They say don't judge a book by it's cover but this does it perfectly - it has such a stunning cover and the inside matches because it is an incredible sequel!

As soon as I finished Six Crimson Cranes, I wanted the next book. I adore the world and I was excited to dive into The Dragon's Promise. I really enjoyed seeing Shiori continue the journey she was on in Six Crimson Cranes and I loved the way The Dragon's Promise ended. I can't wait for more books from Elizabeth Lim.

Six Crimson Cranes was such an enjoyable read, I was excited for more (and it’s got yet more beautiful cover art) but sadly this book felt unnecessary and was a struggle to get through. It just doesn’t feel like the book accomplished much, the plot felt convoluted yet uninteresting, the world building not nearly as effective as book 1 and i didn’t feel the romance. While I loved SCC, the quality of that book makes this one so much more frustrating as it doesn’t feel like carries across well and it was a difficult read to push through. Shiori doesn’t even feel the same person we left in SCC.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review, I really wanted to love this.

To be fair, I fully expected Six Crimson Cranes to be a standalone back when I read it, so I went into this already thinking this sequel was kind of unnecessary... and reading this only fortified that.

I feel like a lot happened in this book, but it basically didn't amount to anything, or barely anything? I mean, I'm glad we got some more of Shiori, Kiki, Takkan and Shiori's gang of brothers, but judging from the title, I expected a lot more Seryu and he was only present for the first half, if that.

I'm also not sure if Elizabeth Lim's writing is for me anymore. There's a lot of telling, and I always feel very far removed from the action and whatever is happening.
I did like the ending though, so I guess this wasn't all bad!

The Dragon´s Promise was one of my most anticipated sequels of 2022 and overall, it did not fully disappoint me. While it felt (at least for me) quite different from the first book and I have some mixed feelings about certain things and the ending, I truly enjoyed diving back into Shiori´s world.

The story picks up right where we left off… Shiori, accompanied by her devoted paper crane Kiki, going to the dragon realm with our shapeshifting boy dragon Seryu. The first approx 30% of the story which we spent in the underwater dragon kingdom felt a bit different and kind of disconnected from the rest of the book. And while I enjoyed the rest too and missed Takkan at the beginning, I think I prefer it. The dragon´s realm called Ai'long is magical and very dangerous at the same it. It´s full of ruthless dragons, giant turtles, and shark and jellyfish patrols. I loved seeing Shiori, Kiki, and Seryu navigate this sea world and the unexpected problems that came their way. It managed to enchant me and keep me on my toes. Overall, the first half of the book was incredibly enjoyable.

The rest which could be described as the demon plot was still entertaining. I loved that we got to know more about Shiori´s stepmother, see more of the brothers, and reunite Shiori with Takkan but at the same time I missed Seryu and the underwater realm. On top of it, I missed Takkan´s sister who was an absolute delight in the first book. She is only mentioned there a few times and makes one brief appearance.

Nevertheless, thinking about the last ⅔ of the book, it felt a bit… underwhelming. I just think the first part of the story flew more naturally than the second where it started to be really complicated, yet kind of convenient, despite a certain level of recklessness of the characters. I still enjoyed it, it was not boring but I cannot overlook how convenient and kind of all over the place it felt. Shiori, Takkan, Kiki, and Shiori´s brothers are on the move most of the time, meandering from one place to the next. The stakes are HIGH and while the characters travel the realm to fulfill the quest and save Kiata from Bandur and his demons, they encounter many problems which take their toll, but in the end, it somehow feels a bit random and a bit much. While the plot was fine this time around -like I said, I enjoyed the book - it wasn't as great as I expected it to be.

In addition, let me say that Shiori is still an amazing main character, though still making a bit reckless choices, and I still love my precious lord Takkan. I felt their love and kept rooting for them but… yes, here comes the but… I think their romance was, kind of naturally, more intriguing in the first book. They are the sweetest but this time I missed more… spark. Speaking of romance, I was a bit concerned about the possibility of a love triangle and now I can assure those curious about it that it is not there.

While I cannot tell you much about the ending because of spoilers, I can safely say I feel VERY conflicted about it and it feels kind of bittersweet to me.

It was a pretty good enjoyable book but not as amazing as the first one - while I enjoyed it my heart was not in it AS FULLY AS it once has been, therefore I give it 4 stars instead of 5. My advice is… don't go into this with huge expectations, so you won't get disappointed.

Thankyou for allowing me to read The Dragons Promise. The writing style of Elizabeth Lim is fantastic, it is so easy to read and it just flows. I really enjoyed this sequel, when i finished Six Crimson Cranes i wanted to know what would happen next and this gave me my answers. I love the characters and i liked the plot. i will continue to read from this author.

Elizabeth Lim creates such incredibly rich worlds populated by fascinating characters and fast-paced plots. The writing style is accessible and the reader will find themself turning the pages in an effort to find out what happens next. I loved the romance in this one whilst also being a bit disappointed we didn't get more Seryu. Hopefully in another book!

2 stars are for the last few chapters and for Seryu. Generally this sequel felt absolutely pointless and managed to drag on for more pages than I was willing to commit to. The first 30% follows our heroine in the land of the dragons and begins to actual develop that friendship and the dragons…only for it to end super easily and the next 70% of the book to struggle along. I literally feel like you could remove the dragons entirely from the book and it would be almost identical. The only bit that was relevant was the pearls and that’s it. Which is really extra frustrating as we barely get any page time with Seryu in the first book and I honestly thought this book was it…and then Lim really decided nah. Who cares about the dragons from the title of this book? Not me.

The brothers still have a hive mind and I have no idea who is who. Kiki continued to be smarter than an actual human, her father has no real power apparently and just bumbles around, and we go on a world tour as Shiori wanders from place to place complaining and being self righteous. I was so bored. Literally what was the point other than to show she super loved her boyfriend who is less interesting than a cardboard cutout.

I think scc should have been a stand-alone and dragons promise if we needed it could have been another standalone with…you know, dragons. Also it’s hard to have a prequel involving demons since we know that isn’t properly resolved until STD and UTS so like what’s the point? The whole ending of this book essentially has to put the world in the position we are in during Spin the Dawn and so essentially removes all progress or need for the books at all.

The ending was also a bit out of left field. Unless it’s meant to be a nod to daughter of the moon goddess it doesn’t fit with the rest of the novels. Will I still read the next book? Yes. Will I be mad about it if it sucks? Yes.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, however The Dragon's Promise did not live up to its predecessor. The pacing was pretty all over the place, and I found the ending to be slightly unsatisfying.

➽ <b>I loved Six Crimson Cranes, but it did NOT need a sequel 😭</b> I would definitely recommend Six Crimson Cranes, as it’s a great book, but if you want to read the sequel, you should be open for a <u>completely different vibe</u>. The Dragon’s Promise should have been a companion novel in my opinion, but not a sequel, as there wasn’t that much to continue with. The first book could have slightly altered the ending and wrapped up all the loose threads. Maybe that’s why this second book felt forced and <b>lost almost all of the magic the first book had.</b>

➽ <b>The plot was all over the place.</b> The main plotline is supposed to be all about the pearl and Shiori fulfilling her stepmother’s final wish to return it to its owner. We start out in the Dragon world and while I struggled with the beginning, I found this setting the most intriguing part of the story!! Getting more into the lore and life of the dragons was interesting and a breath of fresh air.

➽ <b>Sadly we switch settings at about 45% and it all goes downhill from there.</b> The pearl storyline gets sidelined multiple times throughout the book in favor of the demon storyline. Unfortunately, the <u>demons weren’t nearly as interesting and the main villain felt so cartoonish</u>. Generally, the middle of the book dragged, as not much happened. I feel like going back to the palace as the main setting was a mistake, as I found it such a boring setting. There were several promising storylines – such as Shiori’s new sister in law, the prejudice against Shiori’s magic – but none of them felt properly explored. <b>This book was all over the place</b> and didn’t manage to have a coherent, intriguing narrative.

➽ <b>The characters that I loved before got on my nerves most of the time</b>.  I liked following Shiori and co in the first book, but something about this book felt bland. <b>Shiori’s brothers felt indistinguishable from each other</b> when the previous book had at least attempted to work out their differences. Now it felt like her brothers lacked any personality to distinguish them at all. I found that their overprotectiveness got on my nerves much more. Same with Shiori’s father tbh. Takkan is still a sweet guy, but it began to annoy me how he’d try to play the martyr.

➽ <b>Don’t even get me started on some of my favorites from the last book! Seryu</b> was severely underused in this book and his character got assassinated so badly. <u>His friendship with Shiori felt so forced and inauthentic</u>, it didn’t even feel like they were friends at all. Even worse, <b>the author had to include a romantic subplot</b>, even though it was SO clear that Shiori and Takkan are a couple and soon to be married. <spoiler> It was so bizarre and I hated the forced marriage storyline. Shiori is already engaged but Seryu plans to make her his companion, as it’s the only way he can “save” her. <u>I hated how he seriously asked her if she would consider honoring this engagement when she had no say in it and was clearly committed to Takkan.</u> The fact that he thought she’d accept having her memories and sense of self erased for him was so strange to me. I didn’t get why he suddenly had romantic feelings for her when it was clear he had no chance, this just felt like a plot device for me. Then he disappears after half of the book and isn’t heard from again.</spoiler> <b>Even worse Megari doesn’t have a role in this book</b>. She’s Takkan’s little sister and I was so disappointed that she was sidelined and only mentioned, even though it was possible to include her in the plot. The fact that her friendship with Shiori was ignored, made it even more glaringly obvious that all important characters in her life are men. Even her sister-in-law was barely there.

➽ <b>Shiori’s character felt like it regressed a bit here.</b> I loved seeing her growth in the first book, especially as she couldn’t speak or make her identity known and therefore had to be clever. Sadly, I felt like she barely learned from this experience. I understood her frustration and agreed with her at times. However, <b>she makes so many impulsive, reckless, and bad decisions and then flails when the consequences catch up with her.</b> It pained me how often she acted rashly despite her plans being clearly dangerous and then got saved by someone else. After a while, it got tedious to watch her mess up, as I saw the problems coming a mile away.

<b<u>The bright spots</u></b>

➽ <b>Gen was amazing! </b>He’s a new character and I loved his humor so much! He’s a sorcerer trapped in the dragon realm where Shiori first meets him. Gen was simply hilarious and one good addition to the character cast!

➽ <b>Kiki is amazing as always!</b> As Shiori’s paper bird, she’s invested in her fate and always has a smart comment about what’s on going.

➽ <b>Shiori’s grief and complicated feelings toward her stepmother were so well-done!</b> I loved how we get some flashbacks from their past and see how Shiori is struggling with the grief and regret of not having truly known her stepmother until the very end. Their strong connection made me so emotional!

➽ <b>I did actually like the ending!</b> It was a good balance of having a happy ending, but also having stakes and consequences for the final confrontation. This part probably was the most engaging and made me tear up.

Thanks in advance to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy.

After reading the first book, I was excited to read The Dragon’s Promise.
However the first one was pretty slow paced and Dragon’s Promise is even slower paced, which was not for me.
I also did not care much about her dragon friend and what happens with the pearl.
That’s why I didn’t finish the book.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of Six Crimson Cranes but hoped that The Dragon’s Promise would improve my opinion of the series and author. Sadly it did not. All the charm the characters developed in the first book evaporated. The pacing was awful and everything felt rushed and disjointed. The one redeeming thing about this book is the beautiful cover.

After loving Six Crimson Cranes, The Dragon's Promise was one of my most anticipated releases for 2022 and it was such a disappointment.
It was so boring and I found the storyline incredibly repetitive. I was so confused at the start as the story seemed abstract and completely brand new compared to the overarching storyline. The whole thing felt unnecessary and, if I'm being brutally honest here, Six Crimson Cranes would've been better off as a standalone.
I really wanted to love The Dragon's Promise yet I sadly found it to be painfully meh.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Wirklich schöner zweiter Teil dieseer Dilogie! Die Welt von Shiori und ihren Brüdern ist mit viel Liebe erschaffen worden und die Geschichten und Abenteuer ziehen den Leser geradzu in diese hinein. Allerdings hat mich der erste Teil doch mehr begeistert.

Loved this book. Thank you so much for the advanced copy. The main story was really well paced and kept me hooked, I could not put it down!

Elizabeth Lim never disappoints me with her amazing writing, memorable storytelling, and dynamic characters and this was no different. Besides from it being a truly breathtaking tale that stays with you long after you have finished, but it lives up to the first book perfectly. Her work is truly getting better and better, I cannot wait to see what she has in store next.

Thank you Netgalley for an e-arc of this book. I really wanted to read this after loving Six Crimson Cranes.

The book starts exactly where the 1st volume finishes and I was super happy to back in this world. You get to find out more about the magical beeings and the magical powers they have in this volume and I really loved it.

There ia great character development for our main protagonist, but I really wanted to see more of her brothers.

The book is almost split into 2 stories in a way: Shiori interacting with the dragons and Shiori interacting with the demons. There was a little connection between the 2 parts, but not much and that disappointed me a little. I wanted to see the dragons have more impact in the demons part to be honest, I hoped for it.

Still a wonderful conclusion to the duology and I really liked the ending. I highly recommend this duology!

I absolutely loved this book! The premise immediately hooked my interest and it was filled with twisty characters and such intense plot!

First of all, I would like to say thank you for the review copy, which was provided to me by the publisher. This fact does not in any way affect my personal opinion of this book. This post contains advertising and the rights for the book belong to the publisher.
Of course, is this only my personal opinion on the book and just because I give this rating to the book doesn’t mean, that everyone will have that opinion.

Of course, is this only my personal opinion on the book and just because I give this rating to the book doesn’t mean, that everyone will have that opinion.

I read until 20%, but then I decided not to finish this book. In my opinion, Six Crimson Cranes should have been a standalone. I had the same feeling when reading „The Blood of Stars“ Duology a few years ago.
I was really thrown into the story, and I expected a little bit of a gentler start for a second book. During the 100 pages, that I’ve read, sooooo much happened, and I was not confused, but I felt a bit of anger. The love triangle, which I expected a bit during Six Crimson Cranes, was just meeh. The characters had no real depth for me, and to be honest: I wasn’t rooting for any of them. Seryu gave me huge „best male friend whos secretly in love with you vibes“, and I don’t talk about the good kind.
Shiori also got a bit on my nerves. Sometimes I hoped she would be more reasonable and not so righteous.
Overall, I was just disappointed, and it felt like the author was a bit pressured to write a second book.
But keep in mind: I’ve only read 20%! Maybe it does get better after it.

Conclusion
Six Crimson Cranes should have been a standalone.

My rating is: No rating, because I did not finish it

This is the sequel to Six Crimson Cranes which I loved so I was excited to read this hoping to see more of the characters and story that I loved in the first book. While this book was enjoyable, I didn't love it as much as I loved the first book. In book 1 we get a lot of build up to Seryu and his realm and even the title suggested we would be spending a fair amount of time there but it was only the beginning of the book and it felt very rushed. I felt it was a bit of an unnecessary plot point considering the rest of the story.
When we do get back to above water and meet Takkan and the brothers again I enjoyed it a lot more. I love the relationship Shiori and Takkan have and that slow burn romance built from an unlikely friendship and I was so happy to see more of that in the sequel. I also loved seeing the brothers more and how the sibling relationship grew and changed because of everything they went through together.
The story itself was a fun read though the pacing was a little off, some parts felt rushed and others dragged but overal it was a good read and I am glad I got to see how the story ended.