I tried my best to empathize with them-even tried to sympathize when I couldn’t emphasize.

Sure, they’re not simply good or evil, and there’s some natural contradiction (different from the aforementioned) to their character which makes them a touch more human, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t flat.

Moreover, the characters are too shallow. There is a tendency of revealing necessary information like name meanings too late into the story as well for them to have proper impact. Instead, I’m unsatisfied with how this story is built and focused on plot twists that causes the characters to unnaturally contradict with themselves as they stiltedly arrive at plot points set by the author rather than characterization which leads to smooth transitions of one plot point to another. I have no complaints about the pacing being slow because I like a good book that delves properly on as many aspects of world building as possible. It would’ve been more effective if He wove more allusions with cranes into the story. Not knowing this plus the incredibly subtle utilization of it, however, leaves one possibly not knowing the point of it and thus, renders the symbol pointless. Knowing this, makes the subtle use of a crane as a symbol smart. When you’re aware of this, it’s more probable to guess that Hesina is a descendant of an immortal and that her name means that she’s their cause of death. You see, cranes are known to symbolize good fortune, happiness and longevity/eternal youth. I can’t recall a moment when cranes play a big enough role to deserve being a part of the title and Hesina’s name-which isn’t good because that basically makes it a pointless symbol, especially for those who are unaware of what a crane symbolizes. At one point of the book, we find out that Hesina’s name is a homophone for ‘dying cranes’ and the birds are briefly mentioned another time or two, but that’s it. The first being the lack of consistent, prominent and (more) explicit allusions, symbolism and metaphors related to cranes.

There’s a lot that I found unsatisfying with Descendant of the Crane. Thus, I had hoped and that hope grew when I found that this book has the makings of one while I was reading it. Maybe I’ve made a mistake of thinking that this would be like one of those vicious, brutal and painful worldview-shattering humans-are-monsters-monsters-are-humans kind of book like how Forest of a Thousand Lanterns is. I never thought that there would be a day when I’d say this, but I’m disappointed by how tame Descendant of the Crane turned out to be. Published: 2019 by Albert Whitman & Company

Descendent of the crane