Descendant of the Crane || ARC review

Title : Descendant of the Crane

Author : Joan He

Pages – 416

Release date : April 9th 2019

Rating : 5/5

Goodreads summary

Tyrants cut out hearts. Rulers sacrifice their own

Princess Hesina of Yan has always been eager to shirk the responsibilities of the crown, but when her beloved father is murdered, she’s thrust into power, suddenly the queen of an unstable kingdom. Determined to find her father’s killer, Hesina does something desperate: she engages the aid of a soothsayer—a treasonous act, punishable by death… because in Yan, magic was outlawed centuries ago.

Using the information illicitly provided by the sooth, and uncertain if she can trust even her family, Hesina turns to Akira—a brilliant and alluring investigator who’s also a convicted criminal with secrets of his own. With the future of her kingdom at stake, can Hesina find justice for her father? Or will the cost be too high?

In this shimmering Chinese-inspired fantasy, debut author Joan He introduces a determined and vulnerable young heroine struggling to do right in a world brimming with deception.

Triggers : Emotional abuse , mentioning and happening of death .

I thank Edelweiss and the publisher for granting me a E-ARC in exchange of my honest review.

But we were monsters

Do you like Young adult fantasies? Have you read some? If you have or have not , this book will come as a big blow to you. This is the amazing YA fantasy I’ve ever read.

The books starts with the king of a country dieing. The world were sooths are banished . Territories of the country is being continually captured by enemy country. How long would the princess go to unveil the mystery she suspects behind her dad’s death ?

Court politics :

Unlike other court politics we’ve possibly read , this DotC actually describes the pressure and procedure in royal courts.

The limitations and restrictions , even for a queen are surprisingly real and amusing.

Murder mystery

The plot line mystery of the king’s death is weaved intricately. We don’t feel like missing out on anything but the book just throws awesome surprises and twists at us.

Magic

Though Magic is not present , there are constant mention of sooths and their history through and through the book.

Morally Grey characters

Joan he makes us feel every single emotion for all the characters. No one in the book is clean or wrong. Every one is morally grey which keeps us in our toes the whole time.

Pacing

I had a hard time adjusting to the pacing of the story because I’m not familiar with murder mysteries and questions left unanswered. My brain was all fuzzy and i had to take breaks during the read.

Have you guys read it yet?? How did you feel? Is it in your tbr? Let’s talk.

Happy living