Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim blew me away! This is not the 1st retelling of The Wild Swans I've read so I had a general idea of what I expectedSix Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim blew me away! This is not the 1st retelling of The Wild Swans I've read so I had a general idea of what I expected to happen but Lim completely surprised me!
The story is rich with Asian culture and folklore and peppered with references to the Blood of Stars duology. Lim tackled the issue of building relationships and developing characters when the main character can't speak (or properly be seen) for a majority of the book so well! Takkan and Megari quickly become very endearing characters and I'm now very eager to try a persimmon. I can't wait to read more about Seryu and the whole dragon kingdom and finally penetrate the veil of mystery surrounding them.
Shiori's growth as a person on her journey to save her brothers is delightful to experience. She learns some hard truths along the way and takes them in stride with the help of cheeky friend Kiki.
I was more than a little shocked by the twisty ending that was simultaneously utterly heartbreaking. I am so excited for where the next book is going!
Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!...more
See my full review and favorite quotes on my blog!
Upon finishing Night Spinner, I had a pretty good idea of how I expected Sky Breaker to go 4.5 Stars
See my full review and favorite quotes on my blog!
Upon finishing Night Spinner, I had a pretty good idea of how I expected Sky Breaker to go but I was wrong on pretty much every plot point and I couldn’t be happier about it. For starters, the fierce Ghoa gets her own point-of-view which sent me swooning as soon as I saw it. She was such an interesting character in Night Spinner and I had a lot of questions for her. Adding the second point-of-view created a lot more depth to the story than if it had just been told from Enebish’s side and gave me two strong female characters to root for instead of just one. Ghoa grows a lot throughout Sky Breaker and her journey surprised me more than anything else.
Serik is also involved more in Sky Breaker than he was in Night Spinner and tends to be the voice of reason for Enebish while she is still reeling from the events that occurred at the end of Night Spinner. Everything would have fallen apart pretty quickly without him and he had to become the leader of this motley group of shepherds and Enebish the Destroyer.
Enebish really struggles with trusting others and paranoia for awhile so it takes some time for the En we all know and love to reemerge but once she does, there’s no standing in her way. She is willing to sacrifice all to stop the Zemyans and Sky King, even if it means accepting the help of some unlikely allies.
Because this is a duology, Sky Breaker is unsurprisingly a slower read than Night Spinner. A lot of growth and development had to happen for any kind of resolution to occur, not to mention the amount of traveling on foot. I loved the light romance throughout the book and was glad that it didn’t end up overshadowing the greater dangers that were looming.
The themes of forgiveness and redemption run strongly throughout the book and we are left with a somewhat bittersweet ending which I greatly prefer to a saccharine ending. I didn’t love Sky Breaker quite as much as Night Spinner but I still really liked it. An excellent conclusion to a phenomenal duology!
A huge thanks to Page Street YA for sending me this copy of Sky Breaker in exchange for an honest review!
This was not all I'd hoped it would be. The first two-thirds had me assuming it would be a 3 star read but the last third picked up and got i3.5 stars
This was not all I'd hoped it would be. The first two-thirds had me assuming it would be a 3 star read but the last third picked up and got it an extra star. I found it difficult to relate to the characters and wanted more face time with the gods....more
I love, love, LOVE this book! The Mythology is divine, the characters are intriguing, the plot kept me on my toes, and the writing was delig4.5 stars!
I love, love, LOVE this book! The Mythology is divine, the characters are intriguing, the plot kept me on my toes, and the writing was delightful. This story is a myth retold from a woman's point of view and therefore perfect for fans of Circe and The Silence of the Girls.
This is the first book I've read by Emily R. King but it definitely isn't going to be my last! I'm so excited there's going to be a sequel!
Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!...more
"Why would anyone buy an itchy tablecloth? The Naupures were monsters.”
I absolutely loved this book! It had it all, characters of color, humor, an int"Why would anyone buy an itchy tablecloth? The Naupures were monsters.”
I absolutely loved this book! It had it all, characters of color, humor, an intriguing magical system, swoon-worthy romance, heartache, you name it. I also really enjoyed the alternating first person POV. I think it gave the story and characters a lot more depth than if it had just been from Adraa's POV.
This is not an #ownvoices book and I’m sure the author is going to get a lot of backlash for this since it is an Indian/South Asian inspired fantasy but if you think this will be an issue for you, I recommend you read the Author’s Note first. I’m not a sensitivity reader by any means but I detected nothing offensive in this book and while I think it’s important to support authors of color, I think credit should be given to authors who attempt to break from the norm and give readers more diversity in their cast of characters whether they can claim that diversity as their own or not. A non-perfect representation is better than no representation.
See my full review and favorite quotes on my blog! Thanks so much to the author, publisher, Netgalley, and TBR & Beyond Tours for the e-arc!...more
Sam Glasbrenner
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