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.

As far as sequels go, this was done exceptionally well!
I loved that the transition from book one wasn't jarring, the character development is lush.

'Your heart is your home. Until you understand that, you belong nowhere.’

The second and final book to this East Asian folklore inspired duology. First of all, the book covers are absolutely gorgeous; a literal work of art. I loved how this book shows how family bonds can be strengthened even with distance and tragedy. It shows the importance of promises and the purpose of last wishes.

I loved it. The characters grew so much from the beginning of Six Crimson Cranes (book 1). All of Shiori’s brothers were really likeable characters. And Takkan ;) Their relationship was soo cute and he’s just so in tune to her. Even so, there are a few things which could have made it better - like including Shiori’s wedding (finally)!

If you like the sound of magic, dragons, demons, a fierce female main character with a paper bird as a sidekick, you should definitely read this.

"Your heart is your home. Until you understand that, you belong nowhere."

This was wonderful!

The Dragon's Promise starts out with Shiori travelling to the Dragon Realm with Seryu. The descriptions of everything were beautiful and it was all fascinating but I did start to lose interest a little as it felt like Shiori was there forever.

There was slightly more action here than in Six Crimson Cranes, with Shiori finding herself in many different places.

I love that we got answers to a lot of questions posed in the first book, and that Shiori found out more about her stepmother.

I am a big fan of books with family dynamics and I was so happy that we got to know Shiori's dad, The Emperor, too. His conversations with his daughter and the love he had for his children were heartwarming.

And Takkan was just the sweetest, I truly loved him and Shiori together.

The ending wasn't my favourite - I thought things were going one way, then it all ended up differently with another legend/tale thrown in which possibly wasn't completely necessary. I guess it worked though, and I really loved this book.

i really enjoyed six crimson cranes when i read it last year so it hurts to acknowledge how painfully average its sequel is.

the first 30% was completely disconnected from the rest of the plot and felt like a whole other story. the magical underwater dragon city is a pretty nice concept so i don't understand why the author decided to abandon it for the demon plotline, which was frankly lame and boring as hell. the main goal was vague and not as compelling as the one in the first book. the plot after the first 30% felt random and all over the place, especially towards the end - it felt like the author was coming up with ideas on the spot to keep the story going somehow. plus, some ideas from the first book were repeated here - it almost felt as if the author was forced to write this sequel.

personally, i think characters like shiori and takkan can only remain charming for one book - the more i got of them, the more they started to wear me out (although i admit their romance is cute). there were a couple of new characters introduced who had a lot of potential but sadly they turned out to be pointless and played no significant role in the plot.

honestly, the dragon's promise feels a bit of an unnecessary book to me - six crimson cranes would've worked perfectly well as a standalone.

overall, this is still a fast-paced, compulsively readable book with a nice writing style and if you really really love the characters, i think you'll like it (most of the early reviews are positive so i might be in the minority).

thank you to netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

Elizabeth Lim simply does not know how to miss. She's just a wonderful young adult fantasy writer, one who has such a clear vision for what she writes and can execute it beautifully. My favorite in a very full pond of writers attempting to do what she always manages to pull off with aplomb.

Six Crimson Cranes should have remained a standalone. I'm disappointed with this sequel.

If there's one thing I dislike it's character regression. I don't want to commit to a series in which the MC is experiencing growth only to have it swiped away in the sequel to create drama or to have an excuse to write a follow-up. Here, Shiori is naive and childish like in the past. She doesn't take things seriously, she hurts people with her words, she gets tricked time and time again... She didn't learn anything.

We spend the whole book with Shiori trying to get the pearl back to its owner. Let's say that 400 pages of a girl having side inconsequential quests and the only real plot being this pearl is not super exciting... To top it all off, every drama or hint at excitement never come to fruition. I don't like to be teased if nothing is going to come out of it. This book is about Shiori wandering around, being the victim of the villains' plans . Unconvincing, easily-defeated villains at that. Seryu is never seen again after the episode in the sea, except at the end just to say that the author didn't forget him. I was counting on this friendship, and the author didn't deliver.

The ghosts, the demons, the magic, the war... They're not developed. Even the new characters don't have a huge purpose, same as Takkan and the brothers. I feel like the author didn't know what to do with her characters anymore. Bandur doesn't feel like a huge threat honestly, he didn't do anything serious. He could have done more considering his powers but he prefers to talk.

The last 30% are the most interesting. I liked to learn more about Raikama's past. However, the ending was so cheesy I was rolling my eyes.

3,5/5 stars. Look, I’m the no 1 Elizabeth Lim advocate, my keyboard automatically suggests “Elizabeth Lim” when I type “El”, and I liked the book, but I’ve also been disappointed from time to time.

First off, what was that first 25% of the book? Everyone was out of character, I almost started hating Seryu for his weird—to say the least—actions, the plot tasted like the water I’d dip my lollipop in. If I didn’t love Six Crimson Cranes this much, I would have thought about DNFing this book.

But luckily, the entire book wasn’t about that beginning. After that first fourth, the story picks up from the right place it left, and it makes me want to erase my memory and convince myself the book starts at that point. I liked the new perspective on demons, the last spoiler-y allusion, and much more, even though I could feel the narrative being a little sloppy at times.

The characters go through amazing arcs in Six Crimson Cranes. Though everyone has the arcs, you fall especially in love with Shiori’s growth, the amazing amazing, beautifully written change in her thought process and priorities. But maybe since it was this drastic and charming in the first novel, the sequel was very lacking on this aspect. It makes sense, since everyone already reached their potential, but I think some doubts, maybe-i-should-let-everyone-die-and-run-off-to-the-woods-with-my-lover kind of thoughts would be beneficial for the reader’s experience. Since we’re told everything from Shiori’s perspective, we could go through the confusion together. Especially the presence of demons was a great opportunity in my opinion, as they could distort her view of reality in many ways.

Yes, that brings us to the writing. I wasn’t that amazed by it. Reading the book at the speed that I read it in (i finished the whole thing in approx. 3 hours), I only stopped twice and reread a passage. This is not a great sign, as reading SCC was a totally different experience. As mentioned, Shiori goes through pretty much no change in this one, which makes the writing a little dull and empty at times.

Anyway. LOVED the ending. It wasn’t too tragic, it wasn’t too happy-ever-after. Might even have cried a little reading it.

Endless thanks to the publisher for this copy, I seriously couldn’t have waited until August 30!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Another beautiful story by Elizabeth Lim.More adventure,more character development and more world building. what more can you ask for. looking forward to future work from this author.

What an amazing & totally enchanting book . Full of good , Evil, love , passion ,Life & Death as our heroine fights Ghosts & Demon's in order to fulfill a promise made to her dying Stepmother , she encounters Dragon's & even stands up to their King , a book that will enthrall children & adults alike so I highly recommend it #NetGalley, #GoodReads, #FB,#Instagram, #Amazon.co.uk, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/358a5cecda71b11036ec19d9f7bf5c96d13e2c55" width="80" height="80" alt="100 Book Reviews" title="100 Book Reviews"/>, <img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>.

Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author and/or publisher. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. A positive review is not required.

**Thank you to NetGalley, #HodderBooks, and #HodderPublicity for my advance copy!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Note: The Dragon's Promise is Book 2 of the Six Crimson Cranes duology. I advised readers to best read the books in order, starting with Six Crimson Cranes. Although not required, this series can be further enjoyed by reading the Spin the Dawn series since there are some "hints" of things to come that readers may enjoy.

The Dragon's Promise's pace was good and well done! The POV is still only from Shiori'anma. There were many new and "grey" characters in the book, BUT all intentional in shaping Shiori and the story's development. The conflicts were a lot, if not abundant, to digest. There was always something to wedge between Shiori and Takkan's HEA. Some of these were a hopeful suitor/friend, a lost pearl, people wanting the bloodsake (Shiori) sacrificed, and demons, dragons, ghosts, etc., are all thrown in the mix. I don't know where to hug the author or cry my eyes out as many dilemmas, frustration, and grief riddled each chapter! I had little relief at each turn as new characters came forth complicated things - friend or foe is always at the back of Shiori's head, even her beloved Takkan!
There is some slight reference to the Spin the Dawn duology, but readers are not required to read it before diving into this series.

I enjoyed the comedy injection in perfectly timed scenes. Else, I would have been a total wreck! It would have taken me forever to finish the book with the many sobbing and emotional moments that the author wrote. Most of the clever comments and laugh-out moments came from Kiki, Shiori's paper crane. From the witty banter and side comments, Kiki's got spice, spunk, and humor tastefully delivered with a side of sarcasm that is an art form on its own! Each retort or comment will bring out a chuckle in any reader.

I love the author's character development for Shiori. Shiori grew up a lot in this book. She evolved and grew stepped up on empathy, duty, and acceptance of her role in Kiata's betterment. She is far from perfect, and there were many times Kiki would chastise Shiori of her. In Book 1, Shiori, the young, impulsive, and "carefree" princess of Kiata, learns about responsibility, humility, and destiny within herself and her royal duties - consequences and love. In this book, she further explores her magical side and its connection to Kiata. She discovers that she is more than just a princess.
Simply put, she embraces her fate while still holding to her beliefs. She matured to be a brave and honorable princess, even if faced with fierce temptation and times of giving up. She maneuvered the future to how she saw fit for everyone - sacrificing everything for peace in her country, upholding her word, and being impossibly selfless.

Overall, The Dragon's Promise is an enchanting, fantastic read! There is much worldbuilding that I am convinced that places like Kiata, Ai'Long, Tambu, etc., can be seen on the world map with the care and detail provided!
The story is written and developed very well. It honors all the characters as a bittersweet farewell, from the main characters, and from Emperor Hanriyu to temple keeper Oshri. Beautiful people who will imprint themselves into readers' hearts.
Expect a rollercoaster of emotions and a winner's circle win at the end! I am sad to see the end of Shiori and Tekkan's story, BUT I am also happy with how the author wrote the ending. There were still some twists (hint: more waterworks coming), BUT what a spectacular ending worthy of being termed "Happily Ever After" in its truest sense!

*Chef Kiss*