I want to start by saying I buddy read this with Dini @ Dinipandareads. We were both excited for this one since we loved Six Crimson Cranes! It’s also going to be tough to talk about this without some spoilers for Six Crimson Cranes. If you have not read that one then please do not read this review *yet.*

Dragon’s Promise starts off right where Six Crimson Cranes ends. Shiori and Seryu are going to the kingdom of Dragons to give the King the pearl. Of course, things never go according to plan and everyone has their agendas. The thing with this whole part of the book is that it’s completely rushed over. I felt like it was unnecessary and disconnected from the story. It pains me to say this because I loved the actual aspect of the world below and all the dragons. I just felt more confused than anything. It causes some drama that wasn’t needed and didn’t quite make sense.

My biggest issue with this book the whole thing has terrible pacing. The beginning is pretty amazing, even if it feels like a different story. After we leave the dragon world it lags and lulls a lot. There’s a huge middle chunk of this book that slowed things down for me and pulled me out of the story. Then we hit the last 35% of the book and BAM everything is happening. There’s another issue that I had here. There are so many things going on and so many different storylines that it was hard to follow. Once we get to a point, I thought it was over. Nope, there was even more and it felt disconnected from the previous storyline.

I loved Shiori’s relationship with her brothers. I loved seeing how far they have come from the beginning of Six Crimson Cranes. They had a lot of touching moments and I loved that. I was a little annoyed by the fact that Shiori is still treating her dad like crap. Now hear me out… He’s been through a lot and he’s feared for all his kids’ lives throughout two books. The thing is, Shiori has no respect for that. She is constantly lying and scheming and then just saying, “I’m sorry.” As a parent, this drove me insane!

The romance was something else that I enjoyed in this book. I still love Takkan so much and his dedication to Shiori. I thought some of their moments were sweet and touching. Seriously, Takkan is just my favorite character in this series, okay?! With that being said, there were all kinds of signs pointing to a love triangle in this book. From the first book and a good chunk in this one, it kind of felt that way. I don’t know if she intended it to be that way or not. The fact that there are even hints to one kind of annoyed me. I hate love triangles so much and it just adds unnecessary drama.

Even though it kind of broke up the pacing for me, I loved the history we get about Raikama. I think it gave a lot of closure to many characters. It was a nice glimpse into the past to learn what made her act the way she did!

Overall, I did like this read but it was a bit of a let down. Honestly, with another chunk of chapters to the first book, it could have been a great standalone. There were so many elements that didn’t flow together with stagnant pacing. Sometimes it felt like I was reading a completely different storyline. I loved the romance between Shiori and Takkan! The relationship between her and her brothers were also touching. If you read SCC and loved it then I think you will still like this. It’s just not on the same level but it was still enjoyable.

Many Thanks to Knopf Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for providing an e-arc for review.