Six Crimson Cranes Review

Shiori, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret.

– GoodReads

My Review

I’ll have to preface this by saying I am biased. I love everything Lim writes. The Blood of Stars duology is one of my favorites and so I had high hopes for this one, and I was not disappointed.

I love the tale of The Wild Swans and was excited for a retelling, especially one that looked as amazing as this one.

I LOVED the character development of our MC Shiori in this. She starts out rather sheltered and so she has a lot of room to grow in this tale.

Lim’s writing style is beautiful and flowing, I think it’s one of the reasons I keep enjoying her books so much. Even though each book is distinctive, her writing style is always flawless for me.

Pacing in this is slower, but it needs to be. This is working up so much and there’s so much to build toward.

Shiori has magic in a kingdom where magic is forbidden, she tries to keep it hidden but is one day discovered using it by her stepmother. This sets her and her brothers on their journeys. Separated from her brothers, who have been turned into cranes, Shiori is cursed, unable to speak without deadly consequences and with no one able to know who she is.

I loved being with Shiori as she goes through the journey, seeing how she deals with every new obstacle thrown her way and watching her grow into this amazing person that I adore.

Shiori’s brothers are great as well and the cast of characters overall is SUPERB.

We have magic, dragons, demons, political intrigue, a cursed princess and princes, budding romance and unexpected allies. WHO COULD WANT MORE.

I won’t lie either, there was a twist, you may or may not be able to guess it while reading; but either way you may up misty eyed like myself. That part near the ending had me UGLY CRY.

The ending though is set up nicely for the next book and I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel and need it NOW.

Slow but solid pacing, AMAZING character growth and cast of characters, fabulous writing style and overall one of my favorite reads of 2021.

5/5 HUGE cups of coffee from me, now where’s the next book? Did I mention I have both the gorgeous Fairyloot and US editions? I love this book.