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A review by lydiamacclaren
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
3.0
To be blunt, the cover is what drew me to this book. It is gorgeous! It was nostalgia that kept me. When I first started reading the book I didn't realize that it was a retelling of the Wild Swans, a story that I first heard in childhood. I was fascinated to see the story revisited and interested in seeing how it would progress.
It was overall not a bad story, but not a great one either. Its strengths are in its unique plot, setting, and it's opening pacing. I did appreciate Shiori's character growth, and though she did feel quite childish at the beginning she had a believable character arc that really developed her well.
What I didn't like was the second half. Her brothers went undeveloped and her relationship with them was just beginning to be developed when she was taken away. Seryu was all but forgotten and in large part could have been cut out if not for the sequel that's coming up. If a love triangle was supposed to be formed, he missed the boat. The buildup just did not seem to match the payoff.
The writing overall I enjoyed, though at times it felt choppy and as if things would suddenly appear with no sense spatially of what had been happening before. As the book continued this happened less and less often, but was replaced by awful info-dumping. While I enjoyed the magic system of the world, I wish there was more organic development and less info-dumping.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. Will I read the second? Probably not...
It was overall not a bad story, but not a great one either. Its strengths are in its unique plot, setting, and it's opening pacing. I did appreciate Shiori's character growth, and though she did feel quite childish at the beginning she had a believable character arc that really developed her well.
What I didn't like was the second half. Her brothers went undeveloped and her relationship with them was just beginning to be developed when she was taken away. Seryu was all but forgotten and in large part could have been cut out if not for the sequel that's coming up. If a love triangle was supposed to be formed, he missed the boat. The buildup just did not seem to match the payoff.
The writing overall I enjoyed, though at times it felt choppy and as if things would suddenly appear with no sense spatially of what had been happening before. As the book continued this happened less and less often, but was replaced by awful info-dumping. While I enjoyed the magic system of the world, I wish there was more organic development and less info-dumping.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. Will I read the second? Probably not...