While I think this is a decent expansion on the story of Six Crimson Cranes, this book may not have necessarily needed writing but I think offered a fitting conclusion to Raikaima's part of the story. 

I found the determination that Shiori goes through to fufill her stepmother's wish touching and a level of growth and maturity in Shiori that I don't think you would see in most older teenagers. However, the new characters we were introduced to didn't hold my attention as much, the dragons seemed a little lackluster and I found I didn't really care for their politics or their ruling, or even their realm in general. 

Putting these criticisms to one side, I found the ending of this book to be satisying if not a little bittersweet between Shiori and her love. It felt like a fitting use of mythology to inspire this ending, and I am very much looking forward to reading the prequel book following Raikaima's early life. 

I loved this book! Not a much as the first, but I still loved it nonetheless. I love that we got to learn more about Shiori's stepmother and her background. I already have Her Radiant Curse open on my kindle ready to be read. 

I think my favourite thing was the relationship  in this book. The romance between Shiori and Takkan was so beautiful- Such a breath of fresh air that there was no silly relationship drama between them! I wish we had more Seryu stuff, too. Romantic relations aside I love how all the characters interact with each other. 

This books jumps RIGHT into the action and wastes no time picking up where Six Crimson Cranes left off.
Firstly, I really enjoyed this book! It had great characters and relationships, a good plot, wonderful world building, and was over all a lovely read! Unfortunately, I feel like this book was a little rushed. While I  found Six Crimson Cranes to occasionally be lacking extra detail, The Dragon's Promise overall rushed through the plot. 

I really wish we got to see more of Seryu's story - I feel it was cut short after the action between him and his father. I also would have loved to see more of Elang and his character instead of having him only be there to give Shiori the Wraith's name.

The later half of the book went at brake-neck speed and I had a hard time keeping up with all the scene changes.  Although that might speak more to my own reading habits and the books I've read recently.
Overall, I would still recommend this book to anyone who like fantasy! Especially if you are interested in getting into High Fantasy. 
I really did love this duology and the characters will always have a special place in my heart!

So boring! I got through the first book with ease, but this plot was really unmotivated. The couple did not elicit any excitement from me whatsoever and the main character got her way every single time. She magically (no pun intened, especially because her magic is very lackluster) gets out of every situation with the power of her words. Finishing this book was a TASK.

Liked the first book much more than this one. Really wish dragons were more involved especially Seryu and his cousin since the book is called the dragon's promise. I loved reading about Raikama's past and I will be reading the book about her that will be releasing because I need to know more about her. Honestly, Raikama was still the most interesting character and the one I really wanted to learn more about. There were def parts that felt unnecessary and I skimmed certain sections because of it. The big fight with Bandur also felt quite rushed compared to everything leading up to it that felt dragged out so I agree with some other reviews that the pacing was off throughout.
I didn't care for how throwaway the half dragons felt. They were some of the more interesting characters but weren't developed. 
And spicy opinion, I didn't care for takkan. I don't remember how I felt about him in the 1st book but in this one, I didn't care for him at all. I loved why he was chosen as the betrothed but his character was boring for me in this one. I don't think I cared about the romance much at all in this. I would've preferred more focus on the "action" parts of the book-would've preferred more time in the dragon realm, would've preferred more expansion on Shiori's magic, would've preferred more Raikama backstory, etc. 
Not a bad sequel, still enjoyed a lot of elements of it, but I would've been satisfied with the first book and a book solely about Raikama. Maybe even a novella solely about the dragon realm.