A review by williamc
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

A wonder of the written word, if you think on it, is how the perfect book, the book you need most at a given moment, will find you -- something about its first words, the scenes you draw from a few early passages: there is that magical sense that it was always meant to find you. Like meeting a friend for the first time whom you know you will always keep. This was my experience with the fantastical, fairy-tale-like Six Crimson Cranes, which I found compelling and breathtaking and dreamlike and a book I was hardly able to put down -- all beyond my ability to explain. But here I am, having sniffled my way through its last fifty pages, having been kept in suspense at the end of every chapter, having been caught up in something that could easily be classed as a-book-like-a-Disney-movie, when friends, what I want to tell you is that this is what the overmarketed world of Disney movies should better aspire to be: magical, even when that magic threatens; romantic but with great and necessary restraint; a story full of otherworldly characters in whom you see your own ambitions and fears and faults, and still love them deeply. I loved the steeped lore of this fantastical world. I love that I couldn't tell if it was based on the worlds of East Asian folklore or completely from the mind of Elizabeth Lim. This is a brand new novel that reads like a fable from centuries ago. This book is a gift, however old it is, and I am completely under its spell.