The Dragon's Promise
Ratings47
Average rating3.6
this is so beautiful! it might be my favorite of all elizabeth lim's covers and i am truly in love!!!!
Nowhere near as compelling as Six Crimson Cranes, which is a pity considering I loved that one to bits. Don't let the title fool you, this isn't a Seryu-centric or even a dragon-centric book. It does have dragons and their underwater palace, but they pretty much exit the plot at the 30% mark. Once Shiori is back on land, it's goodbye to the dragons (for the most part) and instead we are given a completely different story.
Different, but familiar if you've read The Blood of Stars duology.
Demon business. Again.
This book reminds me a lot of Unravel the Dusk. Not only in terms of plot and progression, but also in the way Shiori behaves. Specifically, how she lies to the people she loves and shuts them out from the fear of endangering them. Including Kiki, even though Kiki has always been caring and loyal towards her. They've always been together even in the bleakest of times, but now suddenly Kiki's concern is branded as "prying"? Really? In the first book, Shiori was spoiled but endearing. In this one, she's downright frustrating to follow. She's so argumentative and barely listens to others, so I liked her better when she couldn't speak.
The structure also gets repetitive. Shiori gets in danger. Shiori is saved. Brief respite. Shiori gets in danger. Repeat ad infinitum. It makes it even more draining when she makes dumb decisions without consulting anyone, causes trouble, and then the plot lulls for a bit. I think it could've been more interesting if the plot in Ai'long is fleshed out more, with all its dragon politics and society, instead of mixing it with the whole demon ordeal and Raikama's past sandwiched in-between. It feels like several stories rolled into one, each of them deserving a better resolution than what the book is giving.
Despite its flaws, however, I still enjoyed this book mostly thanks to the characters. Takkan may have a less significant role to play this time around, but he still deserves the world (and much better treatment) for his patience and devotion to Shiori. It's also nice to see Gen in his younger days, to know a part of his life that he briefly mentioned in Unravel the Dusk. But in the end, it is Kiki who will always have a special place in my heart. The last scenes with her are so emotional, for me the whole duology is worth reading for her alone. Kiki best girl. I want my own Kiki.
Anyway, this brings a nice ending to Shiori's tale. Not the best, but good enough. It leaves me curious about Raikama's story since the book only dips into it a little bit, so I'm going to pick up the prequel too.
Amazing story as always and it definitly did not end as I thought.
However, once more I was robbed of the idea of more dragons. I know it's not the sole purpose of the book but I felt that they were only present in the first 100-150 pages of the book to then only be mentioned at the very end.
Still a very good story but I was quite disappointed at the lack of dragons.
Something in Asian stories gets me, in a positive way. It feels whimsical and different enough to make me forget dull reality, without being whacky.
We (only) have Shiori's POV but she sees quite a character development, especially in acceptance of her role in life. When the story started out in book one, I wouldn't have liked her as the spoiled little princess of the beginning - but she grows and becomes more mature while not being perfect.
I especially liked her love sub-story with Takkan. He is not just a fighter with buff muscles and simply there for thirst and pining and drama. He supports her while giving his honest thoughts, cares for her without being doting or patronising, and most importantly they learn to build their relationship on trust and talking with one another. This kind of relationship seems to me to not be popular in the Romantasy/Fantasy genre which I think a shame.
I won't give this story a full 5 star rating because: as far as I know it is a duology but it feels like it was supposed to be a trilogy. Somehow second and third instalment didn't have too much of a plot or would be too drawn out and boring, so some parts were edited out and the shortened plot parts mashed together in one book. To me there was a distinct disconnect between the parts of the travels and no smooth transition. However I had to return the book to the library shortly after starting the next leg of travel, so in the end this might have been the real reason and it reads just fine while zooming through in one go.
This book.. i ugly cried at the ending. The story was full of twists and turns and I am here for it. Takkan is perfection. So much has happened, nearly forgot about Ai'long. The world building is amazing! And Kiki ♡
Honestly, I want to rate it as a 1 star but I feel a little bad
Just not my cup of tea
Contains spoilers
I liked this book, but I think this duology might have been better staying a standalone. This one went into to many directions at once I think, it seems like the writer had a lot of ideas to explore, but didn't know which to include/exclude, (very light spoilers) like the part in the dragon realm, which was barely relevant to the overall plot and when she was back on the mainland there was a lot of jumping around to/between different plotpoints. Too bad because I really enjoyed the first book and this one had some interesting ideas.
Bound by promise, Shiori quests to reunite a broken pearl with the dragon who can make it whole again. But along the way, she will have to face a number of challenges. From dragons to demons and even members of her own court. Shiori will journey across the land, risking the lives of those she loves to fulfill her promise.
The Dragon’s Promise took a while to reach a steady flow of narrative. Shiori’s venture into the dragon kingdom promised a powerful start to the story, but not enough time was spent building the world around the settings. The ambitions of the King and his subjects were quite clear, but the lore and culture were not as in-depth as readers have seen in the first novel. This resulted in an action filled, yet rushed time in the kingdom. While this section of the story tied up loose ends from Six Crimson Cranes, it also seemed to be a distraction from the main quest.
The storytelling felt episodic as the plot progressed, reintroducing characters and then finding ways for them to take a step back and barely be mentioned once again. While it did prove to expand the reader’s knowledge of how various parties reacted to Shiori’s magic, it also felt disjointed. As if certain characters were only introduced to propel the plot forward instead of helping the characters develop. However, my favorite moments were with Shiori and Takkan. After everything readers learned about them in book one, it was wonderful to see them stumble along and realize what their relationship could be. As the story focused on them facing challenges together, I was thoroughly hooked.
And once again Kiki was my favorite part. The little paper bird is selfless and has no problem speaking her mind. Even if it may get her and Shiori in trouble because she has no filter. The bond Kiki and Shiori share is heartwarming. They will selflessly defend one another and do all they can to help each other. Kiki also knew when to break the tension of a moment or urge Shiori to think about her choices by speaking up. Kiki was Shiori’s greatest champion, pushing her to develop and become a better person.
If you have read Six Crimson Cranes, I still encourage you to read The Dragon’s Promise. There is a great mix of romance, action, and lore, it just takes the story a little while to uncover it. And while it has its downfalls, the story does come to a satisfying ending.
Originally posted at www.behindthepages.org.
I absolutely loved this book. It was even better than the first one and it was everything I had expected AND MORE. Such an amazing story, Elizabeth Lim has a very beautiful writing style that makes you forget you're reading and it makes you feel a part of the story.