Dragon's Promise

The second book (or part) of the Six Crimson Cranes series, this one has Shiori facing a series of challenges as she sets out to do what she promised her stepmother at the end of the first book: return the dragon's pearl she holds back to its owner. But standing in her way are a Sea Dragon King who wants the pearl, a Daemon King who wants the pearl and her blood, and parts of her kingdom who don't like magic and only want her reduced to ashes.

While the first book developed the character of Shiori, as she struggled with her task to free herself and her brothers from a curse, this one is more action-packed with Shiori facing task after task with not much room for her relationship with her father (the Emperor), her brothers or with the prince who is her betrothed. We do get to see more of the world and the role that magic and demons play in it. One of the things that Shiori has to struggle with is whether her kingdom should continue to do without magic (and demons), or to restore the balance but on her own terms.

The ending is both expected and unexpected, with divine intervention playing a role. But on its terms, it is perhaps a proper ending to the story, leaving the characters to deal with their world on their own terms, instead of continuing with the way things were.

Rating for younger teens: 5 stars
Rating for adults: 3.5 stars? Maybe?
I’m not going to claim that this duology is the best YA I’ve ever read, but it’s pretty great. I think it’s strength is to have a girl at the center who never really shirks her attachments to others. While there are conflicts with family - her father, her stepmother, even her brothers on occasion - there is always a sense of love for them. I also like that, especially in the second book, the romance never takes over. She is allowed to care for male characters outside of her family, and she remains as strong in her affection for them as she does her own family, but she isn’t entirely defined by any of those relationships. It’s rare to see any of that in YA these days. I’m also glad to see a female protagonist who gets to be female. She asks for and receives help along the way, but remains independent. In other books those things are treated as mutually exclusive. So I’m not necessarily recommending this for other adults, but for younger teens, this duology has a lot of good qualities.