Book Review of 'Descendant of the Crane' by Joan He

Premise:

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 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.

Review:

This story is a murder mystery set in a Chinese-inspired fantasy world, centered around a young ruler. Princess Hesina from the kingdom of Yan was never particularly interested in reigning. But after the death of her father, being next in line for the throne, Hesina is forced to become queen of a kingdom that believes that the king’s death was natural. 

But she knows the truth: the king was poisoned. In a desperate bid to find her father’s murderer, Hesina commits treason (of a kind that’s punishable by death), by seeking help from a soothsayer, although magic was made illegal centuries ago. 

The soothsayer can’t say who the murderer is, but can point her towards someone who can help.
This fantasy book is filled with intricate world-building, family secrets, and royal courtroom / inter-kingdom politics. The beginning is slow but after a few chapters, the pacing gets faster, and you get sucked into the story. 

With so many twists that are set up well, the plot is like a line of dominoes, one thing after another after another, and every event is important. However, because there are so many plot twists, I can't explain much without spoiling the book. 

The characters are complex, they have depth to them, even the side characters, they have motives, goals. And the villains (even the not so obvious ones) are multi-faceted.

The conclusion to the story is open-ended, open to interpretation on what happens next. The ending was already striking, very haunting. And then the phenomenal epilogue hits. The theme that I think was the most explored was morality, as in, if you’re doing a bad thing for a good cause, where do you draw the line?

I loved this book and how it's endlessly quotable, and I recommend it for everyone. This is a book filled with twists and turns, secrets, deaths, a certain assassin, unstable kingdoms, and a young queen trying to find justice amidst it all. If this doesn't make you add this to your tbr list, I don't know how to convince you otherwise. This book is for 13 years and up. On a scale of one through five stars, I rate this book 5 stars. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

~ Candria

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