Six Crimson Cranes Book Review

 

From Goodreads: Shiori, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted, but it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother.

Raikama has dark magic of her own, and she banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes, and warning Shiori that she must speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die.

Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and, on her journey, uncovers a conspiracy to overtake the throne—a conspiracy more twisted and deceitful, more cunning and complex, than even Raikama’s betrayal. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she’s been taught all her life to contain—no matter what it costs her.

Hi everyone, and welcome to another book review!

First up, I wanted to say thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I had really hoped to get this review up before the book was officially published, but uni work has been kicking my butt recently and I’ve fallen a bit behind with the book reviewing.

Also, I have to draw attention to the beautiful covers for Six Crimson Cranes. Both editions I’ve seen (the U.S. one pictured above and the UK edition) are absolutely gorgeous.

Okay, now onto the review. I’m a big fan of Elizabeth Lim’s writing style, and Six Crimson Cranes lived up to my expectations in this regard. The writing is quite lyrical and descriptive, but it never manages to quite tip over that line into being too flowery. The settings and the descriptions of clothing are probably my favourite things in this regard, and I think there’s so many beautiful lines, particularly at the start when Shiori is in the palace. I also really liked the relationship that she had with her brothers, although I do kinda wish we spent a little bit more time getting to know them before they become cranes, because I think that would have made the stakes of the story even greater.

The fantastical elements of the story are what truly sold it for me. Lim has this beautiful mastery over retellings, where she’ll weave in these tiny little details and nods to stories, and it just reminds me so much of picking up fairytale anthologies when I was a child. I wouldn’t say that there’s a lot of fantasy elements going on in this book, but there’s definitely some elements of it.

I also really liked Shiori. The voice came across very clearly from the first page, and it felt as though you learned a lot about the character a lot of the way that made her very relatable and likeable. Her paper crane was a cute addition too and again reminded me quite a bit of some animal side-kicks in other fairytales or popular culture.

There are moments when the book does get a little bit confusing. While I loved the magic in it, the inclusion of the dragons felt a little odd as they sort of came in and dropped out the story a lot. But then it’s hard to say too much about that because it’s clear from the ending that this book won’t be a standalone. The ending of the book also felt a little bit rushed, and there was a lot of explanation and stuff right in the final few chapters, which I personally found a bit hard to follow. That might just be me, but it did feel like some of the plot twists didn’t quite pay off as planned because there were lots of things held too close to the chest, and so when you learn some of the political stuff right at the end it feels more like you’re trying to connect all the dots rather than enjoying the twist? I’m not at my most eloquent today (blaming this heat wave) but it definitely had me scratching my head a bit.

Overall, I’m giving Six Crimson Cranes:

 

 

 

 

 

I did love the plot and the fairytale elements and all the characters, although I do wish that we’d learned a bit more about the brothers early on. The voice of the protagonist was also very strong and really made me want to keep reading, even when I was meant to be putting down the book to do other stuff. The ending was a bit confusing and hard to follow for me personally, but I’m giving it some benefit of the doubt as the novel isn’t a standalone.

Has anyone else read this book or plans to? What other fairytale retellings would you recommend? Let me know in the comments section down below <3