Book Review: The Dragon’s Promise by Elizabeth Lim

The Dragon's Promise by Elizabeth Lim

Book Title: The Dragon’s Promise
Author: Elizabeth Lim
Genre: Young Adult fantasy
Published: August 30, 2022
482 pages
My rating: 4/5

“The bottom of the Taijin Sea tasted of salt, slime, and disappointment. But for a few faint beams of mysterious light, it was darker than the deepest chasm. Hardly the magnificent watery realm dragons were said to call home.”

Princess Shiori promised her late stepmother to return a dragon’s pearl to its rightful owner, a mysterious half-dragon, half-demon known as the Wraith. Keeping that promise turns out more dangerous than she could have imagined. A religious sect wants to kill her because of her magical skills, while a bloodthirsty demon has his eyes on the dangerous and capricious pearl with a mind of its own – sometimes helping Shiori, sometimes deserting her when she needs it the most.

The Dragon’s Promise is a sequel to Six Crimson Cranes which was one of my favorite reads last year. The duology is a young adult fairytale retelling of The Six Swans set in an Asian-inspired fantasy world. The Dragon’s Promise picks up where Six Crimson Cranes left off and follows Shiori’s story as she tries to fulfill the promise she gave to her stepmother at the end of the first book.

The Asian-inspired fantasy world with its magic and dragons, demons and gods is unique and captivating. I loved revisiting the kingdom of Kiata, Shiori’s homeland. The description of the dragon’s underwater kingdom and other parts of this fantasy world we get to experience in the sequel were fascinating as well.

Shiori is a headstrong and active female lead. She’s sometimes a bit infuriating, but I find that more palatable when such a character is a teenager in a young adult book than if she was fully adult. That being said, I would have liked her to have experienced more character development as this was a second book in a duology. It felt like she hadn’t learned anything from her experiences in the first book and was still the same reckless girl who acts without a proper plan – and for plot reasons, it always turns out okay.

Shiori’s relationship with her father and brothers was endearing. I would have liked to see more of her brothers, though. Even by the end of this book I still wasn’t entirely sure I could tell all six of them apart. Their characterization was more told rather than shown. Shiori’s and Takkan’s developing romance, on the other hand, was sweet, and I absolutely loved Kiki the paper bird. She was and is still my favorite character in the series.

In Six Crimson Cranes, I had a problem with the action scenes. This book, unfortunately, didn’t fare much better. I found the action scenes occasionally confusing, as I wasn’t always sure what was happening and how and where things happened. Throughout the book, other characters inexplicably disappeared from the action and appeared again whenever convenient for the plot (aka, whenever Shiori needed to be saved).

This was a fast-paced read with a lot of action. Unfortunately, the plot felt a bit repetitive and even though the stakes were high, Shiori got away from danger without major consequences. The ending was also a bit of a disappointment. It felt very lukewarm and convenient with its literal deus ex machina, rather than the cathartic resolution I would have preferred. That being said, if you love young adult fantasy, definitely check out this duology. Six Crimson Cranes was amazing, and this sequel nicely wraps up Shiori’s story.