- Dates Read: 7/12/24 – 7/18/24
- Date Published: July 6, 2021
- Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
- Length: 464
- Genres: Young Adult Fantasy, Fiction
- My Rating: 2.5/5
A book about magic, cranes, snow, and cooking
Six Crimson Cranes begins with 17-year-old Shiori’anma, the only princess of Kiata. The youngest to six older brothers, Shiori is burdened with forbidden magical powers and a betrothal to a low-ranked warlord’s son. We are also introduced to her stepmother, Raikama, a reserved woman who may have her own affinity for magic. After an encounter with a dragon and discovering Raikama’s powers as a sorceress, Shiori finds herself cursed by Raikama. Her six brothers are turned into crimson cranes, and Shiori herself is exiled with a wooden bowl stuck on her head with the promise that with every sound she utters, one of her brothers will die. From there, she journeys to reunite her family and break the curse that binds them all.
The Good
To start, the cover for this novel is absolutely beautiful. I also appreciate the whimsy of this book – I found myself giggling each time I was reminded that Shiori was walking around with a wooden bowl stuck on her head. Shiori is a foodie so we get pages upon pages of descriptions of all kinds of dishes and treats which was quite fun to imagine.
The Not So Good …
Plot and Pacing
This book is very ambitious with its magic and plot, but because it attempts so much the story felt very directionless and unfocused. There are many times where major plots points or plot twists are revealed through memories – but these are memories that we, as readers, have not already encountered in the story. I found it a little unconvincing when on page 300, the direction of the story is altered by a memory that occurred years before our story began that we could never have known would happen. Perhaps if flashbacks were more present throughout the story I would buy it, but since that’s not the case I was underwhelmed. It felt more convenient then planned.
The pacing was inconsistent throughout the novel. In the middle of the book, after encountering dragons and curses and knights, we hit a 200-page slump where Shiori is walking around a castle and working in the kitchens while talking to Takkan (her betrothed who isn’t aware of her identity thanks to the bowl hat) and his family. A fantasy epic turned into a fictional narrative where the greatest challenge is a “mean girl” character and heavy snow. Although the plot picked up towards the conclusion, I just felt like I was trudging through those pages.
Lastly, I felt as though many scenes were included for a “cool” moment rather than as a means to further plot and character development. For example, there is a scene where Shiori (in disguise) meets Takkan, her betrothed, under the impresion that he is his cousin Hasege. She believed Takkan (who was really Hasege) to be everything she thought of him – barbaric, evil, and abrasive. However it is later revealed that the kind individual who helped her was in fact Takkan. We are told that Takkan and Hasege were parading as each other because of “assassins”, but honestly I just didn’t understand the need for that at all. I found it more contrived to be a “cool” moment than something that was useful for developing any aspects of the story. One could argue that it served as a way for Shiori to realize that she had judged Takkan unfairly, but Shiori would have felt that way when meeting him in general because she really made him out to be horrible in her head. It was scenes like these that gave me an impression that cohesiveness was sacrificed for a few “mic drop” moments.
Characters
Since Shiori cannot speak, we are largely in her head for the entire novel. Her character development is also strange to me, with her changing her entire beliefs within a paragraph or two because of a dream she had or one conversation with an individual. For chapters she is wholly convinced of Raikama’s evilness but within two pages, she suddenly seems to reason that maybe Raikama’s motivations aren’t as malicious as she once thought. I would have liked to see more of a gentle touch to these developments, with context of the greater threat being introduced gradually and more consistently throughout the story. It would have convinced me more of Shiori’s change in outlook on her stepmother if there was a more substantial reason than a dream she had.
Overall
Though I was intrigued with the premise, I think this novel struggles with being a convincing fantasy read for most individuals over the age of 16. I think younger audiences would enjoy the writing style, but it falls flat for most avid adult fantasy readers. Though I appreciated the world and magic, the lack of direction and consistently makes this a “just OK” read in my book.
