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Author: Elizabeth Lim
Pages: 481
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: 6th July 2021
Blurb from Goodreads:
A princess in exile. Six enchanted
cranes. An unspeakable curse.
A beautiful and immersive YA fantasy retelling of the
Grimm brothers' The Six Swans fairytale, set in an East-Asian inspired
world, by the author of Spin the Dawn.
Shiori'anma, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret.
Forbidden magic runs in her veins. And on the morning of her betrothal
ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of
luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted, but it also catches the
attention of Raikama, her stepmother.
A sorceress in her own right, Raikama banishes the young
princess, turning her brothers into cranes, and warning Shiori that she must
speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her
brothers will die.
Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers,
and uncovers a dark conspiracy to seize the throne. Only Shiori can set the
kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in a paper bird, a
mercurial dragon, and the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she
must embrace the magic she's been taught all her life to contain - no matter
what it costs.
Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop
My Review:
*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley*
Magic is forbidden in Kiata, which means that Princess Shiori'anma has to keep her own magic hidden.
When Shiori runs away from her own betrothal ceremony in order to conceal her magic, she draws the attention of her stepmother, Raikama.
Raikama has magic of her own and uses it to transform Shiori's six brothers into cranes, as well as cursing Shiori so that with every word she speaks one of her brothers will die.
Shiori is determined to break the curse and save her brothers. She finds help along the way from a paper bird, the boy she didn't want to marry, as well as a dragon.
Can Shiori save her brothers?
I have to admit that the cover is one of the main reasons I requested this book. It is gorgeous and definitely helped make me want to read it.
Shiori was a protagonist who I liked more as the book went on, as she had to grow and develop as she found herself out of her comfort zone. However, other than Shiori, none of the other characters seemed to get any development.
My favourite characters were probably Takkan, Shiori's betrothed, and his sister, Megari. Kiki the paper bird was quite a cute secondary character, but I found her a bit childish at times, which was probably because of being animated by Shiori's magic and so had a part of her soul.
The plot was interesting and held my attention until around 85% through when I started to lose interest and I did find that it dragged a bit, partly because I wasn't overly invested in what happened.
The setting was interesting, and I liked that there were dragons.
I'm a little disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more, but this book didn't quite live up to its potential for me, despite the intriguing concept.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read.
