Reviews with content warning for War - Descendant of the Crane

Foreshadowing was overall good, but the actual ending felt abrupt and the epilogue felt disjointed. Is there a sequel? I hope so, since there's a lot of loose ends left to tie up.

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shadow_wolf's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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astoryofpages's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is the first audiobook I listened to, and I liked it, although it was a bit complicated at first due to the format. I did this listening on Spotify, and I am delighted to have been able to discover this author. Descendant of the Crane is her first novel (if I'm not mistaken), and I think it's pretty successful! The plot is axed on politics, with lots of plot twists and stories of betrayals and alliances. Those who follow me know that I love these kinds of books, and Descendant of the Crane did not disappoint me on this point! It is also a gorgeous book in terms of worldbuilding. The story takes root in a universe that is inspired by imperial China. It addresses many themes, such as racism, justice or even the family. The way with words of the author is sumptuous. It was beautiful and calm to listen to!

The only point that could be negative is the characters, and more precisely Hesina. But it's pretty subjective. I really liked this image of a strong young woman who wants above all to rule her kingdom. But I gradually disconnected from her. And, in the end, I remained quite indifferent concerning her character, her decisions and what she was living. Admittedly the ending has an effect, but I ended up missing a little empathy for her. It was the same for Akira, who isn't, for me, extremely important to the story. I had more connections with Caiyan and Lilian. Lilian is full of life, and in a way, she reminded me of Genya Safin or Nina Zenik from the Grishaverse. Caiyan is more calculating, whereas Hesina is more empathetic. I had a little more trouble figuring out Sanjing. But I think he's still a great character, just as calculating as Caiyan but in a different way.

I really loved the relationship between the characters. I think that's a significant positive point too! And if some wonder if there is romance: yes, there is, but it is still very light. Besides, I haven't really noticed it. And I'm pretty happy because I find that there is no need to have some characters in a relationship, which changes from other YA books we are used to reading!

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reading_gives_serotonin's review

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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aidamaria_reads's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is honestly such a rollercoaster of plottwists, and I still need answers! If the author doesn’t write a sequel, there’ll be riots. It’s a great book if you’re looking for something that’s Asian-inspired, fast-paced and mind-blowing.

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corvicore's review

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mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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veilchen's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Hesina is princess of Yan, a country that had ones been terrorized by the magic sooths, which are now outlawed. When her father, the King, dies, she is convinced that his death was not of natural cause and goes out of her way to find the real killer. But what she hasn't accounted for was the politics of the court, intrigues and betrayals playing their part in uncovering the truth.

First of all, this book is not a comforting, fun little fantasy book. It is Hurt/NoComfort, bawl your eyes out, talk about in therapy stuff. But it is a great book. My favourite part was without question the worldbuilding. The east-asian inspired setting of Yan, where the rules are dictated by eleven mysterious revolutionaries of the past is explored in depth, with all the lore, history of oppression and connecitons to its neighbouring countries, is what makes the sotry of Hesina so easy to get captivated by. Supported by a very pretty, descriptive writing style, I found myself speeding through the almost 500 pages in less than four hours.

I also fell in love with the characters. Hesina is a great protagonist with a lot of agency and not without faults. The rest of the cast mainly consists of her family, a wild mix of real siblings, bastards and adoptees, all of which got their moment to shine. Then, there is also the thief, who Hesina conscripts to help her uncover the Truth, Akira, with whom Hesina also develops a bit of a romance. Though there wasn't a lot of focus on that, I enjoyed their dynamic and would have wanted to see a bit more - maybe in the next book?

All in all, "Descendant of the Crane" was not at all what I expected. It was dark and sad, and very quick-paced, but it all took place in such a detailled world, with well developed character and in a beautiful style that I had no choice but to love it. It ended on a pretty open note - which I actually prefer, because now I can just pretend they all lived happily ever after. Nevertheless, one of the best endings I read in a while. I cried a lot.

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btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

What an absolutely stunning book. I read this back in 2019 as an eARC, but I didn't have the words at the time to properly express how amazing I found this book, even more so today than I did back then.

At its heart, Descendant of the Crane is a book about morality. We all want to do the right thing, we all want to believe in the systems that have been put in place, and we all want to hope that the people around us are true, faithful, and honest. This book breaks down the concept of morality and truth and makes Hesina, our MC, question what is real and what is a veneer over a broken system.

What I love most about this book is that it showed the truth of humanity - no matter your position, your intentions, or your heart, humans are fallible and we make mistakes. Hesina makes choices that she believes are right and will lead her to the truth, but the brokenness of the system results in consequence after consequence, loss after loss. And she owns up to them, which is so rare to see, but you can see her taking accountability and bearing the weight of the losses on her shoulder.

The twist at the end still haunts me and I wish that we could've gotten a sequel for this one. Alas, not in the cards, but where it ends, there's hope for everyone left and I loved the potential we're left with.

Descendant of the Crane remains a favourite for me, and I definitely recommend picking this one up. I think it'll surprise you.

TW: death, grief, torture, violence, blood, injury detail, genocide, slavery, racism (of a magical group of people); mentions suicide, war, vomit

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5

eARC gifted by Joan He's previous problematic publisher, so I won't be thanking them, but acknowledging the gifted copy.

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