’t you not just read my review?

But I escaped into it. I lost myself in this world again. Lim has a way of writing that just consumes me. I wanted more, and that disappoints and upsets me. I feel if I didn’t love her other books as much as I do, I may have… possibly DNFed. But I didn’t. Because I loved the characters. Thinking about it now, as I write this review, right this second, that’s probably all it was that kept me going through this book.

Shiori. Takkan. Andahai, Benkai. Wendai and Yotan. Reiji. Hasho. Kiki.

It was their personalities, and their conversations that kept the book interesting for me. The love they all hold for each other, the way they all need to get a job done, but at the same time all have to protect one another.

Love. It was the character’s love for each other and my love for them that kept me going.


Thank you to Elizabeth Lim, the team at Hodder & Stoughton publishing and NetGalley UK for providing me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated reads after devouring Six Crimson Cranes.
Elizabeth Lim just creates such a magical world, steeped in culture.
I felt that the beginning was a little slow to get started, but after that it was action packed.
I loved getting to see more of each character, and I adore Kiki's cheeky playfulness.
All in all I thought this was a fantastic end to the duology.

The Dragon’s Promise is just as whimsical, maybe even more so than the first book in this beauitful duology. Lim has created such a vibrant world with developed characters and stakes. Cannot wait to see what she does next

After reading ‘Six Crimson Cranes’ I had high hopes for the second, and final, instalment in this duology.
Even though I got attached to the characters and really enjoyed this author’s writing style, ‘The Dragon’s Promise’ left me disappointed.

In the first book we had this intricate storyline, filled with mysterious characters, legends and a clear-cut antagonist. The plot was simple, but it was executed so well, that I was hooked from the start, and the ending left me wanting to continue immediately. ‘The Dragon’s Promise’ picks up exactly when the first book left off, but the plot in this one becomes a lot more convoluted. We have 4 different antagonists, and many unnecessary plot lines, that made the story complicated and frankly boring at times.

I would recommend this series overall. It is a magical young adult fantasy with a perfect amount of romance and adventure.