A review by solaria
The Dragon's Promise by Elizabeth Lim

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

I cried over the death of a paper bird. I think that says enough.

 

Elizabeth Lim you are an incredible author. An excellent sequel to its predecessor. Lim's writing style is unique and to die for. Despite the criticism I'm about to get into, I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The worldbuilding was well executed and exciting, the characters were written well and it was just an excellent read. 

Despite being the titular character, Seryu didn't have that much presence in the book which I was surprised by. I wasn't too unhappy about it though, because he wasn't a particular favourite of mine so I didn't feel like the story was missing anything when he faded out of the plot. I think the title is a bit misleading though for that reason. 

The main flaw I picked up on which lowered its rating from a 4.5 was pacing, at times I felt the story was moving a bit too fast. In some ways I wish this was a trilogy to space out the events and give me time to digest what was happening. It felt like I was in a washing machine that kept getting tumbled around with the amount of plot-breaking events being introduced. This is in contrast to Six Crimson Cranes, which didn't have nearly as many plot-altering events which gave the characters and also me time to breathe. As others have pointed out too, SCC could've worked as a standalone if the ending there was slightly modified. 

Again, I enjoyed reading regardless. I have become a fan of Lim's writing and have Spin the Dawn sitting on my shelf waiting to be read next. Hoping it meets my expectations as well.