Book Review: Descendant of the Crane by Joan He
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Release Date: April 2, 2019
Description:
"Tyrants cut out hearts. Rulers sacrifice their own.
Princess Hesina of Yan has always been eager to shirk the responsibilities of the crown, dreaming of an unremarkable life. But when her beloved father is found dead, she’s thrust into power, suddenly the queen of a surprisingly unstable kingdom. What’s more, Hesina believes that her father was murdered—and that the killer is someone close to her.
Hesina’s court is packed full of dissemblers and deceivers eager to use the king’s death for political gain, each as plausibly guilty as the next. Her advisers would like her to blame the neighboring kingdom of Kendi’a, whose ruler has been mustering for war. Determined to find her father’s actual killer, Hesina does something desperate: she enlists the aid of a soothsayer—a treasonous act, punishable by
death, since magic was outlawed centuries ago.
Using the information provided by the sooth, and uncertain if she can trust her family, Hesina turns to Akira—a brilliant investigator who’s also a convicted criminal with secrets of his own. With the future of Yan at stake, can Hesina find justice for her father? Or will the cost be too high?"
Well, I really hope there's a sequel of some sorts in the future, despite being a standalone as of now. The epilogue at the end was not enough to satisfy me, unfortunately. The story was well written, contained great characters, and has a world that has left me intrigued.
Hesina is a great character. I liked her drive and passion in figuring out her father's mysterious death, as well as adjusting to her new position as queen (though we all know she was definitely not ready to be one in the beginning). Hesina is one of the many strong characters, male and female, in the novel. Despite being prone to making mistakes, she still treks forward. Also, she notes that she is a sympathizer, to humans and to soothes, but she doesn't always make it show, because she knows it will be a sign of weakness, so seeing her internal struggle with this was admirable. As a queen, she needs to watch her actions. Hesina is also surrounded by many characters, good and bad. However, my favorite of her interactions was with her brother Sanjing. It was immediately established in the story that both siblings do not get along, and it was heart-wrenching to sense the tension between every interaction. The development of their sibling relationship was heartwarming but unfortunate as it was driven by tragedy. I really like Sanjing as a character, it's sad that he didn't appear more as he would have been such an interesting character to explore.
The world in which the story takes place in took a while to adjust to, with the occasional info-dump here and there, but all fantasy novels have those so it's a bit unavoidable. The plot of the story was kind of slow in the beginning, but it definitely picks up as events happen and secrets unfold. Although the perpetrator behind Hesina's father's death was unexpected, the true antagonist was expected, at least to me it was because I didn't fully trust the said character throughout the story. I also found the romantic subplot to be rushed as well as the ending itself. As mentioned before, the epilogue didn't leave me satisfied because it didn't provide a solid conclusive ending, which I would have preferred since this is a standalone novel (though the author has mentioned that there is a potential for companion novels, but none as of yet).
Overall, this was an interesting read. If you're looking for a Chinese fantasy story that involves mystery and politics, then this might be worth a read for you.
Overall rating: 3.5/5
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