Descendant of the Crane

Well, that was beautifully done. All the people dissing the world-building and slow pace are clearly not familiar with Chinese dramas and novels, because this one is more like those than your regular YA book. I agree that the majority of the book has a really slow pace for the buildup, but the multiple plot twists make up for all of that. Plus, you can't have good political drama and backstabbing if the story moves too fast. There would be no tension, and all the little things wouldn't help hammer that final nail in the coffin as much.

As far as the protagonist is concerned, Hesina is exactly what Akira said: the kind of queen who'd get assassinated in broad daylight. What makes her different, however, is that she owns up to her mistakes and never does obviously stupid things that YA protagonists seem to love doing. She gets into tricky situations not because she's dumb, but simply because there are better players who are steps ahead of her. She's also willing to learn, and she never lets her budding romance control her action. Is she a good queen? Yes. She's just too nice for the court and its political games. For now.

What annoys me about this book is that how it's marketed as a standalone, because it's obviously not. In fact, the story ends with a cliffhanger that screams there will be a sequel. I don't understand how this could be labelled as a standalone while the story isn't even finished yet, not to mention all the things dropped by the epilogue. I know the author said Hesina's arc is 80% complete, but as a reader I need the remaining 20% because why would you read an incomplete story?

In any case, this is a great book with morally grey characters, layers of manipulation and deception, and a lot of political drama. Please read and support this book so we can get the companion books and the rest of the the overarching plot. :')