Descendant of the Crane

Written by Joan He

Narrated by Nancy Wu

A determined and vulnerable young heroine struggling to do right in a world brimming with deception must rule over an unstable kingdom and find her father's killer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media
• Release date: Sep 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781666579215

Joan He

Joan He was born and raised in Philadelphia but still will, on occasion, lose her way. At a young age, she received classical instruction in oil painting before discovering that storytelling was her favorite form of expression. She studied psychology and East Asian languages and civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania and currently splits her time between Philly and Chicago. She is the bestselling author of The Ones We’re Meant to Find, Descendant of the Crane, and the Kingdom of Three duology.

Reviews for Descendant of the Crane

[heatherlinc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While I enjoyed "Descendant of the Crane" I found the pacing slow in a number of places due to all the court politics. However, the fact that the novel was seeped in Chinese culture and traditions made it an interesting read. There were lots of twists along the way and the murder mystery was handled well and kept me guessing.I also liked that the characters were neither good nor bad. They were all multi=layers with flaws and had motives for the way they behaved. By the end I didn't actually know who to trust and who not to. I liked the main protagonist, Hesima. She was complex and showed a range of emotions, and I was hoping she would get justice for her father's murder. She didn't always make the right decisions but she did try to do what was right. Akira was also an interesting character and from the start it was obvious he was going to be important to Hesima. However, their romance felt forced.After a slow start, "Descendant of the Crane" became quite a good novel but I don't think I'll continue the series despite this book's exciting finish .

[kristelh_15 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a young adult novel that was a free audio from AudioSyncFile this year. It is a fantasy where a young girl becomes a ruler and decides she needs to find her father's killer. There are many things in this book that can r/t current issues such as prejudices and censorship. The book is a romance also. The heroine is strong and determined young woman who doesn't know who she can trust in this story of intrigue within the kingdom. This was a debut novel, published 2019.

[Deepa Budhoo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved it! What a rollercoaster... I have to admit I got a bit emotional invested in the main characters. I really hope there will be a sequel.

[DieOrWrite · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rating: 3.25⭐

This was a middle-of-the-way book in every way. Character wise speaking, the main character is incompetent and passive to the extreme, I gets more frustrated more than anything. But somehow that makes the ending fitting.

The political maneuvers and the Chinese-inspired magical world is interesting, but it is still not enough to keep tension up through the novel. The romance is stereotypical, but still cute and sweet (especially the ending).

This feels like an incomplete novel, a standalone novel that ended on a cliffhanger. Although I gotta give the author credit to make the big reveal villain to be very sympathetic.

[yvonnekins · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Knowing that this was a YA Debut, I went into this with some reservations, but I was completely pleasantly surprised by this book.The writing style is absolutely wonderful. Honestly I wouldn’t have guessed that this was a debut if I had just happened to pick it up without hearing about it. The writing style itself shows that author has put in a lot of work and practice into the craft. It’s great to read writing like this, especially after the last YA Fantasy Debut let me way down in terms of writing, and frankly if I were to recommend this book for one thing, it would be the writing itself.The plot was intriguing, and it’s not an idea I’ve seen done that often in YA fantasy. The idea of soothsayers not just being able to tell the future but to manipulate time using their magic is such a cool magic system, and the Chinese inspiration throughout the plot, the worldbuilding, and the magic was beautifully executed.However I felt like the pacing of it wasn’t quite right. Some places I was bored and ended up skimming, and other places I wasn’t sure I was actually keeping up with what was going on. There needed to be a little more balance in the execution, but otherwise I really enjoyed the plot of a young queen trying to fill her father’s shoes, while also attempting to solve the mystery of his death.The setting was just brilliant. I don’t have anything bad to say about it. The world felt so vivid and I just really enjoyed learning about the world. It wasn’t an intense exercise in worldbuilding by any means, but I’m hoping we’ll get more of that if she decides to write a second book.The characters, in my opinion, were the weakest link for me. It’s been less than a week since I’ve read this book and I forget pretty much all of their names already. None of the characters feel all that developed, except for Hesina, and I think more could have been done to develop them on the page. What’s strange is that I definitely didn’t feel this way when reading the book, but now that I’ve had a week to digest it, I’m definitely seeing that.That said, there were moments while reading that I felt the emotions that the author was trying to convey. I teared up twice while reading it. Even though some of the character’s didn’t feel developed, Hesina cared about them enough that when something happened to them I felt for her more than for them.I’d definitely recommend this, for the writing style, the unique and diverse setting, and just for a good time.

[herenya_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Princess Hesina of Yan, believing her father to be murdered, opens an investigation into his death. She’s driven by her aching grief and by her fierce desire for truth and justice -- for all her people, as well as in this matter of her father’s death. But the truth is much harder than she expects.I thought this was incredible, but sometimes stressful! Compelling characters, complex family dynamics (I especially liked the sibling relationships), intricate prose and worldbuilding, and startling twists that turned out to slot neatly in with the other puzzle pieces. Upon reflection, the revelations in the epilogue would have made a greater impact had they been kept for a sequel so we could learn of them when Hesina does. However, since it seems that the author (or, perhaps more accurately, the publisher?) is not planning a direct sequel, it makes sense to include those answers in the epilogue. What is truth? Scholars seek it. Poets write it. Good kings pay gold to hear it. But in trying times, truth is the first thing we betray. -- One of the Eleven on truth Truth? Why, it’s a lie in disguise. -- Two of the Eleven on truth

[Tiffani Smith · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is exactly why I try not to read the synopsis of books. I went into this expecting it to be one thing, and ended up disappointed when it turned out to be something entirely different. I am glad I listened to the audiobook though because I would have butchered all the names in this book horribly. This book is left open to a potential sequel but I wonder if it will get it or if it will end slightly unfinished. I guess only time will tell.

[Taylor Phillips · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I adored listening to this book but the ending is driving me crazy! Tragically there will be no foreseeable sequel to this story so if you don’t like unwrapped up endings, this book is not for you. That being said, I loved the thoughtfulness that was put into this story, there were clever plot twists and and I loved the Asian influence throughout.

[sanvalentine · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was disappointed with the story but the narration was excellent. It's not bad, the twists are quite good, but it's just not well rounded and my expectations were higher. The ending felt rushed, maybe a sequel was required that never came but who knows. The most disappointing part was that the main character was really dense, like she doesn't need to be a Sherlock Holmes, but if something is obvious to the reader, it's really frustrating when it's not to the main character.

[Manal Osmally · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

So...... Here we are.... Actually I started this book without Reading the Synopsis and I kind of Don't Regret it

The Story Takes Place in the Aftermath of the The Death of King, Where Heasna - His Daughter- and the The next in line for the throne, deem an Untimely death and asks her kingdom for investigation, between seeking the truth of her father's death and discovering more truths about the tears that are dividing up her kingdom.. loyalty in Question and Brotherhood is in demand.

So Let's Jump Right in the rabbit hole

Pros
- The Structure of the book is sound despite the cliffhanger we are left with, you can take the Events in the End and shape them all the way you want ... Which I find really nice because I generally cannot tolerant the open ended books and in this case the stand alone open ended book
- I find the characters to cancel each other in a way that is extremely unsettling, one second you know what you are doing and the next no-one has any idea what is happening
- Hesina is Extremely mild compared to all the extreme Conditions she is facing, heck compared to the extreme people she is among, it's like everyone is keeping a secret but her which is not serving the story but rather serving the events in the end.
- AKIRA, in all caps, because the potentials where extremely high here but he was more on the side line than I anticipated.
- I really admire the fact that it was never the Question of the Gender here in the book, there was never a question whether the queen was fit to rule or not, it kinda pushed all the gender baggage aside and let the main issue of the book be the Kingdom tearing at the seams between people who are normal and people who are not.
- If I were to divide the book into segments based on the events taking place, then it would go like Pre Being the Queen, The Investigation, The Betrayal, The Revenge.


Cons
- I think the main problem we are being faced with here is the throw off, once you are sure the story is going a certain direction you are being thrown off into the extreme other side without any chance to breath..
- I think during the first half of the book the author was more like trying to introduce the kingdom and the people and during the 2nd half we are directly faced with a Dilemma without a solution. it took away from the story and offered you a book where you are 100% sure things cannot and would not go as planned no matter what.