A review by aashna
The Dragon's Promise, by Elizabeth Lim
3.0
thank you to netgalley to providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!
a good conclusion to the duology! i love shiori in this book just as much (if not more) as i did in book one. the romance between takkan and shiori is also really well written and i loved seeing both of them develop together and individually. elizabeth lim's writing lends itself beautifully to the story, as i really do feel like i'm in a fairytale. i will say that i liked book 1 more because it felt more cohesive and like a single story. the underwater dragon kingdom plot felt detached from the plot as a whole and it made me forget what the whole story was supposed to be about. the book wrapped up a bit too quickly for my liking- there was a lot of buildup for a final showdown that ultimately didn't quite live up to my expectations. i also wish we would have gotten to know more about the side characters (especially seryu and shiori's brothers) just because they seemed a bit one-dimensional in book one and this would have been a great opportunity to give them a more major role in the plot. though a sequel to six crimson cranes wasn't necessary, this was a fast-paced, fantastical read that really did feel like a fairytale.
a good conclusion to the duology! i love shiori in this book just as much (if not more) as i did in book one. the romance between takkan and shiori is also really well written and i loved seeing both of them develop together and individually. elizabeth lim's writing lends itself beautifully to the story, as i really do feel like i'm in a fairytale. i will say that i liked book 1 more because it felt more cohesive and like a single story. the underwater dragon kingdom plot felt detached from the plot as a whole and it made me forget what the whole story was supposed to be about. the book wrapped up a bit too quickly for my liking- there was a lot of buildup for a final showdown that ultimately didn't quite live up to my expectations. i also wish we would have gotten to know more about the side characters (especially seryu and shiori's brothers) just because they seemed a bit one-dimensional in book one and this would have been a great opportunity to give them a more major role in the plot. though a sequel to six crimson cranes wasn't necessary, this was a fast-paced, fantastical read that really did feel like a fairytale.