Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Six Crimson Cranes

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Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

2 reviews

fragrant_stars's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

My god I am starstruck by this book. I cannot wait to devour the sequel!! I loved the characters, and my heart genuinely ached for the main character as she went through her struggles. The Wild Swans was one of my very favourite fairytales as a child and as a Chinese person seeing this beloved myth retold as a East Asian fantasy was so thrilling to me that I procrastinated for maybe a whole year. I was so nervous because I desperately wanted to love this book, but if I could go back now I'd be shrieking at my past self to dive right in post haste.

One of the things I loved best was how much agency was given to Shiori as a character. The blurb on the back of the book suggested to me that she would be getting a lot more help from Seryu, but as I read the book

that didn't seem to be the case. Yes, he helped Shiori in some key moments, but most of the time Shiori got on using her wits. I also thought, based on something Seryu had said in an earlier chapter, that Shiori being forced to not use her words would eventually figure out to use wordless magic, and maybe that would be what saved the day- but no, not even that.

Mostly wits. I found that brilliant.

My only regret is that the Raikama, the main antagonist / twist villain / antihero of the story, died before all the loose ends could be satisfactorily tied together. Then again, I guess that's just life for ya. Death doesn't really tie things neatly, so I guess that makes sense. Even before she was revealed to be more than she seemed I could already sort of tell- which, trust me, it was a good thing and it felt soooo rewarding when my guesses turned out right!! Made me feel like I'd have loved to see a few more scenes with her before she left the story.

Content Warnings

farenmaddox's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This book is... fine. It's fine. I didn't realize it was YA or I probably wouldn't have picked it up in the first place, I thought I was getting a slightly more mature fantasy tale than what I actually got. The characters were not exactly nuanced, and a lot of the plot was predictable. I have to admit to being sick to death of the 'princess doesn't want to be forced into marriage or do anything socially required of her station' thing. I'm desperate for more fantasies like Priory of the Orange Tree, where people in these roles are genuinely doing their best to uphold their responsibilities and carve out happiness for themselves, whether it works or not.

All that aside, it was a fairly good concept. The actual fantasy elements were fun and creative. I liked the ways the brothers were able to contribute to the story and

the demon mountain actually being a mountain full of demons was a nice surprise. I don't know why I was expecting her to get in there and find out the demons are all just misunderstood and ought to be set free, but I did. I liked that it actually imperiled her and she needed to escape.

I wish that we'd been able to see more of the dragon world-building in this book, because I am not motivated enough by the strength of Shiori as a character to actually want to read the second book and get all the dragon content.

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