⤷ Author: Elizabeth Lim
⤷ Published: July 6th, 2021
⤷ Series or Standalone: series
⤷ Genre: YA, fantasy, romance
Rating: ✨5 stars✨
Review Updated: 06/18/2025
“I would not have you be alone, Lina, not in your joys or your sorrows. I would wish your strand knotted to mine, always.”
This book is pure magic. It’s the kind of magic that makes everything feel better and makes the characters, cozy emotions, and beauty of the world in the novel immortal. The best way I can say it is: this book has become my comfort book, the one I go back to and reread time and time again, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
⤷ Synopsis:
As the only princess of Kiata, Shiori spends her days in the palace with her six teasing, yet loving brothers, trying to avoid the attention of her step-mother, Raikama, and hide her forbidden magic from everyone. But when she stalls her unwanted betrothal ceremony by accidentally losing control of her magic, she’s banished by her stepmother. Raikama places a curse on Shiori’s brothers, turning them all into cranes, and on Shiori herself: for every word she speaks, one of her brothers will die. Alone and voiceless, Shiori searches for a way to find her brothers and break the curse, but along the way, she gets help from the last people she expected, a paper bird named Kiki, a mysterious dragon, and the boy she fought so hard not to marry.
⤷ Characters:
This book does a lot of things really well, especially the characters. They’re all so relatable and well written. Shiori, especially, is one of my favorite FMCs. She’s smart, stubborn, funny, and has a passion for food and cooking that rivals mine. I absolutely hate fish, but I think I’d give anything to try her fish soup, and of course, with my sweet tooth, I’d love to taste her steaming hot monkey cakes in the winter.
Takkan may be Shiori’s unwanted betrothed, but as the story progresses, we discover he’s sweet, caring, and romantic. I think both Shiori and I fell in love with him ❤️
It’s all of the precious stolen moments between Shiori and Takkan that make up their relationship and some of my favorite scenes in the book.
While both of them are the main characters, the side characters all play such an important role in the novel. I loved seeing the dynamics between Shiori and her brother and getting to know them all. Megari is Takkan’s funny, teasing little sister, and I loved her character. Seryu is the mysterious, interesting dragon who makes for a great character, but in my opinion, not a love interest. I will always believe that Takkan is Shiori’s (and my) number one. Finally, Kiki might be just a little (magic) paper bird, but her humor and sarcasm made the story so much better!
⤷ Plot:
The storyline was engaging from start to finish, but there were also a lot of different things happening and every time it felt like things had finally settled into a stable rhythm, something else would happen and either change the setting or change the pace of the story. Looking back on the novel, I loved everything that happened, but it was also a lot (it felt almost like several mini stories that flowed and all tied together into one big plot).
⤷ World-building:
The word-building in the story is as beautiful as the cover promises. Visiting Iro in winter is officially on my (fantasy) bucket-list.
⤷ Final Thoughts:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ / 5
I loved the cover, characters, story, and world of Six Crimson Cranes so much, and it deserves all 5 magical stars.
