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luuxx's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Slavery, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and War
sporemiette's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Slavery, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Torture, Trafficking, and War
Minor: Suicide and Medical content
veilchen's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Hesina is princess of Yan, a country that had ones been terrorized by the magic sooths, which are now outlawed. When her father, the King, dies, she is convinced that his death was not of natural cause and goes out of her way to find the real killer. But what she hasn't accounted for was the politics of the court, intrigues and betrayals playing their part in uncovering the truth.
First of all, this book is not a comforting, fun little fantasy book. It is Hurt/NoComfort, bawl your eyes out, talk about in therapy stuff. But it is a great book. My favourite part was without question the worldbuilding. The east-asian inspired setting of Yan, where the rules are dictated by eleven mysterious revolutionaries of the past is explored in depth, with all the lore, history of oppression and connecitons to its neighbouring countries, is what makes the sotry of Hesina so easy to get captivated by. Supported by a very pretty, descriptive writing style, I found myself speeding through the almost 500 pages in less than four hours.
I also fell in love with the characters. Hesina is a great protagonist with a lot of agency and not without faults. The rest of the cast mainly consists of her family, a wild mix of real siblings, bastards and adoptees, all of which got their moment to shine. Then, there is also the thief, who Hesina conscripts to help her uncover the Truth, Akira, with whom Hesina also develops a bit of a romance. Though there wasn't a lot of focus on that, I enjoyed their dynamic and would have wanted to see a bit more - maybe in the next book?
All in all, "Descendant of the Crane" was not at all what I expected. It was dark and sad, and very quick-paced, but it all took place in such a detailled world, with well developed character and in a beautiful style that I had no choice but to love it. It ended on a pretty open note - which I actually prefer, because now I can just pretend they all lived happily ever after. Nevertheless, one of the best endings I read in a while. I cried a lot.
First of all, this book is not a comforting, fun little fantasy book. It is Hurt/NoComfort, bawl your eyes out, talk about in therapy stuff. But it is a great book. My favourite part was without question the worldbuilding. The east-asian inspired setting of Yan, where the rules are dictated by eleven mysterious revolutionaries of the past is explored in depth, with all the lore, history of oppression and connecitons to its neighbouring countries, is what makes the sotry of Hesina so easy to get captivated by. Supported by a very pretty, descriptive writing style, I found myself speeding through the almost 500 pages in less than four hours.
I also fell in love with the characters. Hesina is a great protagonist with a lot of agency and not without faults. The rest of the cast mainly consists of her family, a wild mix of real siblings, bastards and adoptees, all of which got their moment to shine. Then, there is also the thief, who Hesina conscripts to help her uncover the Truth, Akira, with whom Hesina also develops a bit of a romance. Though there wasn't a lot of focus on that, I enjoyed their dynamic and would have wanted to see a bit more - maybe in the next book?
All in all, "Descendant of the Crane" was not at all what I expected. It was dark and sad, and very quick-paced, but it all took place in such a detailled world, with well developed character and in a beautiful style that I had no choice but to love it. It ended on a pretty open note - which I actually prefer, because now I can just pretend they all lived happily ever after. Nevertheless, one of the best endings I read in a while. I cried a lot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Genocide, Torture, Murder, and War
Minor: Slavery and War
btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
What an absolutely stunning book. I read this back in 2019 as an eARC, but I didn't have the words at the time to properly express how amazing I found this book, even more so today than I did back then.
At its heart, Descendant of the Crane is a book about morality. We all want to do the right thing, we all want to believe in the systems that have been put in place, and we all want to hope that the people around us are true, faithful, and honest. This book breaks down the concept of morality and truth and makes Hesina, our MC, question what is real and what is a veneer over a broken system.
What I love most about this book is that it showed the truth of humanity - no matter your position, your intentions, or your heart, humans are fallible and we make mistakes. Hesina makes choices that she believes are right and will lead her to the truth, but the brokenness of the system results in consequence after consequence, loss after loss. And she owns up to them, which is so rare to see, but you can see her taking accountability and bearing the weight of the losses on her shoulder.
The twist at the end still haunts me and I wish that we could've gotten a sequel for this one. Alas, not in the cards, but where it ends, there's hope for everyone left and I loved the potential we're left with.
Descendant of the Crane remains a favourite for me, and I definitely recommend picking this one up. I think it'll surprise you.
TW: death, grief, torture, violence, blood, injury detail, genocide, slavery, racism (of a magical group of people); mentions suicide, war, vomit
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
eARC gifted by Joan He's previous problematic publisher, so I won't be thanking them, but acknowledging the gifted copy.
At its heart, Descendant of the Crane is a book about morality. We all want to do the right thing, we all want to believe in the systems that have been put in place, and we all want to hope that the people around us are true, faithful, and honest. This book breaks down the concept of morality and truth and makes Hesina, our MC, question what is real and what is a veneer over a broken system.
What I love most about this book is that it showed the truth of humanity - no matter your position, your intentions, or your heart, humans are fallible and we make mistakes. Hesina makes choices that she believes are right and will lead her to the truth, but the brokenness of the system results in consequence after consequence, loss after loss. And she owns up to them, which is so rare to see, but you can see her taking accountability and bearing the weight of the losses on her shoulder.
The twist at the end still haunts me and I wish that we could've gotten a sequel for this one. Alas, not in the cards, but where it ends, there's hope for everyone left and I loved the potential we're left with.
Descendant of the Crane remains a favourite for me, and I definitely recommend picking this one up. I think it'll surprise you.
TW: death, grief, torture, violence, blood, injury detail, genocide, slavery, racism (of a magical group of people); mentions suicide, war, vomit
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
eARC gifted by Joan He's previous problematic publisher, so I won't be thanking them, but acknowledging the gifted copy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide, Torture, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Vomit, and War
booksandtea997's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Racism, Slavery, and Torture
azrah786's review against another edition
4.25
[This full review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
Descendant of the Crane is an enthralling debut novel full of vivid world-building and a mystifying plot. It’s a Chinese inspired fantasy full of complex familial relationships, court politics and a hell of a lot of twists. I’m honestly still struggling to put my thoughts into words.
The story follows Princess Hesina, who has grown up cherishing certain secrets of the palace that her father, the emperor shared with her.
Following her father’s death – or as Hesina believes, murder - she steps up to inherit her role as ruler as a means to find justice. However, this entails being thrown into a world of more secrets than she initially asked for. A world full of corruption and power hungry individuals. A world controlled through the words of the Tenets – an ancient text asserting the philosophies of the revolutionaries (the Eleven) who centuries back marshalled a new era for the kingdom. A world governed by a primordial prejudice against “soothsayers” – people who are able to wield magic, any association with whom is regarded as an act of treason.
In this world full of deception Hesina has to stand her ground and fight for what she wants. By her side are her siblings –Caiyan, Lilian, Sanjing, and Rou, a mysterious convict who goes by the name Akira and the lessons she learnt from her father.
He’s narrative does well in voicing the determination and naivety of the young queen from the start. Hesina’s overall character development - from a carefree, inexperienced adolescent to a persevering monarch set out to do what is right for all of her people - was GREAT! However, I did feel that some of Hesina’s decisions and indifference towards certain characters were unrealistic.
**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
Descendant of the Crane is an enthralling debut novel full of vivid world-building and a mystifying plot. It’s a Chinese inspired fantasy full of complex familial relationships, court politics and a hell of a lot of twists. I’m honestly still struggling to put my thoughts into words.
The story follows Princess Hesina, who has grown up cherishing certain secrets of the palace that her father, the emperor shared with her.
Following her father’s death – or as Hesina believes, murder - she steps up to inherit her role as ruler as a means to find justice. However, this entails being thrown into a world of more secrets than she initially asked for. A world full of corruption and power hungry individuals. A world controlled through the words of the Tenets – an ancient text asserting the philosophies of the revolutionaries (the Eleven) who centuries back marshalled a new era for the kingdom. A world governed by a primordial prejudice against “soothsayers” – people who are able to wield magic, any association with whom is regarded as an act of treason.
In this world full of deception Hesina has to stand her ground and fight for what she wants. By her side are her siblings –Caiyan, Lilian, Sanjing, and Rou, a mysterious convict who goes by the name Akira and the lessons she learnt from her father.
He’s narrative does well in voicing the determination and naivety of the young queen from the start. Hesina’s overall character development - from a carefree, inexperienced adolescent to a persevering monarch set out to do what is right for all of her people - was GREAT! However, I did feel that some of Hesina’s decisions and indifference towards certain characters were unrealistic.
What is power? Hesina had thought it was wielding the knife, or getting someone to wield it for her. Now she realised it was neither of those things. Power was yielding. It was taking the bloodstained knife out of a thousand frenzied hands and making it hers alone.
Towards the beginning I felt that the events occurring in the plot were progressing quite rapidly, but as the rich history and politics of the world were fed into the story it set a good pace. The case of the emperor’s death took centre stage hence the book felt more like a mystery with an air of historical fiction rather than a fantasy.
The fantasy elements to me felt slightly overshadowed by the happenings of the imperial court and the strong themes of trust and doubt, truth and lies. Nonetheless, this is not to say that the fantasy elements were lacking in any way. The soothsayers and their magic was really interesting! I just hope that if we are to get a sequel that we get to see more about them. It would also be interesting if we were able to learn more about the surrounding territories of Ning, Ci and Kendi’a. Other than a few scenes taking place at the borderlands and the mention of political agreements and commerce, the narrative doesn’t really focus anywhere other than the kingdom of Yan.
Knowledge is truth, Little Bird. Those who refuse to learn live in a world of falsity.
My favourite parts of the story were probably the flashbacks Hesina had of her father. Family was another very prominent theme within this book and the character relationships overall, in particular the sibling relationships, were really well written. The main thing I had a problem with understanding was the relationship between Hesina and Akira…
Akira intrigued me from the beginning with how he easily slipped into the role he was given but the confidence Hesina gave him didn’t entirely make sense to me. Also the romance?? It was never intense and had the impression of being slow burn but as I was reading I just felt that there was something missing in order for it all to work.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed Descendant of the Crane. It is a clever tale that you won’t be able to put down and will keep you guessing until the end! And let me tell you now that end was really something!
Final Rating - 4.25/5 Stars
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I need to gather my thoughts to rate this but wOwsers
RTC
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, and Violence