Descendant of the Crane by Joan He Read Along – Part III

Title Descendant of the Crane

Author Joan He

Section Covered Part III (Chapters 24-29)

Initial Thoughts

All of the plot twists we saw in Part II had me reeling.  I desperately needed a conclusion in Part III.  And, romance.  I really wanted more romance between Hesina and Akira.

Favorite Character

Lilian – I wasn’t sure how I felt about the twins (please see Part I’s read along post) intitally.  However, Lilian was the best sibling Hesina ever could have had.  She was more loyal than all of her brothers combined.  Lilian was better than all of them and her death killed me.

Side note, I was also very sad about Mei’s death but I did think she was secretly alive (and I was right).

Favorite Quote

“‘Sometimes it is possible to give up too much’ — One of the Eleven on regrets”

After learning that Hesina’s father and mother are One and Two of the Eleven, the quotes at the begining of each chapter had so much more meaning.  This quote is from right before Lilian’s death and, I feel like I should have seen it coming.  Lilian gave up her life to save her sister and twin brother, Caiyan.  I hate that it was for Caiyan.  Lilian truly did give up too much.

Something I Wasn’t Crazy About

What happened to One?  Hesina just left her father in a coma in his tomb.  Nobody knows he’s there and nobody knows how to wake him.  But she’s leaving with Akira so what’s the former King going to do?

Final Thoughts

I finally got my romance!  I did really like that it was in there.  Although I wanted more, I was happy with what I got.

MK for the win for not trusting Caiyan!  He wasn’t a villain necessarily, but he definitely did wrong by his sister.  I would like to see more about his character in future stories.

The ending — I didn’t love that this book ended on a cliffhanger.  And, per the twitter feed of Joan He, she’s “not sure” if this is going to be a standalone book.  I’ve read so many books that were so unworthy of sequels and the fact that she doesn’t know if she’ll get one is just appalling.