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A review by alexiacambaling
Descendant of the Crane by Joan He
5.0
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the author!
Sometimes, we fall in love with books that wreck us emotionally, leave us thinking about it for days, and absolutely aching for more. This is one of those books. Descendant of the Crane was one of my most highly-anticipated new releases of 2019 so I was incredibly excited to read it when I got on the street team, Hesina’s Imperial Court. I’ve seen this billed as a Chinese YA Game of Thrones and I didn’t understand the comparison until I reached the end. This book tore my heart to pieces and made me fall in love with every character only to cause much pain and suffering later on.
When I reached the end, my jaw dropped and finding words felt like a struggle. When I did find words, all that came out of my mouth was gushing.
A whole lot of gushing.
Let’s start with the world-building. Joan He crafted a rich, believable world modeled after China and sets the tone and atmosphere of the world very well. Having epigraphs on every chapter depicting the Tenets of heroes called the Eleven also helped a lot. This book, the Tenets was pretty important to the plot- which I liked because it’s not just world-building flavor. Reading the Tenets can help you understand the story and character motivations.
I love all the characters and I’m still reeling after everything that happened to them in the end. I loved how complex the relationships between all of them was and how even though Sanjing does’t consider the twins his siblings, Hesina very much was and despite their strained relationship, she is his queen and he is her general.
The plot revolves around a trial involving the ‘murder’ of Hesina and Sanjing’s father, the previous king. This includes gathering evidence, questioning witnesses, and looking for possible suspects. How this plays out may or may not be a surprise to you but there are clues and seeing it all unravel was very satisfying. Plus, the actual trial was a joy to read about if you’re interested in that kind of thing- I know I was! The court system in Descendant of the Crane is detailed and is based on the Tenets- the way it was handled and described made me very happy and I really enjoyed it.
If anyone’s worried, it’s not boring at all and that’s not just me being biased. There are twists and revelations during the trials and so many things keep happening which propel the plot forward. And speaking of plots, there are layers of them in this book. So much plotting and shady things going on. It really does deserve the GOT comparison.
I really liked Joan He’s writing and found it very engaging and beautiful. Her pacing was perfect although this is definitely a book I wanted to read slowly and savor- partly because I thought that doing so would keep me from the pain although it only served to prolong my agony.
With this book, Joan He broke my heart and I’d gladly thank her for it.
This is the story of a queen who simply wanted to do the right thing and correct the wrongs of her country’s past. This is the story of a queen who may not have understood what sacrifices her choices entailed and the consequences for the course of action a monarch may take.
I can gladly recommend this book to anybody and I believe I’ll still be talking about it in the future. This has cemented a spot in my favorite books list and I can encourage anyone to pick up a copy and experience this book for themselves.
This review is also on The Bookworm Daydreamer
Sometimes, we fall in love with books that wreck us emotionally, leave us thinking about it for days, and absolutely aching for more. This is one of those books. Descendant of the Crane was one of my most highly-anticipated new releases of 2019 so I was incredibly excited to read it when I got on the street team, Hesina’s Imperial Court. I’ve seen this billed as a Chinese YA Game of Thrones and I didn’t understand the comparison until I reached the end. This book tore my heart to pieces and made me fall in love with every character only to cause much pain and suffering later on.
When I reached the end, my jaw dropped and finding words felt like a struggle. When I did find words, all that came out of my mouth was gushing.
A whole lot of gushing.
Let’s start with the world-building. Joan He crafted a rich, believable world modeled after China and sets the tone and atmosphere of the world very well. Having epigraphs on every chapter depicting the Tenets of heroes called the Eleven also helped a lot. This book, the Tenets was pretty important to the plot- which I liked because it’s not just world-building flavor. Reading the Tenets can help you understand the story and character motivations.
I love all the characters and I’m still reeling after everything that happened to them in the end. I loved how complex the relationships between all of them was and how even though Sanjing does’t consider the twins his siblings, Hesina very much was and despite their strained relationship, she is his queen and he is her general.
The plot revolves around a trial involving the ‘murder’ of Hesina and Sanjing’s father, the previous king. This includes gathering evidence, questioning witnesses, and looking for possible suspects. How this plays out may or may not be a surprise to you but there are clues and seeing it all unravel was very satisfying. Plus, the actual trial was a joy to read about if you’re interested in that kind of thing- I know I was! The court system in Descendant of the Crane is detailed and is based on the Tenets- the way it was handled and described made me very happy and I really enjoyed it.
If anyone’s worried, it’s not boring at all and that’s not just me being biased. There are twists and revelations during the trials and so many things keep happening which propel the plot forward. And speaking of plots, there are layers of them in this book. So much plotting and shady things going on. It really does deserve the GOT comparison.
I really liked Joan He’s writing and found it very engaging and beautiful. Her pacing was perfect although this is definitely a book I wanted to read slowly and savor- partly because I thought that doing so would keep me from the pain although it only served to prolong my agony.
With this book, Joan He broke my heart and I’d gladly thank her for it.
This is the story of a queen who simply wanted to do the right thing and correct the wrongs of her country’s past. This is the story of a queen who may not have understood what sacrifices her choices entailed and the consequences for the course of action a monarch may take.
I can gladly recommend this book to anybody and I believe I’ll still be talking about it in the future. This has cemented a spot in my favorite books list and I can encourage anyone to pick up a copy and experience this book for themselves.
This review is also on The Bookworm Daydreamer