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scarletthequeen's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror
serendipity421's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Kidnapping
katerinovaaa's review against another edition
5.0
🐉 1st person, 1 POV
🐉 magic, quests, curses, sea-dragons, shape-shifters, poisons, demons, hidden identity
🐉 fated mates
🐉 strong family bonds
🐉 magical cute little sidekick Kiki
🐉 East-Asian folklore
🗡 TW: loss of a loved one, animal death, kidnapping, body-horror, fire, poisoning, murder, bullying, self-inflicted harm
This is one of the best books I have ever read! It was true YA (you don't see that very often nowadays). The pacing was perfect; it did not make me anxious, and there wasn't a page where I wanted to put it down. I finished the book, put my clothes on, and went to buy book 2 (so far it's just as good).
I forgot how miserable my life is right now, and it gave my brain a break, which I am immensely grateful for. 💚
🐉 magic, quests, curses, sea-dragons, shape-shifters, poisons, demons, hidden identity
🐉 fated mates
🐉 strong family bonds
🐉 magical cute little sidekick Kiki
🐉 East-Asian folklore
🗡 TW: loss of a loved one, animal death, kidnapping, body-horror, fire, poisoning, murder, bullying, self-inflicted harm
This is one of the best books I have ever read! It was true YA (you don't see that very often nowadays). The pacing was perfect; it did not make me anxious, and there wasn't a page where I wanted to put it down. I finished the book, put my clothes on, and went to buy book 2 (so far it's just as good).
I forgot how miserable my life is right now, and it gave my brain a break, which I am immensely grateful for. 💚
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Bullying and Kidnapping
crybabybea's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I'm sad because I really wanted to love this but it just wasn't it for me.
This leans more toward the younger side of YA, which isn't bad but means the world and writing is quite simple, and the stakes don't feel as high as they could. The premise of the book is so interesting and unique - a main character who can't speak and uncovers a plot to take the throne. But, her not being able to speak doesn't actually matter at all, except that she can't tell anyone her true identity. People understand her perfectly, and the consequences for her being mute and cursed with an unremovable bowl on her head are nearly irrelevant.
I felt like this book tried to do too much at once. I found the weaving together of fairy tales (the main two being Hachikazuki and The Wild Swans) interesting and a unique take on a retelling. However, being YA, a lot of time was spent on the love story aspect which felt lackluster and caused the pacing to drag horribly in the middle of the book. The story was all over the place with fairytales, magic, love, battles, multiple antagonists, changing settings... it was just a lot and it caused the quality of the main plot to suffer.
The world didn't feel very clear to me, it was a pan-Asian fantasy setting that pulled from Chinese, Japanese, and Korean culture and didn't really have an identity of its own. The magic system still doesn't make all that much sense to me which really makes the last twist for our main character fall flat. It felt like the magic only existed as a plot device to invent either conflict or resolutions for Shiori. Her paper crane familiar, Kiki, is cute but was used to unnaturally move the plot forward. Same for Seryu, the dragon.
The characters were also quite flat and uninteresting. The whole emotional investment of the story comes from Shiori's desire to save her brothers, but we are never introduced to their personalities enough to care, the narrative just tells us who they are and how they act but they spend the entire story as cranes and we rarely interact with them. The main love interest is sweet but he very much falls into the Prince Charming role and doesn't have much complexity. The coolest character is a shapeshifting dragon but he disappears after we meet him and only shows up as a plot device once or twice in the story. I will say I did like our main character, Shiori, and her growth as a character felt satisfying and realistic.
As a fairytale retelling, this is fun and wholesome, and I especially enjoyed the weaving in of East Asian mythology/fairy tales as well as the way the author turned some of the tropes of the genre on its head. I did like the writing and the ideas of the author so I'm not completely turned off from trying something by Elizabeth Lim again though!
This leans more toward the younger side of YA, which isn't bad but means the world and writing is quite simple, and the stakes don't feel as high as they could. The premise of the book is so interesting and unique - a main character who can't speak and uncovers a plot to take the throne. But, her not being able to speak doesn't actually matter at all, except that she can't tell anyone her true identity. People understand her perfectly, and the consequences for her being mute and cursed with an unremovable bowl on her head are nearly irrelevant.
I felt like this book tried to do too much at once. I found the weaving together of fairy tales (the main two being Hachikazuki and The Wild Swans) interesting and a unique take on a retelling. However, being YA, a lot of time was spent on the love story aspect which felt lackluster and caused the pacing to drag horribly in the middle of the book. The story was all over the place with fairytales, magic, love, battles, multiple antagonists, changing settings... it was just a lot and it caused the quality of the main plot to suffer.
The world didn't feel very clear to me, it was a pan-Asian fantasy setting that pulled from Chinese, Japanese, and Korean culture and didn't really have an identity of its own. The magic system still doesn't make all that much sense to me which really makes the last twist for our main character fall flat. It felt like the magic only existed as a plot device to invent either conflict or resolutions for Shiori. Her paper crane familiar, Kiki, is cute but was used to unnaturally move the plot forward. Same for Seryu, the dragon.
The characters were also quite flat and uninteresting. The whole emotional investment of the story comes from Shiori's desire to save her brothers, but we are never introduced to their personalities enough to care, the narrative just tells us who they are and how they act but they spend the entire story as cranes and we rarely interact with them. The main love interest is sweet but he very much falls into the Prince Charming role and doesn't have much complexity. The coolest character is a shapeshifting dragon but he disappears after we meet him and only shows up as a plot device once or twice in the story. I will say I did like our main character, Shiori, and her growth as a character felt satisfying and realistic.
As a fairytale retelling, this is fun and wholesome, and I especially enjoyed the weaving in of East Asian mythology/fairy tales as well as the way the author turned some of the tropes of the genre on its head. I did like the writing and the ideas of the author so I'm not completely turned off from trying something by Elizabeth Lim again though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
_persephone's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
if there's a love triangle in the sequel, i will cry. :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Murder
lewbug's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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
5.0
This book is incredible. The folklore and fantasy elements are fantastic. I love the way the magic works. I love all the characters and their interactions with each other. I can’t say enough positive things about this book. It made me cry. It made me kick my feet and squeal with glee. I can’t wait to read the next book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Death
modernhobbitvibes's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, and Death of parent
claudan's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief and Murder
lauramcc7's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
monniebiloney's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This book really reminded me of the movie BRAVE (Disney)
It's definitely its own thing, but it is weirdly similar on the bases of it's exciting insidient.
If you liked Brave, you will LOVE Six Chrimson Crains.
I love that I didn't read the back of the book, cuz some of my favorite plot points that grabbed me by surprise were greatly spoiled on the back of the book.
So please, just read the first page to see if you'd like the book
It's definitely its own thing, but it is weirdly similar on the bases of it's exciting insidient.
If you liked Brave, you will LOVE Six Chrimson Crains.
I love that I didn't read the back of the book, cuz some of my favorite plot points that grabbed me by surprise were greatly spoiled on the back of the book.
So please, just read the first page to see if you'd like the book
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and War