ish-i-ness reviewed Dragon's Promise by Elizabeth Lim (Six Crimson Cranes, #2)
Review of "Dragon's Promise" on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
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 …
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.
