This was simply the sequel which we did not need. I really enjoyed the first book but this book just felt all over the place.

While I found Shiori's impulsive behaviour endearing in the first book, in this one she just annoyed me to no end. Everyone kept following her into one absurb plan to another without much thought or strategy.

Plotwise, it felt like the author was trying to cram many different storylines into one book which resulted in everything feeling rushed and not of greater significance. Every conflict kept getting resolved very easily because of which the stakes never truly felt that serious.

I like the romance a bit and glad that the author didn't pursue the love triangle but other than that this should have been a standalone.

I have always liked the character - Shiori! She is an adventurous, faithful person who would go to any lengths to keep her word. The book has an engaging arena set-up that makes you delve into it, with little or no realization of real-time. This is also a bonus as the book is 450+ pages long.

Disclaimer: It's the second book in the series, so I recommend that readers go for The Six Crimson Cranes before reading the Dragon's Promise, as the plot is interrelated along with the characters. Plus book two could be a spoiler for book one.

Sadly, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I did it’s predecessor, Six Crimson Cranes.

Whilst it picked up where we left off, and we got to spend time in the Dragon Kingdom, I really felt we would’ve had more input from Seryu and his family within this book.

I found myself at points in SCC feeling that it was taking a long time to not do very much, and unfortunately found that again within the conclusion in this duology.

The plot of The Dragon’s Promise felt disjointed and like there was many routes that could’ve been explored that weren’t.

I worry my expectations were maybe just a little too high for this one, nevertheless I truly appreciated the E-ARC of this one from the publisher via NetGalley.

I really enjoyed 'Six Crimson Cranes', so I had high hopes for its sequel, 'The Dragon's Promise'. Like its predecessor, Elizabeth Lim was really successful in recreating a fairy-tale atmosphere through her lovely writing. I loved Shiori as a character, and it was great to see her continue to grow in this book.

One of the only downsides of this book was that the pacing was a little slower than 'Six Crimson Cranes' and at times the book dragged a little. However, this didn't hamper my overall enjoyment of the novel.

So if you liked 'Six Crimson Cranes', you'll definitely love 'The Dragon's Promise'.

Six Crimson Cranes is my favourite read of 2022 so far so I was eagerly anticipating the follow up. In The Dragon's Promise, you have an enjoyable follow up that continues the magic of Book 1 really well.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I didn't have time to reread Six Crimson Cranes before I read this, so I only read a recap, which I think did alter my reading as Lim dives straight into the story without a recap of her own, so I felt like I was floundering a bit at the beginning. However, once I settled back into the story I did enjoy it, though it felt quite episodic in places and the writing sometimes did feel like it was aimed at a younger audience, which I don't remember feeling from Lim's other work. It tied up some loose ends very nicely and I particularly enjoyed getting to explore Raikama's past. But I think overall I still prefer the Spin the Dawn duology over this one.

Nooooo! I really wanted to love this, but I found it meh! Nooooo!

I think the blurb is misleading, a lot of what is written there doesn't happen, or if it is in there it's more hinted at ot 'told' than shown. There's no political intrigue, Shiori never tries to cultivate the perfect princess persona (though she does moan about having to try to sometimes), but my main difficulty was how fractured this book felt!

It starts off right where the first one ended, with Shiori heading out to sea with Seryu, and I was so excited, the underwater realm is great, the dragons suitably threatening, and there's some real fantasy peril, but the way she is put into various dangerous situations, but then gets out of them because the villains change their mind, or something random happens started to grate. And what on earth has happened to Seryu!

<spoiler>
Apart from just vanishing for the last half of the book, like just that's it, his story's done, over, we don't need to see him anymore, when he is involved, it's to try and force Shiori into marriage!!! She forgives him extremely quickly as it seems to transpire he didn't really mean it, and had a plan all along, but there was no real reason why, if that was the case, Shiori couldn't be in on the plan, since the author had already established that the dragons couldn't read her mind, and she could communicate with Kiki. Also, there was so much mention of Seryu's disappointment with Shiori's unwillingness, that it seemed clear that if she had gone ahead with the marriage/bonding, even if it was in a time of duress and danger, he would have let the whole thing happen.
That is not ok, and I am not a fan of Seryu any more! But anyway, he lets her go (how kind of him!) and we never speak of him again.
</spoiler>

After leaving the dragon kingdom, I did like the relationship with Shiori's brothers and that her father, the emperor got more page-time, but rehashing abandoning Takkan at the betrothal ceremony, despite being deliberate, felt a bit lame and like it would have been unconvincing and unnecessary, and was just there because a quick scene shift was needed.

I still like Takkan, but again, he didn't get that much attention. The back story of the stepmother from book one was nice, and I think it would have been nicer for more of this kind of character connection, and less of the plot jumps. As with the first book, the climactic defeat of evil was not the end, there was another bit of work to be done. I didn't really understand why it finished the way it did <spoiler> i.e. why by using the strands of her soul, they then also randomly got taken by the demons, meaning she had to die and be brought to life again</spoiler> and I didn't get the sudden appearance of the moon goddess, there hadn't really been any mention of her before, so her intervention seemed out of the blue.

So, yes, I know this isn't the opinion of most of the readers, so do read other reviews, most I've seen are rave reviews, and I did like parts of the book, I just wish it had lived up to the Dragon's Promise of the title!
(I think I also missed the point of the title, not sure which dragon or which promise we're talking about, the dragons kinda faded from the picture after the first third of the book or so, and no-one really promised anything, or at least, if they did, I can't remember.)

For me, I'll keep Six Crimson Cranes as a standalone, and try and ignore the cliffhanger at the end.

2.5 stars

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

I have enjoyed Six Crimson Cranes to no end. It is a book about family ties and devotion and how people aren't always who they seem to be. It was fun, and messy and fantastic.

I had only one tidbit of a difficulty with Six Crimson Cranes, and that was that it had one fairytale too many. But it was good, really good. I wish I could say the same about the Dragon's Promise. It makes me awfully sad to say that it felt more like an improvisation rather than a carefully plotted fairytale. Things seemed to crop up as we go. And Shiori seemed not to grow a day wiser. The book is mostly about how reckless, rash and irrational she can become and get away with it.

The first third of the story was under water in the Kingdom of Ailong in which we spend more time with Seryu. I couldn't help constantly rolling my eyes at teasing out a love triangle (Argh! I hate those). No one can complain it's a love triangle because the third segment is absent. Then the second third is spent on a dragon hunt in which we pick up with Radish Boy exactly where we left him off. And again the teasing of a love triangle with an absent segment. It had an overwhelmingly juvenile tone. And the third third is a renewed fight at the home front with a very peculiar choice at ending the story.

To be honest, I think Six Crimson Cranes would have made a far better book as a standalone. With a few nips and tucks, it would have been the perfect Asian fairytale inspiration for modern times. The Dragon's Promise simply made a mess of things. I love Lim's writing style, I'm just so disappointed in the plot and characterization of this book. I had really high hopes to see the characters I loved so much develop and grow. But regardless, this book remains a highly readable, entertaining adventure story.'

Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Six crimson cranes is one of my favorite books of this year. So I was really excited to read the second book. The Dragon's Promise picked up where the first one ended. We were thrown into action immediately. I really enjoyed the world and we got to read about different parts of the kingdom. The ending was amazing but I really felt like there were a couple of loose ends that I wanted to know. Overall it was a lovely duology and I'll definitely recommend giving a chance to this magical world.

Let me tell you beforehand that I love retellings and I loved ‘Six Crimson Cranes’, the first book of the series.

When I started the second book, and for the first part of it, I was really enjoying it. All the story played in Ai’long was fantastic… until the point it was not that much.

I can’t really go into detail without spoiling the review so I’ll just say that the plot had so much potential up to that point and didn’t play out giving the reader the most of the experience. I would like to see more of initiative and action from Shiori & Seryu. I wanted to see them bold, decisive and determined rather than second guessing themselves.

Then the last part and the ending, although was good and I enjoyed reading it, it felt forced to finish and not thought through very much. Long story short, this could easily leave me with a book hangover and the fact that didn’t, I think that it’s what’s bothered me the most.

First of all, if you haven't read the Spin the Dawn series before reading this book, I encourage you to do so. I just read Spin The Dawn and Unravel the Dusk recently, and I'm glad I did because it's a lot of fun picking up all the little Spin The Dawn references in this book.
As with Six Crimson Crane, what really captured my heart with Dragon's Promise is the theme of family. I love Shiori's relationship with her brothers, especially her father in this book. But the book was also packed with the exciting action and high-stakes that I love about YA fantasy. No, but it didn't faint me. It has evolved and taken on a deeper meaning.
Both Six Crimson Cranes and The Dragon's Promise romances are built on true understanding and acceptance. This is also one of the things I admire about him in the Spin The Dawn series. And then there is the friendship that warms my heart



It was really fun to see how this story unfolded, how the plot of the first book blossomed and deepened, and how all the relationships in this book deepened. I think that was the appropriate conclusion for the duology. I love Mutsue Crane so I want to start off by saying I was so excited to read Promise of Dragons. I was totally in love with the world, all the characters and the magic system. I am very grateful that I read this so quickly.


It was great!

The Dragon Pledge begins with Shiori traveling to the Dragon Realm with Seriu.

There's a little more action here than in Six Cranes, and Shiori finds herself. I'm glad that I was able to answer many of the questions that were asked in the first book where Shiori found out more about her stepmother.
I'm a huge fan of her family dynamics book and was very fortunate to also meet Siori's father, the Emperor.

Takkan was the cutest and I loved being with Shiori.

A satisfying conclusion to the duology, although not as good as the first book. The writing is atmospheric and it was fun getting to visit the dragon realm, but I feel more time could have been spent there.

This book just wasn't as good as the first. I saw the reviews saying the same thing when I had already started reading and I didn't believe them. The start of the book was so interesting and I loved it, so reading negative reviews then just didn't sit right with me. My review isn't exactly a negative one but I didn't love the book.

The beginning really was great. I was drawn in immediately and totally lost in the world, but after about the first third of the book, it just seems to drag.

For me the worst and most annoying thing was that nothing ever went right. Every single plan they had failed, they couldn't even travel somewhere without something going wrong. This was so bad that every time that this happened, I was rolling my eyes. And these disruptions always happened suddenly, like someone throwing a rock in your face, which, yes, does actually happen in this book. It meant that every single time they came up with a plan, be it minor or major, I knew something was going to interrupt them. So, the plot felt like one thing after another and didn't seem to flow. There was hardly any respite.

I feel like moments of respite are the moments in which the reader gets to know the characters the most, but without these, I felt disconnected from the characters in a way that I hadn't with the first book. I didn't really care for Shiori and Takkan's relationship like I had before. I actually felt as if most of the characters blended into one another, Shiori's brothers were almost one entity. When character names came up that I hadn't read for a while, I had no idea who they were.

Overall, it was worth a read if you enjoyed the first book (especially because of that cliffhanger!). But it really fell short of what I was expecting. I've not been too put off Lim though because I would still very much like to read her other work (the first third afterall was amazing!)

Stunning!

What a fantastic sequel to one of my favourite reads of all time! I missed Shiori and the gang. And this book dived further into the kingdom of the dragon and the love triangle and shenanigans that ensue!

The writing was beautiful as always, and I loved being back in this world. I won't say too much as this is a sequel, but the first book was fantastic and I was scared this wouldn't live up to it, but I'm glad I was wrong! I loved the friendships and the romance. The plot was fast-paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. I finished this book in 2 sittings and immediately want to reread it all!

I can't recommend it enough!!

This was absolutely the sequel I was waiting for. After adoring the first book (the characters and magical writing were so beautiful) I was very much looking forward to this one. I loved the pace of the story. It was incredibly well written, very whimsical and magical and I very much enjoyed it. I also very much enjoyed reading the characters and seeing their development throughout the story.

4.5

is a sequel to Six Crimson Cranes, and I would highly recommend this duology. I will not go into many details regarding the plot, because this is the sequel and I don't want to spoil too much. I did absolutely love this book, maybe slightly less than the first one and I will get into why, but I still think it's fantastic.

This book picks up exactly where the last book left off, and it's a part of the 'problem' I had with it. We start this book with Seryu and Shiori going to the dragon kingdom, which was super interesting to read about, but as soon as Shiori returns to Kiata it's like a switch to a completely different story. Obviously, there is continuity, but it felt like as soon as that part was done with it was completely cast aside and forgotten. I was under the impression there would be more Seryu and the dragons in this book (mainly because of the cover, but that's on me for assuming), and I was a bit disappointed when that wasn't the case.

Overall, I loved Shiori and the rest of the characters. I love Shiori's brothers, how she communicates differently with each of them, and how much support her brothers give her. I still loved Takkan, as I did in the first book. And obviously, I love Kiki, she is easily my favorite character. I really loved that we got to learn more about Raikama, her life before she married the emperor and I thought her backstory was really sad but so interesting. I also loved the scenes with Shiori and the emperor, seeing how much her father loves her was really heartwarming.

The world-building was great, this book really expanded the world we were introduced to in the first book. I did glance at the reviews, and I noticed some people were disappointed in this book compared to the first one. I will say, I think with the first one being a retelling, I did not expect the exact same thing out of the second one, so maybe that's why I really enjoyed it. This book definitely feels different than the first one. There was more action in this book, more threads this story followed. I really enjoyed how fast-paced it was and I think this book did a good job of not leaving any loose ends that would be annoying, with the exception maybe being what I mentioned about the first part of the book feeling like it was disconnected from the rest of the story.

The ending of the book was definitely not the one I anticipated, and if I'm being honest, it might've broken my heart just a little bit. I might've shed a tear or two, but it truly was beautiful and emotional.

All in all, please read this duology.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was, unfortunately, a very average sequel to an incredible book. The most interesting part of the book was the first 30% when Shiori spent some time in the Dragon Realm with Seryu, but after this, Seryu and the dragon realm were never mentioned again. The rest of the story was a completely different plot. And, unfortunately, it was a more boring plot.

Thank you for my earc of this book!
I really feel like Lim has developed this duology so well. I liked the first book but it felt lacking in some areas so it was great to see a stronger 2nd book!

Look at that cover!! Stunning! The book is lovely, it's like a folk tale and I really enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me access to the book in exchange for my honest feedback.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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