Hi everyone and welcome to my tour stop for Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim hosted through TBR and Beyond Tours. I’m excited to share my full, spoiler-free review of the novel for my stop on the tour.
You can check out the full schedule for the tour here.
About the Book
Six Crimson Cranes (Six Crimson Cranes, #1) by Elizabeth LimPublished by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers Pages: 464
Goodreads
A princess in exile, the boy she left at the altar, six enchanted cranes, and a dragon from the deepest sea.
Shiori, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted, but it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother.
Raikama has dark magic of her own, and she banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes, and warning Shiori that she must speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die.
Peniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and, on her journey, uncovers a conspiracy to overtake the throne--a conspiracy more twisted and deceitful, more cunning and complex, than even Raikama's betrayal. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she's been taught all her life to contain--no matter what it costs her.
From the author of
Spin the Dawn
comes a breathtakingly original fantasy inspired by East Asian folklore and perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo or Tomi Adeyemi.
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About the Author
Elizabeth Lim is the author of the critically-acclaimed and bestselling The Blood of Stars duology (Spin the Dawn and Unravel the Dusk), the New York Times bestseller So This is Love, and the USA Today bestseller Reflection. Forthcoming books include the Six Crimson Cranes duology, expected summer 2021 and summer 2022, respectively.
Elizabeth grew up on a hearty staple of fairy tales, myths, and songs. Her passion for storytelling began around age 10, when she started writing fanfics for Sailor Moon, Sweet Valley, and Star Wars, and posted them online to discover, “Wow, people actually read my stuff. And that’s kinda cool!” But after one of her teachers told her she had “too much voice” in her essays, Elizabeth took a break from creative writing to focus on not flunking English.
Over the years, Elizabeth became a film and video game composer, and even went so far as to get a doctorate in music composition. But she always missed writing, and she turned to penning stories when she needed a breather from grad school. One day, she decided to write and finish a novel—for kicks, at first, then things became serious—and she hasn’t looked back since.
Elizabeth graduated from Harvard College with an A.B. in music and a secondary in East Asian Studies, and she completed her graduate degrees (MM, DMA) at The Juilliard School. She grew up in Northern California and Tokyo, Japan, and now resides in New York with her husband and two daughters.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads
My Thoughts
Elizabeth Lim’s Asian Inspired fantasy is an amalgamation of myth retellings, tied together by the lore of six brothers who are turned into cranes.
Shiori is our plucky, but rather naive, protagonist whose brother’s are turned into cranes and who is cursed to be silent lest her brothers die, one by one with every word she speaks.
The character development in the novel is amazing. As I mentioned above Shiori starts out the story quite naive. As the only daughter of the Kiata royal family, she is expected to marry and has little say in the matter. Things take an interesting turn when she is saved from drowning by a dragon named Seryu, who turned out to be one of my favorite characters and one of the reasons Shiori grows so much.
I also appreciated Shiori’s main conflict in the form of her stepmother Raikama who is the one that curses Shiori and her brothers.
This is the beginning of Shiori’s transformation. She loves deeply, faces her obstacles with courage, and occasionally acts impulsively.
There is also Takkan, Shiori’s betrothed, who turned out to be incredibly sweet and selfless. Their slow burning romance was perfect for Lim’s style and pacing.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and gave it 4.5? only because the pacing was a little uneven in spots. I would recommend Six Crimson Cranes for fans of novels by Julie Kagawa and Natasha Ngan.
What About You?
Have you read Six Crimson Cranes? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments!
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