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ezwolf's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
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
4.0
After finishing Six Crimson Cranes I was so excited to read the sequel! I love Shiori and her character arc and the relationship she has with her brothers and Kiki. Their curse and subsequent reveal with their stepmother is fantastic!
That being said I was a bit disappointed with the sequel and I know this is going to sound like a pretty negative review but, I still enjoyed it a lot and would recommend the series. I just think Six Crimson Cranes on its own was a far more interesting story and there were a lot of characters from the first book (like Takkan's sister) I would have loved to have seen more of.
In this one I liked that the focus was on Shiori fulfilling the promise she made to her stepmother and getting to essentially take control of her own destiny as the bloodsake of her generation. Shiori's stubbornness and unwillingness to listen to anyone who tries to control her was great and I liked that even though she was surrounded by male characters, she didn't really take orders from any of them in any situation.
But one of my biggest annoyances was a stylistic choice and not a story choice and it's a scene I won't go into the specifics of since it happens about 70% of the way through the book, but it is the only chapter (I'm pretty sure, I did not double check this) that happens in third person POV. After that we're back into first person. It really threw me off to have the POV change abruptly. I wound up flipping back and forth because I thought I'd forgotten how the book was written between setting it down and picking it back up.
***SPOILER BELOW***
Not a big one, but I realize there was the hint of a love triangle going on with Shiori, Seryu, and Takkan, and it was obvious who Shiori was going to end up with, but I still wasn't a huge fan of how Shiori and Seryu said goodbye and how it happened quite early on in the book. On the whole I really liked Seryu's character and thought he deserved a better send off or at least more time with Shiori. I thought he was going to make a a full appearance one more time at the end when they had found the Wraith, but the last we get of him is when Shiori is leaving the moon to see Takkan and her family.
Again, I know this sounds like a negative review, but these are the things that stood out to me in reading The Dragon's Promise and even though I enjoyed it, I think they're things worth bringing up.
Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
That being said I was a bit disappointed with the sequel and I know this is going to sound like a pretty negative review but, I still enjoyed it a lot and would recommend the series. I just think Six Crimson Cranes on its own was a far more interesting story and there were a lot of characters from the first book (like Takkan's sister) I would have loved to have seen more of.
In this one I liked that the focus was on Shiori fulfilling the promise she made to her stepmother and getting to essentially take control of her own destiny as the bloodsake of her generation. Shiori's stubbornness and unwillingness to listen to anyone who tries to control her was great and I liked that even though she was surrounded by male characters, she didn't really take orders from any of them in any situation.
But one of my biggest annoyances was a stylistic choice and not a story choice and it's a scene I won't go into the specifics of since it happens about 70% of the way through the book, but it is the only chapter (I'm pretty sure, I did not double check this) that happens in third person POV. After that we're back into first person. It really threw me off to have the POV change abruptly. I wound up flipping back and forth because I thought I'd forgotten how the book was written between setting it down and picking it back up.
***SPOILER BELOW***
Not a big one, but I realize there was the hint of a love triangle going on with Shiori, Seryu, and Takkan, and it was obvious who Shiori was going to end up with, but I still wasn't a huge fan of how Shiori and Seryu said goodbye and how it happened quite early on in the book. On the whole I really liked Seryu's character and thought he deserved a better send off or at least more time with Shiori. I thought he was going to make a a full appearance one more time at the end when they had found the Wraith, but the last we get of him is when Shiori is leaving the moon to see Takkan and her family.
Again, I know this sounds like a negative review, but these are the things that stood out to me in reading The Dragon's Promise and even though I enjoyed it, I think they're things worth bringing up.
Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Classism, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture
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