Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Six Crimson Cranes

My god I am starstruck by this book. I cannot wait to devour the sequel!! I loved the characters, and my heart genuinely ached for the main character as she went through her struggles. The Wild Swans was one of my very favourite fairytales as a child and as a Chinese person seeing this beloved myth retold as a East Asian fantasy was so thrilling to me that I procrastinated for maybe a whole year. I was so nervous because I desperately wanted to love this book, but if I could go back now I'd be shrieking at my past self to dive right in post haste.

One of the things I loved best was how much agency was given to Shiori as a character. The blurb on the back of the book suggested to me that she would be getting a lot more help from Seryu, but as I read the book

that didn't seem to be the case. Yes, he helped Shiori in some key moments, but most of the time Shiori got on using her wits. I also thought, based on something Seryu had said in an earlier chapter, that Shiori being forced to not use her words would eventually figure out to use wordless magic, and maybe that would be what saved the day- but no, not even that.

Mostly wits. I found that brilliant.

My only regret is that the Raikama, the main antagonist / twist villain / antihero of the story, died before all the loose ends could be satisfactorily tied together. Then again, I guess that's just life for ya. Death doesn't really tie things neatly, so I guess that makes sense. Even before she was revealed to be more than she seemed I could already sort of tell- which, trust me, it was a good thing and it felt soooo rewarding when my guesses turned out right!! Made me feel like I'd have loved to see a few more scenes with her before she left the story.

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brandie_abbie19's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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calicat42's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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broccoli_j's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I think this book has to grow on you! It has a relatively slow start, but I have never read a book with such an original take on the „chosen one“ Trope.

The worldbuilding, the characterarcs and the magic system are just insane and the story uses the found family trope in such a unique way!

This was a great first book and I’m excited for the rest of the series!!!

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kayceeisbookish's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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squisheebee_'s review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book literally had me completely spellbound from the first page. Literally ran to order the sequel AND the authors book for a separate series. Like omfg. Yes it’s YA. Yes the pros is super easy to ready but god is it beautifully written AND the story!? Don’t get me started. I will not take slander about this book. If it was not for you that’s fine, but it was certainly for me. 😇

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thekibbs101's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

3.0

I liked Shiori, Takkan, and Kiki’s characters, but I have issues with the story and writing. It was frustrating, sad, and would make me angry for Shiori that people were just always looking down on her, I just thought this would be a happier adventure. I don’t like how most of the characters are just mean to her and there’s just so many conflicts for the sake of having conflicts throughout the whole story.

In the beginning, it was amusing to see the interactions between the dragon boy. Seryu, and Shiori. I liked how he teaches her magic and brings her flowers and she makes them bloom. I started really enjoying it around then because of their interactions. Before that I was having a hard time getting through the beginning. I found really cool art of Shiori and the dragon on Pinterest. I was enjoying reading about them but I found it weird that they just get separate and then don’t interact much in the rest of the book. I enjoyed how Kiki could talk and waa Shiori’s companion. Also I LOVE the UK cover for this book.

My favorite parts were her interacting with Takkan. I really like Takkan he’s so sweet to Shiori, and Megari too. I like when Shiori teaches her to fold paper cranes while it’s storming and then she thinks of wishing she were a sister. Then they go see the plum blossoms and have fun. I like that part. It’s so frustrating though how Shiori can’t talk and can’t even try to convey who she is. Most of the story was just not enjoyable.

“She made the ocean out of her tears and painted the sky with her dreams.” - 288.
I don’t get why so much of the story is characters being so mean to Shiori, like that’s not enjoyable to read about so I don’t get how people can give this such a high rating and say it’s so good. It’s not enjoyable to read about people constantly being mean to her. And her being under a curse. (Spoiler thoughts ahead)
The best part was her relationship with Takkan and their romance. I also enjoyed how strong Shiori is. The action scenes at the end with the wolf were just kind of stupid like they had already crossed so many dilemmas and I just wanted to see her being with Takkan. Then the thing with the stepmother was interesting. Then the ending was disappointing because I was expecting them to all be back home together but Shiori chooses to leave without them even though we just spend this whole book trying to v er everyone home, it’s so frustrating. I’m so disappointed that she’s just going to the dragon kingdom without all of them.

I have very mixed thoughts as you can see, I do want to read the sequel because I want to see more or the characters, but I am worried that I won’t like it because of the violence that’s sure to also be in that one. There were also times where the writing just wouldn’t make sense, like when Takkan and her brothers were traveling together at the end and then her brothers show up but Takkan isn’t there. And it’s not even explained or said where he is. And then she just goes to sleep and when she wakes up they’re all there. Something like that also happened whenever Shiori saw her brothers flying and she stopped all of the hunters by grabbing all of their bows, and then she’s talking to her brothers and hugging them yet none of the soldiers are within seeing or hearing distance of them all of a sudden? But it wasn’t said like she walked away so they wouldn’t see her. Like I think those are flaws in the writing, it should have been said because it was so confusing that I was just like what?

I just read The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea and wanted to read something similar, so I chose this and I am just disappointed. It was similar because it has a dragon, a main character who can’t talk for some of the story, and it’s Asian literature, so I am glad that I read it because I wanted to read something similar.

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bones_jackson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Achei incrível, eu não sei porque eu não continuei a ler ele antes, a história é muito criativa e bem escrita, e o romance é maravilhoso.

Agora que acabou nesse clifthanger gigantesco eu preciso ler o próximo urgentemente

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