Circle of Cranes

by Annette LeBox

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Circle of Cranes offers readers an intense and unique story, focusing on Suyin as she enters the world of Chinatown’s sweatshops, where everyone knows the law is being broken but only a few have the courage to speak out. The reality is bleak and very harsh, but Suyin and her friends manage to bring a ray of home to both their own situations and the book with their perseverance and love for each other and their families.

Ironically, the sweatshops are the good part of the book. The story here is intense and very moving. The magic that Suyin experiences with the cranes is not drawn nearly as well. It is somewhat confusing exactly how the magic works, and it does not blend very well with the realistic parts. Also, the “secrets” that the cranes intend to reveal are somewhat obvious and ultimately make everything fit together way too neatly.

The clashing of these fairytale-like aspects and the realism of the New York scenes do more than make the book a bit muddled in style and plot, however. They muddle the reading level as well. Circle of Cranes reads very much like a middle-grade book in terms of writing and the light romance, but it also features a decent amount of violence and clearly sets forth prostitution as an alternative that some girls who fail to find riches in America choose.

It should finally be noted that there are some strange gaps in this story (perhaps because it was an ARC?). For instance, one character will make a remark, and no one will really respond. A response might be technically unnecessary in the given situation, but the text is a bit choppy as a result and the story occasionally became disorienting.

The strong points are the portrayal of the sweatshops, the lessons that Suyin learns, and the villains. Some of them are delightfully creepy, and it is actually good to see that they do not all suddenly reform, as the structure of the rest of the book might lead one to suspect.

This review was also posted at Pages Unbound Book Reviews.