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A review by wateringpages
Descendant of the Crane by Joan He
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A HUGE breath of fresh air compared to what I normally see in YA Fantasy. There's a lot of politics and courtroom drama, so if you liked Six of Crows, you'll probably like this as well. The romance is slow and builds up extremely well, and it's a very muted and subtle one as well: present enough to be palpable, but not too overwhelming so that it distracts from the main plot.
Speaking of plot, I felt like there were a few pacing issues, but apart from that the plot unravels beautifully and you're left wanting for more with each chapter. Without giving away too much, the final plot twist is heavily foreshadowed but presented as trivial enough that you don't play attention to it, so once you do get there you almost feel stupid for ignoring all the signs.
The characters are all well developed, layered, and complex. They're all individual enough to have motivations that are completely separate or at least barely dependent on other characters. Inspite of that, take one of them out and the book falls apart. Joan He managed to find that fragile balance extremely well.
(Also, I CANNOT get over how gorgeous the cover is)
Speaking of plot, I felt like there were a few pacing issues, but apart from that the plot unravels beautifully and you're left wanting for more with each chapter. Without giving away too much, the final plot twist is heavily foreshadowed but presented as trivial enough that you don't play attention to it, so once you do get there you almost feel stupid for ignoring all the signs.
The characters are all well developed, layered, and complex. They're all individual enough to have motivations that are completely separate or at least barely dependent on other characters. Inspite of that, take one of them out and the book falls apart. Joan He managed to find that fragile balance extremely well.
(Also, I CANNOT get over how gorgeous the cover is)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Suicide