**Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a copy of this ARC. These are my honest thoughts.**

The Dragon's Promise picks up where things left off in Six Crimson Cranes, though I can't say it's the same reading experience as the first book. This novel reminds me a lot of Spin The Dawn by this author, where it has distinctive parts to the storyline. Whilst The Dragon's Promise doesn't signify these moments like in the book I mentioned, you can easily break it up into different chunks. And whilst that worked in Spin The Dawn, I found the storyline to be a little too disjointed in The Dragon's Promise for it to move fluidly and have good pacing as its predecessor did.

The time spent in the dragon underwater kingdom felt so left-field for me, as did the rushed love declaration down there. I found myself a little exasperated by the waste of such a good friendship between Seryu and Shiori, even if his affections were noted in the first book. Whilst I'm grateful the love triangle didn't last for long, I found it unnecessary. I also thought this of the first 30% of this novel. Nothing was truly solved or set up enough through the time underwater, aside from the introduction of a new character - which thankfully was welcomed by me.

The return of a loved favourite from The Blood of Stars series made perfect sense, given the demon Bandur was also present in this novel. The use of Gen brightened it for me when it felt a little bleak or jumping over the place. Again, he was only in it for some time until it moved into the next plot change/destination, but at least Gen's presence allowed for more setup and understanding of what was to come further into the novel.

I continued to enjoy the connection between the brothers and Shiori, and their endless protection and willingness to risk all for each other. It warmed my heart that despite time apart, their bonds were stronger than ever. I didn't much enjoy the emperor and his placement in this novel. I had hoped for more, but it was a little hasty at times as if he was thrown in as an afterthought.

One of my favourite things about this sequel was the continuing learning about Raikama for Shiori and how important her promise was to fulfil for her stepmother after her death. I appreciated Lim's approach with this part of the storyline, allowing Shiori to learn more about the woman who had loved her with all her heart. It was incredibly well done, with the balance of heartache and warmth exceeding all expectations that I had for Raikama's part in this world.

The buildup of the romance between Shiori and Takkan was also beautifully done, especially as it weaved into the task of risking everything to remove Bandur from Kiata. Watching them work together, even when it was difficult to allow the other to be at risk only made their love story more formidable. And after waiting as long as I had for their first kiss - it was worth it all. Lim has a wonderful way of making the beauty of love just that - beautiful to read and imagine.

Sadly, as I've mentioned, the fact that this book is all over the place with the happenings did decrease my love for this world, and the ending, whilst sweet, felt a little disappointing to me. I wished somehow that the flow and building of the world that happened in Six Crimson Cranes continued over into this book. It is still a wonderful read, and I'm so fortunate to have received this arc and look forward to purchasing my own copy when it's released later this year.

<i>I received this ARC thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Six Crimson Cranes was one of the loveliest novels I've read last year, so to have an opportunity to dive into the sequel so early was an honour for me. And what can I say? I'm writing this review through tears that block my view, so I'm not sorry for any missspellings lol.

I usually take a different approach to these reviews, but I guess I don't want to spoil the fun to anyone as I assume you're already a fan of the series if you reach for this sequel so I don't have to tell you why it's worth it. I know you know :*

In the beginnig I have to tell you one thing -- <b> PLEASE</b> reread <i>Unravel the dusk</i> before getting yourself involved with Dragon's Promise, I remembered Elizabeth mentioning Spin the dawn character involved, and I guess if you've read second book your wild guess would be Edan's presence, but considering this book comes out in 6 months even if you're the bestest reader with bestest memory, you'd fail just like me to remember few things. And they're crucial to make you fall in love with this story ten times more. (Really, I was mad where's my boii and in the middle of the book simple realization made me hit my head hard several times reconsidering my life choices and priorities. So I guess you'd also need a reread and a bunch of <b>notes with who's who, what location is which and aliases of well known characters</b>. I guess you'll thank me in a few months).

I love how the author intertwined both stories, even thou I think recalculating durations of few events, making some shorter, some longer, wouldn't hurt, after all once again I feel as my life's been complete by finishing another duology set in <i>Blood of Stars</i> universe. Now all I need is a reread of all four, to simply devour everything once again. Let me just go grab several more tissue boxes and I'm ready. Really, if you thought you have no tears left after unravel the dusk, start drinking water now as you might be dead of dehydration by the end of Six crimson cranes two-pack.

Hear me out, I'm not satisfied with the ending, it might feel mild as of what could happen, but I still find it cruel. But why, you either have to wait and find it out yourself, or if you're lucky or broken enough to have read <i>Warrior witch by Danielle L Jensen</i> you might be already prepared for this kind of emotional damage.

I was conflicted in what to rate this book first, as it didn't feel as fast paced as the first one, but after I made that realisation of how stupid I am, and how much I've missed out already I devoured it in one sit and now all is left for me is to sit in the corner waiting for another masterpiece by Elizabeth Lim. So if you haven't already guessed correctly, it's a solid 5 star read and you won't change my mind, If you don't agree with me, please do yourself a favor and google who Gen was. <b>Either your welcome, or please don't slap me on my face for my stupidity and bad memory, I've already done it enough myself</b>.

To Sensei Elizabeth if she's somehow reading this -- can we please get at least one flowery-sugary-happy engding, with no emotional damage to the reader? Thank You, I love you but I'd be forever grateful for one, as I don't know how much of your stories my heart will take before I'll be gone from an attack.

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I really loved Six Crimson Cranes so I was incredibly excited to get the chance to read and review this sequel. I absolutely fell in love with Shiori in book one, and it was wonderful to carry on with her story.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I do feel it had some minor issues compared to Six Crimson Cranes. The main thing is that first third of the book feels a tiny bit disjointed from the rest. I loved all the parts in the dragon realm, and the demon storyline, I'm just greedy and would have loved more time spent in both, and more world-building, especially on the plot points that linked the two.

Shiori continued to have my heart in this book, my reckless, bold, brave, ever-hungry angel, and Kiki continued to be an absolute scene stealer. The plot is fast-paced and frantic, which lead to me being unable to put the book down, so worried about my favourites making it through to the end that I had to keep reading just one more chapter until the end. I love a book that feels like falling into another world and this very much gave me that sensation.

It was overall a satisfying and beautiful conclusion to the story and I loved reading it.

The Dragon's Promise moves away from the close focus on one fairytale to expand on its worldbuilding elements, and definitely has fun with it. We get to see more of the dragons, demons, magic, and even get to dive a bit more into the intriguing story of Raikama. But the problem lies with the whirlwind tour through all of those aspects: there are so many phases and resolutions without truly committing to being episodic. Instead, I was just left constantly confused by where the plot was going, and it was hard to becomes invested in characters and details that then vanished. I can't help but feel this has been limited by the duology format: a looser and probably longer series, with more time to deal with each setting, antagonist, and quest, would have unburdened the series, because it is undeniably witty and pacey. The ending feels like it would have been tremendously impactful if built up to; instead I'm left feeling like these two books were pleasant but hard to latch onto.

The Dragons Promise
(Six Crimson Cranes #2)
Elizabeth Lim
Sci-Fi & Fantasy, YA
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Initially I wasn't too sure if I would like this book or not but I'm glad I read it and I was pleasantly surprised. An enchanting tale of duty, destiny and fates intertwined, it follows Shiori on her quest to fulfil promises she made previously. The world building is creative and the characters developed enough that although this is the 2nd book in this series, it was easy to keep up. There were a couple of surprises here and there and the ending was quite sweet.

*Thank you to @netgalley and the publishers @hodderstoughton for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the e-arc for an honest opinion.

Please take in mind it’s my opinion, and everyone is allowed to have one.

This serie was so incredible, I loved it! It was fast pacing, and really easy to understand. I loved how we got to learn more about everything.

The characters were great as well! Seryu is my favorite, do hope we will get to learn more of him.

Quality Rating: Five Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

This duology has been a joy to read; the stunning fantasy, the complex characters, the vividly immersive adventure. It has quickly become one of my favourite series of all time and I can't wait to get some pretty hardcovers to go on my shelves (anyone know how to get the US editions to the UK because I'm in love) and read more of Lim's work.

I adore the Asian mythology weaved into what is in its own rite a wonderfully exciting and magical fantasy adventure. As I gushed about when I read Six Crimson Cranes, the fairy tale of The Wild Swans is my favourite fairy tale of all time, so to see it reimagined with full respect to the original as well as boundless imagination to its potential to expand is always a delight when I come across it. And, while the main homage to that fairy tale was wrapped up at the end of the last book, there are still elements dotted throughout The Dragon's Promise, where we get to dive even deeper (pun absolutely intended) into the Asian fairy tales and folklore that inspire a lot of this book's narrative.

Something that is often hit or miss for me is the romance in fantasy adventures; The Dragon's Promise got it perfect for me. I loved how Lim let her characters be tempted by the cliches we're so used to (hiding the truth from significant others, sacrificing themselves completely needlessly, being generally idiotic because 'I care about you too much,') and then had them consciously realise that's dumb and move on to do better. The characters are then so much more tactile, they have healthy relationships even when they're strained, and they recognise the consequences of their actions - that's good storytelling folks!

And that's not mentioning Shiori as the heroine herself. Lim runs a pretty concise masterclass of how to write an active protagonist. Taking into account the fantasy elements and the fact Shiori has magic at her fingertips, it is still her active decisions that move the story forward, which makes it all the more exciting and Shirori all the more impressively brave and beloved.

This whole book was just so satisfying because it acknowledged and took elements from all of Shiori's adventures (has it really only been two books?) to impact her actions in the finale. She really has learnt a hundred lessons, and she really has changed because of it. In only two books, Shiori and her companions feel like such real human beings (and a variety of other magical creatures) to me. I think it was a perfect ending - and yet I don't want it to be the ending. Here's hoping Lim sends some new characters our way to fall in love with soon.

I really liked Six Crimson Cranes, so I had high hopes for this book. The beginning was great and I thought this will be an amazing duology, but as it went on it just started to feel like a dragging mess and I ended up being pretty disappointed by it.

The first about third or so of the book is set in the magical underwater dragon realm, which was so much fun to read and engaging. I thought this would get a 5 star rating from me for sure. Then as the story leaves it behind it also completely abandons all the interesting characters we met there, including Seryu, who I was kind of expecting to be a protagonist in this book. In fact, he is doesn't even appear again after that at all and ultimately nothing that happened in this part of the book had any actual impact to the rest of the story that happens after. It felt like a whole other book altogether and I don't get why the title is The Dragon's Promise.

From there on out everything just completely seemed to lack structure and felt like an uninspired repetition of Unravel the Dusk with everything that already bothered me in that book included.
There were a lot of inconsistencies and there seemed to be no clear rules established when it comes to magic and its limitations. Everyone just could do whatever as it was plot convenient it seemed. It just all felt so random and without a clear goal, nothing but a disjointed meandering from one place to the next that ended with a lame conclusion.

Also there way too much focus on the very dull love story, that I didn't care for at all. The love interest really lacked personality, as did the 6 brothers and even Shiori started to wear me out.
The only part that got me invested again for a little while was the stepmother's background story, but that only was a pretty short intermezzo.

The pacing was weird, it really dragged and in the end I was just glad that it's finally over. The only reason I'm giving this 3 stars and not less after all my complaints is that the dragon realm part in the beginning had me really invested and my interest piqued, even if it was then dropped completely.

Just like Spin the Dawn I think Six Crimson Cranes would have been better off as a standalone in my opinion. I do however really love the world and lore Elizabeth Lim has created for these book and I would love to read more about Seryu.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I don't like leaving reviews that aren't super positive, but sadly this book just felt . . . odd. Disjointed, strangely structured, and unfortunately a disappointment.

The story picks up right where Six Crimson Cranes left off, with Shiori going to the dragon realm, Ai'long, with Seryu. I enjoyed exploring the dragon's realm, but then about a third of the way through the book (maybe even less) we then leave Ai'long and Seryu essentially exits stage right from the story. We never meet him again. It felt so odd!

This isn't the fault of the author, but as I was reading the rest of the book, I kept thinking "why does this island of demons they're going to feel so familiar to me? Why does Bandur feel familiar to me (aside from being in the previous book)?" Eventually I realised it was because Bandur and the island feature in Elizabeth Lim's previous Blood of Stars series - and I also realised that meant we knew if Shiori succeeded with binding Bandur to the island, which took a lot of the suspense out of the journey for me.

Additionally, when they reached the island, everything was over so quickly! It felt as if the book had been structured to take us up to this big climactic struggle . . . and then it was dealt with quickly and easily, and we still had 20% of the book to go. This felt too long and almost like an epilogue - except there was then an epilogue! It was like an epilogue to the epilogue!

Also, what was the point of Gen? It felt a little like Lim was introducing him and then packing him off quickly so that she could do another series featuring him, maybe. Or maybe I was supposed to recognise him from a different series? Either way, he felt like an odd addition to the story. Kiata's issue with magic could have been shown another way. The mirror shards could have been introduced another way. He might have worked a little better if he hadn't actually been sent away on the boat, but as it stands his inclusion just felt very odd.

I'm disappointed. I really enjoy reading Lim's work, but this book felt like it was still very much a work in progress and not yet ready for ARCs.

Shiori promised her dying stepmother to take the dragon's pearl to the Dragon King, although crucially not to give it to him - intending to restore it to its original owner, The Wraith. The book starts with her going to Ai'Long, the kingdom of the dragons, and then back to Kiata and on to another quest. There are definitely two sections to the story, with Seryu's story being clearly closed off after the first section (a pity as he was a great character), and then it's back to Shiori and her brothers working together again, this time also with Takkan.

Shiori remains the likeable character she was in the first book, but it felt a little drawn out and lacking in the charm of the previous instalment. I was a little disappointed that I didn't love it, given how much I'd enjoyed Six Crimson Cranes, but I did like finding out more about Raikama's true background.

I will update the review with a link to our blog closer to publication date.
I'd like to thank the publisher Hodder & Stoughton and netgalley for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this sequel more than the first one.
The main problem with 'The Dragon's Promise' is exactly that- there are very few dragons, and very few promises. The opening to this book felt very promising- Seryu is my favourite character, so I was excited to see more of him, and I liked the set up of the dragon kingdom at the end of the first book, but it lasted only the first 30% of the book, and had very little relevance for the rest of it, introducing interesting characters who we then got no closure on, and closing the door on my favourite (and in my opinion, more interesting love interest) character of the duology, never to be seen again. The rest of the novel then felt very disjointed and strange, with many plot points and battles feeling out of place, rushed and repetitive.
One of my favourite parts of the first book was the whimsy of it- the gorgeous descriptions of food and Kiata at the beginning, the time with Meg later on- and this felt almost completely absent here. I think it could have done with a few slower scenes, with some more time to digest and get to know both new characters and old.
That being said, there was ultimately a satisfying ending, and I found Kiki to be lovely in this sequel.

(Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this eARC!)

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Dragon's Promise picks up straight after the events from Six Crimson Cranes, with Shiori accompying Seryu into the Dragon kingdom of Ai'Long. We then follow Shiori on her journey to fulfil her stepmother, Raikama's, last dying wish which ends in an unexpected and beautiful way.

While the first part of this book, covering Shiori's time in Ai'Long, did feel a little disjointed from the rest of the book, the reasons behind this visit fueled the rest of the story and held key elements needed for the end of the book.

The events and interactions in this part of the series actually made me more drawn to the characters. I found Shiori's impulsiveness annoying in the first book, but she has grown and calmed in this book, while still maintaining her feisty character.

I honestly loved this book. There was plenty of action, plenty of emotion, and a story I want to read again and again.

This book stired some questions
First. How can you pour tea under water? Also how can you have a fire without the water boiling? The answer is simple magic, but still it feels kind of weird, it would have been less weird maybe with them noticing the weirdness. Beside that now the proper review.
The book is a nice ending to this story but it felt disjointed. The beginning start how we left them in the end of "six crimson cranes" and we visit the dragon kingdom, and meet the dragon King. I love this part of the plot and enjoyed the dragon kingdom, there we meet some characters that are very interesting but that play no part in the rest of the book and the main plot and that was very disappointing, and I kind of hope the author have some plans to bring us this dragons stories in the future as otherwise this part of the story is mostly unnecessary. The rest of the book seemed and felt very similar to "unravel the dusk" the characters are lovable and the ending is nice even tho I didn't understand why happens what happens, but it is still cute.
I felt a bit disappointed, I would have loved to have more seryu and more dragon kingdom as well as a bit more of the new characters. Still the book is fast pace easy to read and enjoyable. And I believe many people will love it. But I wasn't one of them, en enjoyed it enough, and i will buy the book to have my duology complete, but i didnt love it. And i belive it could have been better 😕

(Warning! The Dragon’s promise is the sequel to Six Crimson Cranes, so the following review may contain spoilers regarding the first book.)

In The Dragon’s Promise, Shiori’s journey which began in Six Crimson Cranes continues and the events takes her beyond even her own imagination and into the land of myths.

The safety of the country and everyone she loves is at stake but in her pursuit towards salvation, Shiori may very well doom them all. With so much at stake, betrayals are bound to happen and more than once, the story takes an unexpected turn. Secrets from a forgotten - or maybe not entirely forgotten - past are revealed while the darker powers threatens to break free and destroy everything.

But no matter how dark it gets, no matter how impossible everything may seem, there’s always a little light to brighten the day. In this case, it’s a little paper crane. I must say that although I like several of the characters in this book, Kiki is by far my favorite.
She’s a true and trustworthy companion to Shiori in times she needs it the most. Mostly fluttering around giving snippy comments and hilarious remarks, bringing laughter and joy no matter what circumstances. Despite her being so little, she’s the greatest character throughout this story in my opinion.

I had quite high expectations for this book since I absolutely loved Six Crimson Cranes and pretty much adore everything Elizabeth Lim writes. And I was right to have because once again Elizabeth Lim shows that she never fails to deliver an amazing story told that illustrative, vivid and poetical way of hers. It was an absolute pleasure to read this book!

***Thank you Hodder & Stoughton for providing an eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Firstly I’d like to thank Netgalley for the e-arc ❤️❤️

I had super high expectations for this book as Six Crimson Cranes was just an exquisite read and Elizabeth Lim has not disappointed at all!! This book is amazing!! Shiori is her strong, brave self and there is growth with all of her relationships in the book especially with Takkan and Seryu.

One of the things that I liked about the book is how it’s kinda broken up in to parts. In the beginning we have a large chunk in Ai’Long (The Realm of the Dragons) and then we move on to land 😏😏 (I’m keeping this spoiler free so I don’t want to say exactly where else we go and how we get there…).

Shiori’s travels in the book are long and hard but I’m so glad I went on them with her. Much like her journey in Six Crimson Cranes she learns much about who she is a person in The Dragon’s Promise but, as well as learning about herself, in this book she learns so much about her family too and how much she needs and loves them all. Her relationship with a certain someone deepens and turns into the most beautiful, respectful love. It’s definitely one for the ages and they’re one of my favourites couples now 🥰❤️

Another relationship that continues to grow is Shiori’s relationship with her late stepmother, Raikama. The previous owner of the broken Dragon Pearl seems to be on Shiori’s mind constantly and she strifes to understand her more (which might just happen…).

Dragons, demons, magic, paper and cranes. This book really does have it all. Please pick this duology up. You won’t regret it!!

No doubt this book is ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

A magical, action packed read! The perfect ending to Six Crimson Cranes. The story was well-paced. I wished that we explored more of Takkan and Shiori romance together but that is not the main storyline.

I need to start by saying I absolutely adored the first book so when I got the ARC for this I was so excited.

The first book was not my typical type of book as I found it slow but the writing was so beautiful that I stayed and enjoyed. With this book, it just wasn't enough to keep me invested. I think the novelty of the first book had worn off by the time I picked this one up.

Please don't base my review on this book, I loved book one and got really excited only to find out that my interest had dropped before I got this one. If you loved book 1 I'm sure you're going to love this!

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.

I liked reading Six crimson cranes a lot, the writing style, the characters, the world building, I enjoyed reading that book a lot. So my hopes were high when I got the opportunity to read A dragon’s promise. Perhaps too high..

The writing style is something I like a lot, Elizabeth Lim has a way of making enchanted world buildings which swift you of your feet and takes you into another world. Her writing style is very good and makes me want to keep on reading.

However these two things were the only things I really liked in this book. To be honest I was bored while reading this book because the story drew on way too much and nothing really happened in my opinion. I felt underwhelmed by this book even though the characters and world building is as good as the first book. For me, Six crimson cranes would be better off as a standalone.

I’m not sure what to write in this review! I adored Six Crimson Cranes when I read it last year, so was over the moon when I got accepted for an ARC of The Dragon’s Promise. However, it wasn’t as good as I’d first hoped. Although I’m a little bit sick of trilogies and am leaning into duologies, I feel like The Dragon’s Promise really should have been split in two - so much action is crammed into one book, and instead of it feeling fast-paced, it just feels a little half-done. Six Crimson Cranes made me bawl, but The Dragon’s Promise didn’t really make me feel anything, which was such a shame. Overall it’s still a good book and a good series, so I’m really glad I read it, but this final instalment didn’t live up to the first one! I’ll be really interested to see what everyone else thinks when this book is released later in the year. (less)