Her Radiant Curse is the prequel to the duology Six Crimson Cranes and The Dragon’s Promise. It is strongly recommended that one reads the books in the order written and not in the chronological order of events. So, start with Six Crimson Cranes for maximum reading pleasure.

Ms. Lim again gives us a magnificent and unique story. This young adult fantasy is set in an Asian-inspired world, which is a current trend that is producing some really fantastic reads. While there is plentiful action, there is just as much emotional heartbreak with themes around identity, emotional abuse, self-image, and sisterhood. Channi is a fierce and resiliant protagonist while her sister, Vanna, is surprising in her own right. This is a gripping read so prepare to stop sleeping and eating until you turn the last page.

Also a shout out to the artist Tran Nguyen who has done the gorgeous artwork for all three of these books.

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy provided by the Publisher

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 12 mild obscenities; 1 derogatory name.

Violence/Gore: Parent takes a young child to be sacrificed and leaves child to die; after childbirth there are complications and there is brief description of blood gushing; animal attacks a person and they start hitting it with a stick; various verbal and implied threats of death and harm, sometimes with brief description; animal bites a character; magic is used on a person and they bleed from their nose; animal dies; character fights an animal, brief description; character deliberately slices hand so she bleeds; threaten to whip someone; character recalls trying to use a knife to cut out portions of their face to remove disfigurement from a curse; report that an individual deliberately harmed a baby animal and left it to suffer and die; crowd/mob attack a character with physical differences/deformities, extended scene; two characters battle, description of the fight, mention of blood; character sees scars on another’s back from prior beatings/whippings; characters fight (hitting, punching, cutting with knife, etc.), end result is abduction of a character; character murders another with a knife, brief description; character observes that another character has been punished (dried blood, bruising, etc.); character break’s another’s wrists; fight scene with injuries, implied death, character knocked unconscious; upon various occasions character thinks about harming others; character briefly fights another and is whipped; character tries to choke another; report of a death of a daughter; scene where characters are pitted against each other in an arena to fight to the death; character stabs and kills another through the heart; extended fight scene in which a character chokes another with bare hands resulting in death, descriptive; character allows animals to attack her to draw her blood on purpose; animal is severely injured; extended scene of escape involving fighting, arrows, injuries, cannon, etc., mention/description of blood; magical creatures drink blood of humans to survive, some description; frightening dream; animal eats other animals (for food); character relates the torture they underwent (breaking of limbs, hot irons, etc.); animal bites/attacks others; decapitation of a monster, description; extended battle scene against demons/mythical creatures with deaths, injuries, etc. and mythical creatures feeding on the dead; parent attempts to strike their grown child; parent slaps grown child repeatedly until the character stops them and breaks their wrist; dead are gathered and covered; character recounts past events where he killed his friends and was forced to fight in the arena; character observes blood and deduces that someone is using their blood to sustain/feed someone; signs of destruction and violence in a village; extended battle with deaths, injuries, descriptions; character uses magic to painfully restrain another; self-mutilation using a spear.

Sex/Nudity: Romantic relationships (heterosexual); characters kiss; character feels attraction to another; reference to suitors for a girl and passing reference that even a high queen would come as a suitor; characters hold hands.

Mature Subject Matter:

Marriage, emotional and physical abuse (parent to child), bullying and ostracization, physical disfigurement, death of a family member, abduction, abandonment/sacrifice of a child, parent facilitates betrothal for personal enrichment, murder, self-mutilation, deaths.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Characters drink alcoholic beverages; character gets drunk; character is shot with a dart (drugged); character is sedated; poison used in fights; reference to drinking wine.