Tittle           : Six Crimson Cranes (#1)

Author        : Elizabeth Lim

Pub Date    : July 06, 2021

Pages          : 481

My Rating   : ★★★

The Summary

The sole princess of Kiata, Shiori'anma, is hiding something. Her blood is infused with forbidden magic. Shiori usually manages to keep it under wraps, but on the morning of her wedding, she loses control. Her error initially appears to be a lucky break, preventing the wedding she never wanted. But Raikama, her stepmother, is also drawn to it.

The little princess is exiled by the witch Raikama, who also transforms her brothers into cranes. Shiori is warned not to discuss it with anyone because doing so will result in the death of one of her brothers.

Shiori, who is silent, wordless, and alone, searches for her brothers while learning of a sinister plot to take the crown. Only Shiori has the power to restore order to the kingdom, but in order to do it, she must put her faith in a paper bird, a fickle dragon, and the boy she battled so hard not to wed. And she must, at all costs, embrace the magic she has been trained to forswear throughout her existence.

My Review

A fantasy retelling of an Asian folktale, Six Crimson Cranes. The narrative shows a young royal facing unforeseen difficulties and learning to deal with them. The map is a beautiful work of art, and the cover is outstanding.

Unfortunately, I can't say that I'm completely certain of how I feel about this. It was simply a fantastic daydream for me. I'll confess that the story's unexpected turn set it apart from many other books of a similar genre I've read. That was really fantastic, for sure.

This book had a great beginning, but once the characters left the castle, the plot lost all meaning and the book started to drag. I also believed that the characters weren't given enough focus, even though that less time was spent on action. There were only a few cursory descriptions of the characters' motivations; there were no character-deep dives into what they were thinking.

My favorite part of the story was the unique and fascinating universe that Elizabeth Lim created. The beauty of the world is stunning. I enjoyed how the author created her world with wonderful detail. My interest is maintained by the magic system. I loved feeling so original, genuine, and unfiltered. I experienced a peculiar sense of belonging to that place and this story. It was an experience like no other.

Everything in the writing was outstanding. fascinating, seductive, and stunning. I found that the language is simply so gorgeous, and I thought it complemented the worldbuilding brilliantly. One of the main elements that I think everyone would agree on is that when people choose this kind of genre, they expect the world and how dreamy it is. And writing on the senses is something Elizabeth Lim excels at!

It clearly has a YA flavor, so if you're hoping for characters with more nuance and an intense relationship, this certainly isn't the book for you. However, this one is worth reading, especially since it's a unique YA reader fantasy!

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.