The Dragon's Promise

I was really excited I got an e-arc for The Dragon’s Promise, as I loved Six Crimson Cranes! However, I have to say this sequel fell a little flat for me, and I kinda wished Six Crimson Cranes had been expanded a little to be a standalone.

We start off exactly at the cliffhanger, where Shiori will travel to the underwater world of the dragons, and wow, that was absolutely amazing! I loved all the twists and turns and Seryu was epic, he kept me on my toes! It was really intriguing and I wished we would stay there for longer, but at 30% the plot changes entirely, and Seryu and the dragons vanish from the story. For me, it felt too abrupt and a little bit weird. There was a second turn which caused the same feeling, like this story is made out of three separate short stories. We do get back to Takkan and the brothers, which is always a good thing, as I loved the brothers, I do wish they’d gotten more dialogue and action though, because sibling relations are the best. And we find out more about the queen, which was lovely. And even though the middle was a little slow, I was entirely taken in by the beautiful writing style and epic world building. Honestly, I really would have loved this book if I weren’t thinking half of the time “ok we’re apparently doing this new side plot now” and “please Shiori just think it through for once”. Because while I loved Shiori’s character in book 1, in this book her impulsivity was a bit too much at times, but I do still really like her character. It’s a delicate balance. However this evens out a lot around Takkan as they are a perfect balance for each other, even if they don’t know it yet. Their relationship was very realistic and very sweet.

This story is a bit a mix of a fairy tale and YA fantasy novel, with clever characters and twists, and beautiful writing which makes up for when the plot is a bit chaotic. I did like it though and I give it 3.5 stars. I would recommend it to readers who have read book 1, as this still is amazing and the ending is perfection, even though I think duology this would’ve worked better as a standalone.

I received an e-arc from the publisher through Netgalley, but it hasn’t influenced my opinions.