[REVIEW] THE DRAGON'S PROMISE - ELIZABETH LIM (ENGLISH REVIEW)

All reviews here are purely personal opinions and do not intend to degrade or glorify the work of others. Everyone has their own reading tastes. Thank you.

souce: goodreads

Title: The Dragon’s Promise

Author: Elizabeth Lim

Publication: 30 August 2022

Pages: 400 pages

ISBN: 9781529356786

Language: English

BLURB

Princess Shiori made a deathbed promise to return the dragon's pearl to its rightful owner, but keeping that promise is more dangerous than she ever imagined.

She must journey to the kingdom of dragons, navigate political intrigue among humans and dragons alike, fend off thieves who covet the pearl for themselves and will go to any lengths to get it, all while cultivating the appearance of a perfect princess to dissuade those who would see her burned at the stake for the magic that runs in her blood.

The pearl itself is no ordinary cargo; it thrums with malevolent power, jumping to Shiori's aid one minute, and betraying her the next—threatening to shatter her family and sever the thread of fate that binds her to her true love, Takkan. It will take every ounce of strength Shiori can muster to defend the life and the love she's fought so hard to win.

REVIEW

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC!

The story continues right after the first book, where Shiori will visit the dragon realm and solve her problems with the dragons there. Honestly, I didn't have high expectations for this book even though I really liked the first book. Reading some of the reviews on goodreads, there were quite a few who were disappointed with the second book. That's why when I read this the rating was low compared to the first book (at that time it was still 123 ratings). In the end, I didn't expect anything, let alone what I was afraid of actually happening here.

Let's talk about the plot of this book first. This book has a moderate paced plot, but the conflicts that are raised are too many and actually pile up, so Shiori's journey this time is really long. First Shiori will face the dragons in the dragon realm, then face problems in her family's palace, not to mention she has to deal with Bandur, a demon who wants to be free from the clutches of the Holy Mountains, visits her stepmother's island, and has to return the dragon pearl according to Shiori's promise to Raikama. Not done yet, Shiori still had to run into another problem with the imprisoned demons. Really, following Shiori's journey in this book is really tight!

But fortunately the author was able to bring this book to life with beautiful explanations and very clear descriptions. So, you won't be dizzy while following Shiori's journey, especially since there are so many sweet and touching moments between Shiori and Takkan! Makes me really like Takkan character even more!

How about the characters?

Like the previous book, Shiori is still a very brave and strong character here. Moreover, she is smart and clever, there are many problems that Shiori can solve well here. One thing that might annoy me a bit here, is that Shiori always tries to push Takkan away when Takkan is at stake. Even though the problem is only communication but it's Shiori's thinking that I don't like even though her brother always reminds her 😡

And in this book, I fell in love with Takkan even more! Takkan is really kind, smart, strong and really loves Shiori! Seeing Takkan's struggle for Shiori's sake is really touching. It still hurts when I remember Shiori's attitude back when they were still in an arranged marriage, but there's no doubt about their relationship now.

Shiori and Takkan's relationship was really mutual. They really fight for each other, willing to do anything for the other. Moreover, there are so many sweet moments between Takkan and Shiori that can make you envious! The interaction and love between the two are really great!

How about the ending?

Well, you could say I'm satisfied or not satisfied. I feel like this book makes the most plausible ending to the conflict they face. Although I still hope for a different happy ending but yes, this is the most suitable.

The thing I dislike in this book?

The thing author trying to Seryu and Shiori. I already said that I hope no love triangle in this book. I'm afraid Seryu will be hurt. It also not really make sense to see him like Shiori while the time they spend is really short. I wish it could be platonic and they become friends. There's not much airtime of Seryu in this book, the same as the previous book. It a little be waste, I think.

Overall, I gave this book 4/5 ⭐. I’m still thinking that this book is so beautiful and overall series is a great one if you want to follow. It only have 2 books so you don’t need much time to finish all the series.

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