Of the duology, I think Six Crimson Cranes was the stronger book. This sequel felt a little divided into multiple parts, with the underwater kingdom, her home, and the mountains. While the story still had a lot of emotions and wrapped the plot up well, I did find myself less engaged with this book due to how abrupt everything was.

What really captured me was the tender love between the main characters and how supportive Takkan was throughout. He was fierce and never lost faith being by Shiori's side, easily my favorite character of the series.

I loved the ending; it was powerful and hurt but also tied up the story for me with enough of a happy ending for all.

Review of The Dragon’s Promise by Elizabeth Lim – ARC received by publisher from NetGalley

4 out of 5 stars (just barely hit the four mark for me!)

It sadly took me a while to finish this one. I was struggling with teaching this past month, and I’m not sure if it was the book or my spirit that kept me from reading.

I have to say that the ending of this novel made it a 4 for me. I enjoyed the beginning with Seryu and Gen, and LOVED when Shiori and Takkan were reunited. But I struggled getting through the descriptions and in betweens for this novel. I felt that a lot could have been cut to keep it going strong, though it seems like publishers these days have stopped cutting final drafts of novels completely.

The ending was so sweet, delicate, soft. I love the twist it took with folklore and I absolutely yearned for more of the epilogue. The cranes, the stars, the moon, the gods, the forgotten isles, the dragon heir….all of it swirls together to create so much more for me. Something almost magical. I easily spent 50 pages crying towards the end – not sobbing. Just those light delicate tears that are shed when you feel that the world is fighting against the things that should be fated. The ones you cry when you hope to see love and loyalty win by the end.

There was more that I had hoped to see though. I wanted more about the brothers. About the gods. About Seryu. I wanted MORE about Channari (maybe a prequel, even?) I know that the fates and folklore are never kind to all of the characters, but I would have liked to see more of a happy ending.

Nonetheless, I love Elizabeth Lim’s writing. I hope to read more by her soon and to see her grow as a writer.

Though she survived her first encounter with a demon, Shiori is not through saving her world. First she must journey to the land of the dragons and honor her promise to the dragon king. Then she must face the impossible task of tracking down the Wraith and reuniting him with his dragon pearl. Will she be up to this task? Or will she sacrifice everything in order to save those she loves?

While this started strong, it seemed like the first half and second half of the story were written independently. Her time in the dragon realm was a little disconnected from the time fighting the demons and returning magic to her land. While each were well-written, the two did not feel well meshed together into one full storyline for me. Other than that, the story was a great conclusion to the first book and readers are able to see all of the characters from the first grow and adapt to their changes, though they become very secondary in this second installment.

EARC provided by the publisher in return for a fair review.

Okay. I think I'd give this book 3.75 stars. After the somewhat disappointing follow-up to Spin the Dawn, I was worried that Elizabeth Lim would leave an unsatisfactory sequel to her second duology.

I think Lim is still finding her footing on how to finish a duology, but The Dragon's Promise was definitely better! I think the first 30% of the book was amazing & so interesting. But then the story lulls a bit.

Outside of that, all of my praise for the first book still stands. The world is magical, the writing is eloquent, Shiori is still an amazing main character. Overall, a pretty good end to this duology. I can't wait to see what Elizabeth Lim comes up with next! I'm so proud to see her books grow in popularity & for her to get the recognition she deserves :)

This was definitely a fast paced and enjoyable read for me. I simply just loved it. I thoroughly enjoyed all those twists and turns, the strong and engaging plot line and the phenomenally entertaining and strong characters!! In my humble opinion, this deserves all the stars and more.

I really love this world. I love Shiori’s relationship with her brothers and her friendship with Kiki. I love the dragons and the way demons were used and the magic system.

I think my biggest frustration is that so much happened so quickly and I wish we had spent more time in some parts of the story. I honestly think this could have been split into a trilogy!

Shiori is a wonderful main character and I do like where her story went. While the ending wasn’t 100% what I wanted, it felt fitting.

Just as good as the first. I love when sequels keep me invested as if I was coming into the world for the very first time. This book did not disappoint. full of twists and adventure. I love the lore and the beautiful way the author spins her words to make you feel as if you are right there with her characters.

I was rather disappointed with this book. I enjoyed Six Crimson Cranes quite a bit, but this book was lacking in all the things I loved about Cranes. Shiori seemed to revert to her unthinking childish self from the beginning of the first book, enacting plan after last minute plan to try and stay alive in the dragon realm. The plot also reverted back to a more classic fairy tale feel, where the character is buffeted about by the plot and there’s a straightforward good vs. evil. I had loved the subversion of the fairy tale in the first book but this book only had a weak third act attempt at trying a similar ploy. Even Takkan made me mad in moments, Shiori is incredibly mean and dismissive to him at certain points and he just goes along with it.

Overall, disappointing sequel to Six Crimson Cranes.

It does NOT work as a standalone. You have to read the first book before the second, or you will have no idea what’s going on.

I loved the first book, and the second was just as enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

This was so good omg. I enjoyed it even more than the first one. I’m so so so glad that there wasn’t a love triangle because those utterly ruin perfectly good books, but that wasn’t a factor here. My only complaint is that there isn’t more.

I waited months to read this sequel after reading the first book and I was not at all disappointed. It is everything I wanted out of the second half of this incredible journey for Shiori. I only wish it had lasted a few more pages, because I just simply wanted the absolute fullest extent of the ending, but I am satisfied and happy nonetheless! It was all beautiful.

The length of the novel feels daunting, especially for newcomers to larger bodies of work or those wishing to jump back in, but the flow and ebb of the plot lines keeps it from feeling like a chore (this was true for the first book too). I found myself reading so many more pages than I had thought I had, because I just kept turning and turning, eager to see what happened next.

The interpersonal relations between the characters is especially my favorite part; the characterization is just so, so good. Their emotions mirrored my own. To me, the characters and their relations to each other are the greatest part and I believe Elizabeth Lim is a master of it.

I ended up buying two pre-order copies of The Dragon's Promise because I wanted one for myself. I love this duology very much and I will absolutely continue to keep coming back to it!!

This was a pretty decent sequel! I will say I absolutely loved the first half of the book the most. It starts off right where the last book left off by going into Seryu's home basically. It was super interesting and honestly I wish the author spent more time in this place? Like it felt so odd going from this interesting underwater adventure to suddenly she's back on land and Seryu is basically gone forever. It just feels odd considering the title is 'the dragon's promise' and I guess it could be referring to the pearl and all that rather than to Seryu but I feel like it's meant to be referring to him. And it does add up when you get to the end of the book, but I was just thinking the whole book that it was missing something, because in the last book it has a mixture of both characters and this one I feel like the author just got rid of Seryu just so that he doesn't get in the way of the whole other plot which idk was more underwhelming.
Despite the slightly underwhelming middle part of the book, I did find the ending very interesting almost taking a greek myth turn with the whole half a year thing which I really liked. And I just loved the world and all the interesting descriptions.

A satisfying conclusion to the story begun in Six Crimson Cranes. It's not the story I was expecting, but it gives wraps up Shiori's story nicely.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.
I was so excited to read this book and while I enjoyed it, I feel a little disappointed too. The last arc felt a little off and I forced myself to finish the book which is sad because I loved Six Crimsons Canes.
Overall it was a good book but it wasn’t as strong as the first one

Thank you so much for allowing me to read the ARC of this book!

I could not request this book fast enough! As soon as I saw Elizabeth Lim posting it was available on NetGalley, I had to request it. I was definitely not disappointed.

First off, I want to say that the pacing of this book was absolutely incredible. I remember thinking I had to be farther in the book because so much was happening and it was crazy, but when I checked the percentage I was only like 30% in. Which is insane! So much was happening and I couldn't get enough. This book is packed with action and emotion. I loved every second of reading this book.

Shiori is a really great character and I love how much growth she has experienced since the first book. She has lost the spoiled princess attitude and she has learned how to fight for herself, her family, and the one she loves. We see her develop into a powerful woman and prove that magic is not evil. She turns the tides and brings magic back into a land where it was dying for magic to return.

A big thing I really appreciated was the time spent learning more about Raikama and her past. I wasn't sure if we would get more about her after the first book, but there was so much to learn and I loved that. It really built up the connection Shiori had with her and made you think back to the first book with a different mindset. All of those details really helped make this book great.

I don't want to talk too much without spoiling everything, but I will always recommend this book and its former. I adored it and I know many readers will also adore it.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.

The Dragon's Promise was even more mystical and immersive than Six Crimson Cranes. Elizabeth Lim's writing is, quite frankly, stunning.

I am so honored to have received an ARC for this book! Six Crimson Cranes was my favorite book of 2021, and for this special occasion, I went ahead and re-read the Blood of Stars duology as well as SCC (you, dearest reader, do not have to do this in order to fully enjoy this book, though if you love Easter eggs [no pun intended as it is currently Easter weekend] then by all means, do it!)
This book follows a similar flow and pacing as Six Crimson Cranes; now that I've read all of author Elizabeth Lim's books, all her books feature a similar pacing. Coupled with her smooth like butter and eloquent, descriptive writing, it makes for a gorgeous journey all throughout.
Shiori is a character I know I will be thinking about for the rest of my life; her wit, strength, humor, and overall demeanor makes her such a delightful heroine- what's beautiful about a character such as Shiori, who goes through epic trials and tribulations (as we all sat at the edge of our seats for in SCC) is she never loses that sparkle, and yet she still feels tempered and real for the situations she is whisked away into (and when she straight up jumps into them, making quite the splash for her first impression to us readers).
The book (and overall, Elizabeth Lim's writing) reads like poetry, a love poem to a girl's strength, friendship, endurance, perseverance, stubbornness, and lessons learned. She will always and forevermore be an author I do not hesitate to read and purchase for my bookshelves, and Lord knows I am very picky about the books I buy for my bookshelf in this economy!

Second book continued off of book one which left a lot of plot to be cleared up. I was so happy to see more familiar faces from the first book as many of them were so endearing.

i absolutely loved the first one and loved this one as well. it was so wonderful going back into this world and this series is one of my absolute favorites