Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children for allowing me this ARC.
Her Radiant Curse is a beautiful story of the love of two sister overcomes all. This book was beautifully written and pulled at all the right heart strings.

If you love a whimsical feel, with a little bit of dark magic, and lots of asian folklore this book will definitely do it for you. This book is a prequel to Six Crimson Cranes, and I have yet to read that book, but I will say even without reading I was fully able to follow along.

EL is magic, I love her writing and I love her books, as I have read her twisted tales.

This book get 4.5/5 stars for me.

Thank you for such a magical whimsical book.

some side notes before we get into my positives and negatives:

⭒ this is a prequel, but i guess you could technically read it without having read six crimson cranes.

⭒ while this has arranged marriage, it’s not an arranged marriage story.

⭒ the advertised “romance” between sworn enemies is hardly there. i personally preferred it this way, but reading the synopsis again and seeing that selling point made me add this.

okay, that’s all.
——

(+) so excited to read a “villain” POV.

(-) slow buildup until about halfway through, when a main “plot twist” shows up (the plot twist? i ate up. the time it took to get there? not so much.)

(?) vanna. for channi’s entire life to revolve around her, i wish we got more screen time with her in the beginning! i can’t say i disliked her, but i also can’t say i saw the hype… (side note, but the sister dynamic is EXACTLY like kate and edwina sharma. vanna IS edwina, and it was eating me alive trying to remember who she reminded me so much of.)

(+) every time dragons were mentioned i thought of seryu, so i suppose that’s an indirect plus.

(-) you know when a main character is debating on doing something, and literally every single supporting character says “hey girl, maybe don’t do that”? happens here. everyone (and i mean everyone) told our mc that she should NOT [insert]. and then she went ahead and did it. oh, but then her actions had consequences, so maybe this is actually a (+)?

MAJOR NEGATIVE (-): sometimes you read a book to read! to go through the journey, and the end is simply a consequence of the rest. this time, though, i was reading just to get to the end. this kind of goes along with the book being a slow buildup, but it’s honestly just all buildup to get to the end! if it wasn’t lim’s writing bringing me through, it’d be unbearable.

(+) i actually really liked the callbacks from six crimson cranes (specifically one towards the end). there weren’t tooo many to the point where you’d be lost without having read it- just a pinch for me to say that i understood the reference. (i did, in fact, have six crimson cranes open like an encyclopedia throughout the read).

(+) chapter thirty-nine. AND HOW WELL IT ALIGNS? elizabeth lim, i see what you’ve done!! i love a well written chapter, and i love a parallel even more.

(+) just the ending, overall. well done!!! it made me go back to scc and reread certain sections. the problem is, it hurt knowing i read through 90% buildup.

——
4.0 stars. the ending was everything, the buildup was… there. and as much as i love elizabeth lim, i must be fair!! the only reasons i stayed immersed in the buildup were 1. elizabeth lim’s writing and 2. i’ve read six crimson cranes.

Elizabeth Lim has been solidified as a favorite in the genre for me. Her Radiant Curse is an outstanding new novel that does not pull any punches. Channi is a protagonist who we immediately love and root for in the first chapter. She is tragic, but powerful. The setting is lush and compelling I wanted to dive right in. My favorite thing about Lim's books is that they are consistently impossible to put down. Her Radiant Curse is no different. I love the adventure, the magic, and the mystery and I know you will too!

Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC!

I loved the Six Crimson Cranes duology and so when this was announced I was excited. It is a bit weird to read essentially a prequel of a character you’ve read so much about because you know how the story ends.

Channi is left do dead by her father as a sacrifice to keep her mother and the baby daughter alive. However, the sorceress in tiger form comes for her too late, she was protected and bitten by the serpent king and Channi isn’t the daughter she wants. So she warns C THAT SHE will return for her younger sister and the servant king basically tells a prophecy that one sister must fall for the other to rise.

C does her best to protect her sister but she was cursed with a snake face and eyes and can talk to snakes and her family and village want nothing to do with her. Her sister is gonna be auctioned off to the highest bidder until C intervenes but ends up getting sold out by her father/village priest guy to a horrible king who keeps animals and other things in cages and runs a fight ring on behalf of his wife, who happens to be the tiger that C has been looking for but she took over a human body.

Anyway, major spoilers follow.

She must join forces with a half demon half dragon to get free of the king, find and protect her sister. But the dragon is looking for his peal, which was split in half. One half with her sister the other with the tiger (idk that I fully understood how that happened). They escape but he is enraged when he finds out her sister has his part of the pearl. But C gets a promise that he won’t hurt her and will let her live out the rest of her life and then take the pearl back.

But of course everything gets messed up because her sister doesn’t know how to defend herself and the tiger takes over her body and makes her the tiger and she’s weak and injured and C tries to swap them back and even succeeds but it’s too late because the half dragon becomes a demon without his moonstone and kills C’s sister Vanna, breaking his dragon sworn promise and therefore basically preventing himself from taking his pearl back (a dragon has to keep the sworn promise). So she joins the two halves together and tries to give it back but it won’t take so she takes it and makes a really dumb wish that backfires. She loses her snake face and looks like her sister. She leaves her small village to marry the King from Kieta, which doesn’t have magic in a bid to protect herself and find some peace. Also her best snake friend becomes the Snake King, which was so cute I was sad to see them say goodbye.

Overall, great description and definitely an emotional story. You learn so much more about C and Vanna and basically how Six Crimson Cranes became to be. I really did enjoy it.

I really enjoyed reading about Channi's bittersweet backstory. I do wish it focused more on her relationship with Shiori's father. However, it does not compare to Six Crimson Cranes, which in my opinion, is the best of Lim's works, but it was an improvement from its sequel. Overall, it was very enjoyable but not a top favorite.

375 stars rounded to 4

This is my first Elizabeth Lim book and I really loved it. It felt like I was stepping into a fable and I’m really excited to read the author’s previous works now. My understanding is that Her Radiant Curse is a prequel to the Six Crimson Cranes duology, which I was not aware of going into the book, but I don’t feel like I missed out on anything in this story; if anything, it just adds to my eagerness to start Six Crimson Cranes. So to anyone who’s intrigued by the synopsis of Her Radiant Curse, don’t worry about it being a prequel, don’t worry about feeling like you’re missing vital information, you’re going to get an amazing, fleshed-out story. I loved Channi, she was an incredibly strong main character, driven equally by love and a very justifiable sense of rage.

Firstly, this is a great prequel to the Six Crimson Cranes books (ones I really loved) so I really enjoyed this look into the backstory of Channari and Vanna. I also love a tale about sisters. Elizabeth Lim’s storytelling is so beautiful. The lush Asian mythology/folklore woven through this book makes the world, the characters and the writing come to life.

How cool that we get a prequel book for Six Crimson Cranes! This book was fascinating for that reason—to see Channi's journey and how she ends up as queen in Six Crimson Cranes. For the most part, I enjoy Elizabeth Lim's writing and her ability to write unique and interesting fairytale stories. And I was drawn into this story right away with the first chapter.

However, I felt the tension dissipate as Channi's journey went on. The plot felt oversimplified to me with rescuing her sister. And I'm not sure how I feel about the hint of a romance between a human and a dragon. There were some cool action fights though, and I love Channi's strength and confidence in her serpent face.

Overall, I think I expected more from this prequel, especially her relationship with Shiori's father prior to Six Crimson Cranes. But it still provided excellent backstory to Channi's curse and the lore of the world.

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 4
Plot/Movement: 3
Character Development: 3
Overall: 3

Thank you, Knopf Books for Young Readers and NetGalley, for the arc!

Trigger/Content Warnings: poisoning, snake bites, child abuse, monster/fighting violence and death

This book isn’t just the tale of two cursed women. It’s a story about sisterhood. One sister was cursed to be adored, while the other sister was cursed to be a monster. On the surface you could say that this story is about breaking a curse, but it’s so much more than that.

Vanna and Channi are opposite sides of the same coin. Vanna, “the golden one” is adored by all who look at her. Channi, “lady green snake” is hated for all the reasons her sister is adored. The only thing they have in common is their love for each other.

This book is a stand alone prequel to “Six Crimson Cranes”, a book I have not read before. I was going into this book completely blind and it did not disappoint. Completely engaging from the very first word to the last possible moment.

Not all fantasy books are created equal, but this one rises above the rest. The highlights for me in this book include the characters, specifically their interactions with each other. Standout characters include Channi’s best friend Ukar, and our main antagonist Angma.

I can’t wait to continue with the series and read Six Crimson Cranes. Thank you so much to net galley and Random House for allowing me to read an eARC of this book!

Thank you Random House & NetGalley for the ARC of one of my most anticipated reads of 2023!

I will read anything by Elizabeth Lim. Everything I've read of hers has been original, unique, and so deeply connected to Asian folklore that makes it so bingeable. The same goes for this story, a prequel to Six Crimson Cranes. While this wasn't my favorite of hers, I still found the story compelling and I can't wait to read the conclusion to this series!

Her Radiant Curse hits shelves August 29!

So good! It gave me Jungle Book vibes.
However, I will say that I'm not sure I'd call it a standalone. This is the first EL I ever read and then went immediately into Six Crimson Cranes. I don't want to spoil anything, but I'd consider this more of a prequel. Sure, you can read it without SCC, but it definitely adds some context to that story.

Elizabeth Lim's newest prequel novel, Her Radiant Curse, was a bittersweet, sad tale of a girl who desperately loves her little sister.

The night Channeri's little sister, Vanna, was born was also the night her mother died. Knowing his wife will not survive long, Channeri's father takes her to the jungle and offers to sacrifice her to the Demon Angma in exchange for his wife. Angma curses the little girl with the scales of a snake and Channeri spends the next 17 years of her life in her beautiful sister's shadow, knowing that one day the demon plans to return and kill her sister.

Nothing can stop Channeri's love for her little sister and she deals with a shocking amount of hate from her friends and family. She is sold to a wicked king and queen, and then her friend and possibly love turn against her.

In all, the novel was beautifully written. A piece of Asian folklore with no true happy ending.

I have had Lim's Six Crimson Cranes on my TBR for months now, so when I saw this prequel, I immediately snatched it up, not knowing much about the world it's set in. And I don't feel disappointed in what I got.

Channi, cursed with a snake‘s face, only wants to protect her sister, Vanna, from both the demon witch that first cursed her & a contest auctioning Vanna off to a suitor. These two threats converge into a battle that threatens everything.

This was quite the interesting story! As in Lim's Spin the Dusk book, the world building was truly great. It felt large and expansive, beyond the pages we see. Lim's scene setting is also just wonderful to read. It was easy to picture the lush forests that were Channi's safe space. The magic was intricate and wild.

At first, I wasn't a huge fan of Channi's as most of her personality seemed to be protective of her sister. But once the action started and she began to open up, I found myself rooting more and more for Channi. And I did love the sisters‘ relationship. Even though we don't see much of Vanna's side of the story, the love between the two of them is easy to see.

The pacing felt a bit off, where things slowed down too much for me, until everything was rushed at the end. And I felt that the romance was unnecessary and forced.

But this was a fun read that definitely bumped Six Crimson Cranes up my TBR!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for this ARC.

thank you netgalley for the arc !

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 4/5 stars *ੈ✩‧₊˚

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ a prequel to the six crimson cranes duology, her radiant curse winds through the dreamy passages of a magical world steeped in southeast asian culture. it is at its heart a love story - that of sisters and the worlds we’d burn for them. utterly ensnaring, elizabeth lim’s newest work is so evocative in its description, the afterimages will play behind your eyelids long after you close them. it warmed and broke my heart at once, engraving itself indelibly and i wouldn’t have it any other way.

kindly note; further review to come as i was initially unconscious to the fact that this is in fact a spin-off. i’d like to defer a more detailed reaction till i’ve read the original series. this also may have been a five-star read.

Why did it take me 4 chapters to realize it was a prequel to Six Crimson Cranes? Am I that dumb?

Raikama was the best part about the first book for me (and since I didn't like the second one, I guess the best part overall), so I mostly enjoyed this book. I think the pacing fell prey to the same general issues I had with Dragon's Promise, but I liked this better than that. Did we NEED this story? Probably not, I would have liked to see something totally new from Lim, but I still had fun.

I received a copy through NetGalley for review.

Her Radiant Curse is really about the love of two sisters. And the heartbreaking curse and prophecy that lies between them.
Channari is offered up to Angma a demon witch who sustains herself off the flesh and life force of others. Instead of consuming her, Angma is slighted because her father didn’t offer her newborn sister who is lovelier than spring and glows with the radiance of magic, Vanna.
Channari is cursed to live with the face of a snake, in a attempt to save her life, the king of serpents bites her to poison her blood to make her dangerous to Angma.
Angma tells Channari of a prophecy that she will come for her sister’s life before she turns 17. And that one of them must fall for the other to rise.

Channari spends the next seventeen years guarding and protecting her luminous sister, watching out for Angma and those who would harm her for her power. Her family and village shuns her, Vanna is the only one who loves her sister unconditionally. They would do anything to protect each other.

We know that Channari comes to wear her beloved sisters face, and obtains great magic. But reading how and understanding the trials they endured together, broke my heart. It was a really beautiful, sad story.

Lim strikes once again! I cannot put down just how much I loved reading the story of Lady Green Snake or should I say Channi or maybe Vanna?
Vanna is born with a radiant light shining from within that her father immediately sees as an oppertunity but during Vanna's birth tragedy falls upon her family. Vanna's father rushes his other daughtter to the woods as a sacrifice to the demon witch to save his wife. However Channi is not the child the demon witch has been waiting for and in return for this slight she chooses not to save Channi and Vanna's mother. Before Channi is killed the snake king bites her and bestows a gift upon her to save her life from the demon witch and as punishment from the witch Channi is cursed.

Channi must live her life in shadow because no one but her sister wants to look upon her face, she is considered a monster to all who see her. There is an opppertunity for Channi to shed her curse but only if she sacrifices her sister. Will Channi make the sacrifice so she can have a normal life again or will she choose the love of her sister instead? For a young woman who wants nothing more than to be loved and accepted will the chance at that be enough to set aside familial ties and give up her sister or will she choose the hard path and fight instead?

I want to thank #Netgalley for the oppertunity to read #HerRadientCurse by ElizabethLim in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The writing was really gripping, I finished the book in like.. half a day? The adventures, the emotions, the fights, everything was written so well!

I particularly loved all the interactions between the MC Channi and her best friend (the snake) Ukra <3 I think I've highlighted every single one of their coversations, I would legit read a book with just them adventuring.

The ending did shatter my hear though, I had no idea that this was a prequel to Six Crimson Cranes.. I was genuinely expecting a hea for everyone :'(

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

What makes Her Radiant Shine is its lyrical story about the bond between sisters. As a child Channi was betrayed by her father, who took her to the forest and offered her as a sacrifice to the demon witch for her mother’s life. But the demon witch didn’t want her, she wanted her sister and so Channi’s curse came to be. All who looked upon her sister saw a beautiful golden light and all who looked upon Channi were fear struck and called her a demon. But she made a promise to her mother to protect her sister and so she will. As she grows older she works hard to fight for her sister, the only person who has shown her kindness and love. This was when I was struggling to understand Channi a little because her identity revolved so much around protecting her sister I wanted to know who she truly was and what she could do. I truly loved the introduction of Hokzuh because he not only was a much needed ally to Channi but he also tought her to let go of the word of other and just be herself. So much of this book shined and I really want to read six crimson cranes now.

4.5/5 stars rounded down.

My relationship with Lim's books has been confusing, to say the least. I absolutely adored Six Crimson Cranes but despised her Blood of Stars duology. It's because of my experience with Lim's first two books that I have yet to read SCC's sequel. But then I snagged this book's ARC and didn't know how to define my expectations when I started reading.

I'm glad to say this was a really good one.

I really adore Channi's strength and devotion to her sister, the lengths and feats she would go through in order to protect her sister. I love that's ultimately what's at the core of this book: Sisterhood. Yes, there is a brief romance, but it's really the relationship between Channi and Vanna that shines inside this book's heart.

The side characters got a lot of attention, too. I particularly loved Ukar, a snake and Channi's most loyal, and sarcastic, companion. Even the villain, the witch who cursed Channi, is explored in depth and is made to be sympathetic; luckily she isn't redeemed and is allowed to be bad until the very end.

The writing is very gorgeous, with lush descriptions and great dialogue between characters. The only gripe I had was that it stretched out a bit too long at some points, making the plot drag a bit, but it didn't deter my enjoyment too much, otherwise.

Overall, this is a great book. I think this would need to be read after SCC, otherwise some major plot points will fly over your head.