Six Crimson Cranes Review

Review of Six Crimson Cranes

By: Elizabeth Lim

            I didn’t realize this wasn’t my first Elizabeth Lim when I started this.  I had read “So, This is Love”, her Cinderella Twisted Tale.  This is a retelling of the Six Swans fairytale, but with Asian inspiration.  Princess Shiori is the seventh child of the King of Kiata and she has forbidden magic.  When she spies on her stepmother, her six brothers are turned into cranes and Shiori must not speak or her brother’s will die.  While in hiding and trying to find a way to save her brothers, she meets her betrothed, whom she refused to marry, and is now finding herself actually liking more than she expected.  

            This isn’t my first retelling of the fairytale as my first was “Daughter of the Forest” by Juliet Marillier.  This one doesn’t go as dark as that one such as it doesn’t include a rape scene, and is a young adult novel.  Setting it in an Asian inspired kingdom brought dragons and demons into the story adding a fun twist to this fairytale.  The rest of magic system involves nature and wild animals such as snakes, wolves, and cranes.   Shiori is a sweet and relatable character.  She is impulsive and stubborn constantly thinking only of herself at first, but loves her family more than anything.  She acts rashly and this is what gets her into her predicament in the first place.  Her forbidden magic involves bringing life to things like plants and animals made out of paper.  Her best friend is a small paper crane she made herself she calls Kiki.  She is perky and funny being often Shiori’s conscious, though Shriori doesn’t always listen.  The other animal character whom I loved was the dragon she befriends.  He is snarky and funny.  It does hint at him liking our princess, but he pretends he doesn’t because she’s a lowly human.  He isn’t in the story as much, but the coming sequel might include more of him.  Shiori’s brothers each have their own personalities, but like with “Daughter of the Forest” I wish we had gotten to know them more.  I think the nature of the story and there being six of them makes it a challenge to do that.  The plot itself is slow at times but picks up a quickly.  Hearing about all the food described in this book made me hungry.