This book sadly isn’t working for me! I loved love Six Crimson Cranes so very much but the direction this book has taken isn’t one I enjoyed. This sadly seems to be a running theme with me and this author. I would still recommend this book for fans of the first one, it sadly just didn’t work for me.

Whereas Six Crimson Cranes is the retelling of a fairytale, The Dragon's Promise dives further into the world Elizabeth Lim created and spins its own tale.
Shiori has promised to return the broken pearl to its rightful owner - but she has also promised to present it to the dragon king who has no intention of letting her stay unpunished for weaving a starstroke net. The young sorceress has to use every last trick up her sleeve to survive in the dragon realm and return the pearl.

The setting is amazing. We start out in an underwater kingdom with mermaids and sharks and of course loads of dragons. The descriptions are once again simply beautiful and really pulled me into the story. Later we also travel to other parts of this world and while I always enjoy reading about different places, unfortunately the magical descriptions didn't continue.

There was quite a bit of Seryu content - and our favourite dragon has his own plans and secrets. I actually preferred him in this book at first, as we saw more of his scheming dragon side. However, he wasn't as much in this book as I would've expected after the beginning had offered such a glorious welcome. In fact, for a book called The Dragon's Promise, I'd have expected way more dragons. There were also a couple of things with Seryu that didn't get tied up in a satisfactory way in my opinion.
I did like how much Takkan was in this book. At the beginning I was quite worried that he'd only have a tiny role, but turns out he is just as awesome as in book one.
Shiori is also great - again she is smart and tries her best with the cards she's been dealt.

The plot started out amazingly. The ending of Six Crimson Cranes left me slightly confused, so I was worried about reading a complete mess of a book, but it was simple enough. In fact, it turned out to be a bit repetitive and boring for some time.

A very nice book. The first half was awesome, exciting, with lots of scheming and treachery. To my great disappointment, the second half couldn't hold up to those standards. It was still nice, I really enjoyed it, but it didn't blow me away.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder&Stoughton for offering me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The sequal to six crimson cranes and i liked it so much, even though i think this book was really not needed having another book with the beloved characters was nice.
This is a continuation of the previous book and picks up right from where it left. However this the dragon's promise felt a bit more stuffed , there were too many subplots and things to achieve while really little time . Shiori was also annoying at time but what tied the book together was kiki and the side characters.
Even though this book had its pros and cons, the characters really made me read the book till the end and even recommend it to people further.

I've read Six Crimson Cranes and I was disappointed. The thing about YA novels is that I have high expectations for the main character to explore herself more because I love the idea where teenagers find their true selves but to put a whole romance as a narrative makes it hard for me to like because I feel like Shiori could have done so much better. Also, I am not surprised by the writing style. It has not changed since the last few books (I actually read Spin the Dawn duology and yes again, disappointed). I was trying to give the writing style another chance but I ended up hating it again (why do I do this to myself). It was such a bummer! I really wanted to like the book because the premise is so interesting and her covers are always so pretty but I really hated the unnecessary love acute-angle and the fact that Shiori's story revolves around both Takkan and Seryu makes it devastatingly tiring to read. Perhaps I've outgrown YA.

The world is magical, the writing is eloquent, Shiori is still an amazing main character. Overall, a pretty good end to this duology.

“The dragon promise”- the sequel to “Six crimson cranes” has been a fascinating read. I must say the cover art is as beautiful as the first part. The write is fluid, vivid and quite imaginative. The story starts from where it has ended in the first part and Shiori goes on her other missions alone and later on with his brothers and fiancee. Her bond with them is so adorable.🤩

Similar to part one Shiori continued to be impetuous which brings a lot of trouble. The first part of the book is quite adventurous and magical. However, I found the 2nd part to be repetitive and lacking all the magical elements. There's a sense of urgency to finish the story. Overall, it’s a good read but not a great one as the first part.😊

P.S: Thank you Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.🙏🏻
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The Dragon’s' Promise starts right where Six Crimson Cranes left off, with Shiori on the highway to the kingdom of dragons with her dragon friend Seryu. This part of the story made up around a fourth of the book, and was the part I enjoyed the least. Why? Because everyone seemed to be all over the place in terms of wants and loyalty. It just became a bit too overwhelming to keep track of it all. The kingdom itself was an interesting place and sounded pretty amazing in itself, but there was just so much drama surrounding it.

It also didn’t help that I was a bit annoyed with Shiori. She was so impulsive and in the dragon’s realm it just led to her getting trapped again and again… It started getting a bit frustrating to read, like “get your senses girl!”. So I found myself enjoying the story a lot more when it moved back on land, and we got to see Takkan and Shiori’s brothers again. Because just like in Six Crimson Cranes the supporting characters are my favourites, especially Takkan. So it was nice to have him there to balance out Shiori.

One thing I did really enjoy that wasn’t in Six Crimson Cranes was the expanded world we get to see. The whole story is basically the world’s most high stake road trip, and I’m here for it! There were so many places that got explored and it was wonderful to learn more about the world the book takes place in. I also really enjoyed that we got to learn more about Shiori’s stepmother's backstory, a character that I came to empathize with in the previous book. Something that wasn’t as wonderful was the demons, but hey that’s basically their whole thing. They’re the bad guys and served their purpose to the story. Lastly, the ending was a bit bittersweet. But I kind of liked it as it has this connection to the stories that were told within the books. It rounded things off in a neat way.

Let me just start by saying this......I'm not up for triangles. The reason I'm not is because normally my fave guy loses!! So imagine my surprise in SCC when I loved both. Equally. What would this book do to my heart?

Well lets find out!

'Make sure he deserves you.'

In this book we went from the dragon city of Ai'long back to Kiata then to a forbidden land with Shori on her adventures to reunite the pearl with its owner and stop the evil Bandur. With him haunting her every step!

Although I found this book slower than the last there were so many things I loved.....

~ Seryu - my dragon prince!
~ Ai'long, the dragon world, it was described so beautifully!
~ A familiar character who bought me a lot of joy!
~ Takkan, what a heartthrob!
~ Kiki - she is up there with my fave sarcastic animal sidekicks with her keeping it real attitude!

And one last mention of a new someone who is a totally new fave! Elang......

'You’d do well to remember this: your heart is your home. Until you understand that, you belong nowhere.'

I'm hoping next for a book about Elang? Finding his pearl and his HEA?! Please!

In conclusion, my heart wasn't broke and this was a good read!

It felt so good to be back in Shiori's world!

Once again, Lim moves the story along with ease, following Shiori in her task; in this book we get more insight into Shiori’s relationship with her step mother and her desire to reconnect with her family. It blows my mind how much happens in this book, there is literally never a dull moment! While I didn’t love these books as much as the Blood of Stars duology, they were still so very beautifully written. The world building is perfect (can i visit the dragon realm please?) and I adored the characters, especially Kiki!

It hasn’t been long since I read another variation of the seven swans tale but Lim makes this one all of her own and takes it further into her own imagination. I love the easy flowing writing style and the vivid descriptions of the landscapes and characters - it’s very easy to fall in love with them!

Since I really enjoyed Elizabeth’s first book in this duology I was super excited to get reading. I found that it took a while for me to get into this book but the world building and the story is absolutely magical. Shiori is so fun to follow and Elizabeth writes with passion it’s very clear to see. The rating is 4/5 for me because unlike the first book I just struggled with getting into the first few chapters.

A Dragon’s Promise is a fast-paced continuation of Six Crimson Cranes and a worthy conclusion.

A Dragon’s Promise continues immediately after the ending of Six Crimson Cranes. After making the promise to her stepmother to return the pearl to it’s rightful owner, Shiori dives into the ocean with Seryu to visit the land of the dragons.

Shiori will travel the world, navigate the politics between human, dragon, and demon, and fight for her country and loved ones, in order to keep her promise to her stepmother.

When I started reading A Dragon’s Promise, I had forgotten how incredibly high-paced Six Crimson Cranes was. Something new and exciting happens every other sentence, which makes the entire story feel incredibly rushed - a problem I had with the first book as well. If this story had been written as a trilogy, the pacing would have been much better. We would’ve gotten to know the characters on a deeper level, with more character development, there’d be more world building and a more established magic system.

That being said, I did thoroughly enjoy A Dragon’s Promise. The story itself is a beautiful fairytale, and once you start reading, you’ll be hooked till the end. A lot of the loose ends in Six Crimson Cranes are resolved satisfyingly and make this a worthy ending of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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.

Shiori is one courageous fool. Danger actively seeks her out and every time, she’s committed to facing it head on - regardless of any consequences that may befall her. We really see her go on a journey of self acceptance in this book - that her magic is an intrinsic part of her, one that is capable of so much if only she would let it out and stretch its wings. It’s not entirely relatable but I didn’t mind that because we were swept along on the same journey she was. I admire her bravery and enjoyed her sarcasm and wit. Not at all a typical princess which made her very fun to read.
Takkan is such a sweetheart. He’s caring and gentle, wanting the best for Shiori and doing all he can to ensure she is safe. There were many moments where he made my heart melt - both through heartfelt admissions and impulsive gestures - and it just made me like him even more. Wouldn’t mind a Takkan in my life.

A lot happened in this book. And I mean A LOT. At times I must admit that it felt a little repetitive - danger comes, Shiori faces it, something goes wrong, Shiori gets rescued or she wiggles her way out of a tight spot and then it happens all over again. I do wish there was a little more in between these moments to space them out a bit - I just wanted to see a smidge more normality in between the whole fighting-for-your-life moments. The romance elements were much better in this book. There were a few moments where I did wonder if a love triangle was going to come into play and I am so glad it didn’t! It really would not have fitted in with this story in my opinion. But the romance we did get was very sweet. I feel that the ending is very interesting. Not at all what I expected which was nice - a lot of the time I feel I can predict what is going to happen but this was not the case for this book. The surprise was very much welcomed.

Overall, The Dragon’s Promise is a good conclusion to Shiori’s story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you again to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advanced copy of this book. Review will be live on my blog on 29th August.

The Dragon’s Promise by Elizabeth Lim is the thrilling ending to the Six Crimson Cranes duology. 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 ever. She must journey to the kingdom of dragons, navigate through political intrigue and fend off thieves who will go to any lengths to snatch the pearl. It will take every ounce of Shiori’s strength to defend the life and love she has fought so hard to win.

This continues right after the ending of Six Crimson Cranes. We are thrown straight into the plot but this is where things started to get a little dense for me. I understand that this is a YA novel and there are certain implications of that however love triangles are something that need to be certain before being portrayed. Shiori spent a full novel trying to be with Takkan so why now does Seryu get a say in this? This was not handled well and really threw the plot for me.

I felt that many characters were reduced and that can work well given the story but the journey here lacked any memorable or unique moments between characters and the atmosphere felt indifferent each time. The villain was cartoon-y and repetitive and the stakes were practically non-existent. This story felt chaotic and painful at times and that is such a disappointing statement after Six Crimson Cranes.

I wish I could have loved this. It was a breath of fresh air with Six Crimson Cranes but the ending has made me uninterested at reading the series again.

Unfortunately for me, this is example no. 1737372898 of sequels disappointing me more often than not. I always try to be cautiously optimistic, and sometimes I'm even excited, but most of the time the sequel just doesn't live up to its predecessor at all.

As for this one, it felt wholly unnecessary, and I wish Six Crimson Crane had been a standalone. I enjoyed Six Crimson Crane mainly because it had all the charm of a fairytale, and I just missed all of that in the sequel. I have to admit the writing was solid, but the story didn't pull me in at all. That's also a me thing, because the story is more plot driven than character driven, which is not my preference and makes it hard for me to feel invested.

I’m really at a loss to say how I feel about this one. I absolutely loved book one, easily making this one of my most anticipated reads. I loved the premise we were given and the way book 1 ended. However, I don’t really feel like that was delivered fully. The first 36% was great, it set out to do what it had promised but then it was almost like the author struggled to write about the court under the sea. It was lacking, I don’t really feel like we actually saw court life like we should, it was more just back and forth battling which while gripping got a bit repetitive and left me wanting so much more. Then that part of the story just ended pretty abruptly. It was like that was all the author had and it didn’t warrant a second book. It then goes on a really tedious, almost similar story to the first. Any new characters we meet in book 2 show briefly and actually fade away into nothing so we are left with a repeat of the first, except a mayor character who is just quickly axed part way never to resurface apart from fleetingly at the end. We are then repeatedly back and forth all over the place, I personally found it confusing. The different names for the same characters left me struggling to keep up and for me it shouldn’t of been that hard to follow considering that it was a pretty straight forward plot. I felt like we were at times just going over old ground. Now I love the characters in book 1,I love the worlds and Lim can write that’s been proven. So, why was this so disjointed in the middle? We had a great beginning and what was a spectacular end, so I wish this had been a longer standalone. The ending was incredible, and when I say the end I mean the 30 odd pages up until this point I’d really struggled to finish the last 20%. But the ending really had me sitting up and paying attention, it was emotional and dramatic, really adding a much needed twist to finish but unfortunately not enough to save this for me.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an arc to this book!

The Dragon’s Promise is the second and final book in the Six Crimson Cranes duology. The book picks up immediately after the events of the first, so beware of spoilers for that first book.

Shiori is back home and reunited with her brothers, but she still has one thing left to do. She made a death bed promise to her stepmother that she would return the pearl she wore to its rightful owner. To find that owner, she is now venturing into the dragon realm in the sea with her dragon prince friend, Seryu.

When I started the book, I was very intrigued by the dragon realm and the underwater setting, but Shiori’s business in the dragon realm was settled more quickly than I had expected, so we didn’t really spend that much time in this world, which is a shame. After that, the story started dragging a lot. There are a lot of chapters where nothing actually happened, I just could not feel the story progress. I did not care about Bandur. I already thought he was a random villain in the first book and that didn’t change in this one.

I’m still not the biggest fan of this writing style, but I do think improvements were made in this book. Same as the first book, the characters were the best part of the story. Shiori, Takkan and her brothers are all so likeable and feel like distinct people. If you loved them in the first book, you’ll love them more in this one.

Overall, this book is... fine. I don’t feel very strongly either way. I don’t think a sequel was really necessary, but I do get the story Elizabeth Lim wanted to tell in this second book. If you loved the first book, you’ll probably love this one. I’ll read whatever Elizabeth Lim writes next.

I had high hopes for this sequel, but they were, sadly, dashed the closer I came to the conclusion. Initially, I dismissed it as having forgotten the plot of the first book and cursed myself for not rereading it beforehand. However, I soon realized that... it wasn't that. First and foremost, the love triangle. I cannot stand this trope, even if it's well written, and the predictability of the outcome was easy to guess. My favourite character in the book, Seryu, vanished completely after twenty-something chapters, and I was terribly disappointed. Secondly, the plot was very easy to follow because there isn't one! The only parts I can remember towards the end was Shiori gasping many many times and her father sending her to her room for half the book and the villain just?? Existing?? Then boom! He's gone too! And they lived happily ever after.

[2.5/5]

Having survived her fatal curse, Princess Shiori must make good on her promise to her stepmother and return her dragon’s pearl to its rightful owner. But when the journey consists of a time-bending dragon’s den and an island that is the birthplace of demons, Shiori finds herself dealing with matters unheard of. While navigating human politics and its disdain for the magic that runs in her blood, Shiori must also tackle the pearl as its disorderly state threatens to harm those around her. Can she mend all she’s done, or will she sever her threads of fate?

The Dragon’s Promise wastes no time in its pacing, picking up right where the first one has ended. Shiori and her brothers are mourning the death of their stepmother after discovering that her curse was really protecting them all this time. Having spent most of the Six Crimson Cranes traversing her homeland, Shiori must enter the dragon realm and deal with the Dragon King, who is determined to get his claws on the peal at all cost. But her story is far from being over, as she must also make her way to the island of demons, luring the monster Bandur, a familiar enemy from Crimson, who is hellbent on bringing Shiori to her knees.

The theme of family, both found and birth, runs deep in this duology and is one of its most defining aspects. Shiori grows closer with her brothers, finds love with Takkan and even a great friendship with Seryu, her dragon companion. While Takkan is the definitive love interest, I think I might have been part of a smaller crowd who adored Seryu and Shiori’s connection. Nonetheless, Shiroi and Takkan are downright adorable together. We are introduced briefly to new characters within the Dragon Realm, and in moments like then, I mourned that this story was only a duology because the potential runs deep as the dragon realm. Elang, a cousin of Seryu, to Gen, a trapped magic-user, are a few to name. Characters who come and go but make their marks in the scenes they appear in. As with Crimson, the way Lim weaves Asian mythology into this retelling of The Wild Swans is top-notch. Brilliant characters with beautiful writing all wrapped up into a duology that feels well done.

The Dragon’s Promise was enchanting and fantastical. The Kingdom of Kiata is vast and memorable. From the harsh winters of Iro to the Forgotten Isles of Lapzur, Lim brings to life an entire continent with glorious detail and special moments. Elizabeth Lim has gained a forever fan from this duology alone.

The Dragon's Promise is the sequel to Six Crimson Cranes, and I was very excited for it since I loved the first book, but unfortunately this title didn't live up to my expectations.

Duologies are tricky, and looking back I feel like Six Crimson Cranes would've worked a lot better as a standalone. The main storyline (the wild swans retelling) was already concluded in the first book, and The Dragon's Promise tried to expand on the worldbuilding and do something different but it turned out to be a bit of a mess.

The first 30% felt like a whole different book, but even that was better than the second half. The pacing was odd. A lot of the characters introduced were not really remarkable and overall I just felt like the author used all of the good ideas in the first book and this one had only the leftovers.

The ending was interesting, I must say, but by the end I didn't care as much about the plot anymore.

I received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me this opportunity.

4.5 stars.

Full of high stakes action, beautiful heartfelt moment and delicious food.

This sequel did not disappoint - beautifully written and that ending was so wonderfully written.

I am salty that my favourite character didn't get the ending they deserved but I am so glad we got to explore a dynamic that really drew me in, in Six Crimson Cranes.

Overall a magnificent ending to this duology. For those who enjoy magical journeys with fantastic folklore and wonderful connections - you will enjoy this.