The Dragon’s Promise by Elizabeth Lim

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The Dragon's Promise by Elizabeth Lim
Six Crimson Cranes #2, Legends of Lor'yan
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on August 30, 2022
Age Group & Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Representation: East-Asian inspired protagonist and cast
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher

From the New York Times Bestselling author of Six Crimson Cranes comes a thrilling new adventure! A journey to the kingdom of dragons, a star-crossed love, and a cursed pearl with the power to mend the world or break it... Fans of Shadow and Bone will devour this soaring fantasy.

Princess Shiori made a deathbed promise to return the dragon's pearl to its rightful owner, but keeping that promise is more dangerous than she ever imagined.

She must journey to the kingdom of dragons, navigate political intrigue among humans and dragons alike, fend off thieves who covet the pearl for themselves and will go to any lengths to get it, all while cultivating the appearance of a perfect princess to dissuade those who would see her burned at the stake for the magic that runs in her blood.

The pearl itself is no ordinary cargo; it thrums with malevolent power, jumping to Shiori's aid one minute, and betraying her the next—threatening to shatter her family and sever the thread of fate that binds her to her true love, Takkan. It will take every ounce of strength Shiori can muster to defend the life and the love she's fought so hard to win.

A copy of the book was provided for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore does not affect the opinion or content of the review.

Trigger & Content Warnings: fire, death, self-harm, death of a parent (mentioned), blood

Six Crimson Cranes ended with Shiori making a promise after all she’s been through with her brothers: returning the pearl to its rightful owner. The Dragon’s Promise starts right after its predecessor, with Shiori journeying to Ai’long, the kingdom of Dragons, with Seryu in the hopes of finding some answers to fulfill her promise. Because after all, “A promise is not a kiss in the wind, to be thrown about without care. It is a piece of yourself that is given away and will not return until your pledge is fulfilled.”

Much like the first book, the second book in Lim’s sophomore duology is slower-paced, with a focus on world-building and characters. I’ve really enjoyed Lim’s writing style, and this book is no exception with its descriptions, especially the mouthwatering food, as we follow Shiori to Ai’long and Kiata as she works to return the pearl (and hopefully get some answers). Things turn out to be more dangerous than Shiori anticipated, though, because there are some very powerful people who would love to have the pearl for themselves no matter the cost, and there are others who think she’s the cause of all the issues in Kiata and wish to burn her because of her magic.

While character development played a huge part in Six Crimson Cranes, there doesn’t feel to be much development here, at least when speaking from a surface level. We initially meet her as someone who is loud, curious, and full of trouble that was charming and endearing, and she’s very much the same throughout The Dragon’s Promise (although at a deeper level beyond the surface, she’s changed, and I love this for her), full of mischief and a sense of adventure.

Regardless, character is still a huge part of the novel, and I think the relationships Shiori has with those around her play a stronger focal point compared to the first. We continue to see the bond she has with her brothers and paper bird, Kiki, but I do think her bond with her brothers does take a bit of a backseat and is more implied to be a strong bond (which is personally fine with me). I do think what we really get to see the most is her continued relationship with her stepmother, Raikaima. There’s a lot of exploration of how those around us affect us in both life and death (especially death), especially when it’s someone we have a close relationship with and have our fates intertwined with, and I loved seeing this throughout the book.

I do think that for roughly a good third of the book, it felt like Kiki tended to shine a lot brighter than Shiori, who kind of feels like she’s just existing. This may be because Kiki’s very opinionated or because she has a very distinct voice and personality, or even just that she’s actually my favorite character. I also personally felt the implied love triangle was mostly unnecessary but does play a role in the plot at the very least, and at times, it did feel like Takkan just existed, but barely? Sometimes I forgot he was around, though.

Overall, though, this certainly isn’t knocking any socks off or is a favorite (quite frankly, it had some of the same issues had with Unravel the Dusk, although definitely an improvement), but The Dragon’s Promise was a solid sequel to the Six Crimson Cranes duology. It was fun to go back to the same world as Lim’s debut duology, The Blood of Stars, and see the parallels and references between the two series. Whether there will be future novels set in the same world or not, I do enjoy Lim’s novels as a whole and will be keeping my eyes peeled.

About Elizabeth Lim

Elizabeth Lim is the author of the critically-acclaimed and bestselling The Blood of Stars duology (Spin the Dawn and Unravel the Dusk), the New York Times bestseller So This is Love, and the USA Today bestseller Reflection. Forthcoming books include the Six Crimson Cranes duology, expected summer 2021 and summer 2022, respectively. 

Elizabeth grew up on a hearty staple of fairy tales, myths, and songs. Her passion for storytelling began around age 10, when she started writing fanfics for Sailor Moon, Sweet Valley, and Star Wars, and posted them online to discover, “Wow, people actually read my stuff. And that’s kinda cool!” But after one of her teachers told her she had “too much voice” in her essays, Elizabeth took a break from creative writing to focus on not flunking English. 

Over the years, Elizabeth became a film and video game composer, and even went so far as to get a doctorate in music composition. But she always missed writing, and she turned to penning stories when she needed a breather from grad school. One day, she decided to write and finish a novel—for kicks, at first, then things became serious—and she hasn’t looked back since.

Elizabeth graduated from Harvard College with an A.B. in music and a secondary in East Asian Studies, and she completed her graduate degrees (MM, DMA) at The Juilliard School. She grew up in Northern California and Tokyo, Japan, and now resides in New York with her husband and two daughters.

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