Reviews with content warning for Pandemic/Epidemic - The Priory of the Orange Tree

Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

60 reviews

questionable_reader's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

sofipitch's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This was fine. I'm not sure I would have finished it if it wasn't an audiobook which I could listen to while driving to work or at work. I did consider DNFing and what saved it was the first dragon appearance. This book has a TON of lore, at least the first 5 hours just feels like being hit with a firehose, and at the same times lots of parts of the world still felt undeveloped. I think the world Shannon created was maybe too large and as a result, a lot of the countries and cultures of color were the ones that suffered, as opposed to Innys, the England stand in. I actually thought I was stupid and had just missed a lot at the beginning, bc the beginning has 3/4 of the POVs all being different ppl from different cultures entering a new one and commenting on it, but no there just wasn't much. This got a lot of praise for having lots of characters of color but I only thought it was okay in effort there.
There are also a lot of potentially interesting scenes that aren't shown on screen, such as the water trials, competitions to determine if you are skilled enough to be a dragon rider. You get scenes of Tané stressing about them but not the scenes itself. Shannon likes writing exposition a lot, very obviously not action, which for an 800+ page epic is not great. A lot of information is given to you only as it is relevant, and directly from the characters in dialogue. There is no sense of the readers figuring anything out. The villains are 1-D just plain evil and pretty boring. I did end up caring for the characters but that did take a while for me to get into. Overall, entertaining, it was a throw back to the kind of huge fantasy novels I remember reading as a kid, but nothing special

Content Warnings

atalea's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

emliza's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

goldenluck's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A solid 3 star. Enjoyable, but definitely has its flaws. I don't think it needed to be 800 pages at all, it could have been much more concise. I did notice some plot holes, but it could be that they were explained but lost in the pages upon pages upon pages of seemingly not important stuff going on. Characters would appear and fall away pretty much at the demand of the plot, and it was so difficult to keep track of who was related to who and who was in charge of what. The writing was beautiful though, and the amount of development the characters went through was shockingly impressive. Honestly, it's just too long. I think people just rate it highly because it is decent and to make it seem worth slugging through. I can't recommend it though honestly, unless you're desperately in need for some lesbians and dragons and have 30+ days to spend on reading this doorstopper.

Content Warnings

ellareads2's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I primarily read this book because it's a sapphic fantasy. Having read it, it is definitely more fantastical and the sapphic romance part is secondary. If you have been a long time reader of YA queer literature, you won't be completely disappointed, but you do have to have patience and understand that this is an adult queer fantasy which means the queer themes are less explicit and not the center of the plot/conflict. I mention this because it is what initially attracted me to the title, but it is not my main issue with the novel. I really am amazed by how Samantha Shannon took on such a large scope for a book and executed it completely into fruition. For the most part, she seamlessly weaves the lives and plots of the primary narrators together, but around the last 200 pages (climax, falling action, resolution) I felt that the plot was rushed. Because of the nature of having several narrators and plot lines and conflicts, Shannon spent majority of the book when they were separate. Once the characters paths collide, it seems like Samantha Shannon forgot about the main conflict and then was scrambling to get to the conclusion of her story, involving the primary conflict. In this way, I think this story could have been better told in two separate books. I cared deeply about many of the characters, especially Ead and Sabran and their relationship. The other secondary characters storylines and the extensive, recurring world building really took up many pages where the reader could have gotten more of their dynamic. This cover has a dragon on it, but there's only two scenes where there's actual battles with them. Coming into this, I definitely thought there would be more battle and actions scenes than there were in reality. I didn't find this much of a problem in the beginning since there was obviously world building that needed to be done, but it became more of an irritant towards the last two sections of Priory. <It seemed like there were endless chapters of pre-game talk leading up to the battle with the main antagonist dragon, Fyredel. He is supposed to be the big bad guy, but he's talked about more than we see him.> For many characters, they do not get happy endings. I think a big difference between YA and Adult fantasy or books in general is how believable the outcomes for the characters are. <For Tané especially, her best fried dies by the Seiikinese government as a result for smuggling in an outsider.> This scene was painful and difficult to read, but it served as character growth for Tané and showed me that this wasn't going to be an easy road for the characters. It makes the story more complex and therefore believable. I did not feel the same way about the battle scene and "epilogue" chapters that concluded the book. <It all seemed too easy, how quickly Kalyba and Fyredel were killed.> Like a children's fable, Shannon used the last 15 pages to fulfill the "where are they now?" question for all the major characters/narrators. This just felt a little tacky to me because it felt rushed in proportion how much time/pages were spent on other parts of the plot. Although, the characters are flawed and they still have to live with the consequences they faced throughout and even before the novel. <Ead and Sabran don't necessarily live happily ever after because they have to wait ten years until they can be together again which I think makes their resolution complex and believable, but I felt cheated as a reader because I don't think I got enough scenes of them together. Niclays has to live with all he's been through: being exiled from Inys and losing his lover, Jannart. Tané has to live with blood on her hands and the fact that she is a descendant of the mulberry tree.> I feel that I cared for Loth, but I don't necessarily understand his purpose at the end; he just felt like a servant and friend to Sabran but nothing outside of the the Inyish court or Sabran really defined his character. Speaking of the Inyish Court, for the chapters that took place in the "West" I really enjoyed all of the court drama/gossip and the political intrigue it brought about. One thing I found annoying all the kingdoms was the consistent, persistent religious disputes, especially between Ead and Sabran. It was the one part of their relationship that always annoyed me and kept me from believing they really loved each other as much as other scenes portrayed. Priory is definitely a woman-centered tale with the Priory's religion being built around Cleolind Onjenyu (or the Mother) who is remember as a warrior; and the House of Berethnet being a matriarchy. In this way, I'd say it's primarily a feminist tale rather than a queer/sapphic one, although it's both. Despite plot complications at the end, I think this book overall is a great story that is fun and engaging with excellent representation. I would love to see a Game of Thrones level adaptation of Priory.

Content Warnings

jayden_314's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I cannot express how much I enjoyed reading this book. I adored the writing style and am actually so sad I have finished it. I miss the world, the characters, and the story and (even though I am happy it ended where it did because if there was any more it would be unnecessary and drag on) I wish there was more so I could keep reading.

This book may seem rather daunting with its 800+ pages but it is worth the read. Samantha Shannon perfectly built the world and subtly introduces new details throughout. After about 100 pages, you will start understanding the world a lot more and this was the point where I really started to fall in love with The Priory of the Orange Tree.

The story is told from four perspectives: Ead, Loth, Tané, and Niclays (with Ead as the main perspective). I am usually not a fan of different POVs within novels, but I really enjoyed this aspect of the book. By the end of the book, I had grown to understand all of the characters and I really love all of them (yes, even Niclays). Ead is my favourite character, I absolutely love her. The relationship between her and Sabran was so beautiful and I loved every part of it. Within the first few pages (this is a bit exaggerated) I was screaming for them to get together, I just knew it would happen eventually. I'm also really glad that this was the main perspective focused on during the novel because, in my opinion, it was the best. Ead's perspective also introduces a lot of the world including religious beliefs, magic systems, politics, history, and it is such a fun part to read.

Tané introduces us to the world of the East (that's another part of why I enjoyed the novel, the complete separation of the world and how they are almost completely different apart from their common enemy). This is where dragons come in and it is such an interesting part of the book. Even though I don't have any complaints, I have to admit that I still do not fully understand everything about the dragons. Hopefully, this aspect will be revealed in A Day of Fallen Night (which I'm set to read in June/July). Also, Tané's family history was a super cool detail that I want to know more about. I just loved Tané's story and the connection it had to dragons. It was really cool to learn about. The way that her story and the others' were intertwined just made me happy when reading because there would be one mention of a detail that someone had just discovered and I would say, "I know that, I learned that with Tané".

The other character who's perspective is set in the East is Niclays. At first, I hated reading about him because he was completely unlikeable. I could not find any justification for his actions. He was just a miserable old man who was selfish and unpleasant. His arc probably was the most satisfying, just because of his growth and change by the end. While I was starting to love him, he did have a bit of a lapse and called Sabran a c*nt (which left me so shocked I had to close the book and stare at the wall as my jaw dropped for a solid minute). But, I did love his friendship with Laya and him overcoming the all-consuming grief he was yet to work through. Kind of wish there was a bit more of his POV before the Nameless One rose and he and Laya were captured because that could have been really interesting. Also, I would have loved a deeper exploration of his relationship with Truyde although I understand how that may have been difficult and interrupted the flow of the story. But his story with the pirates made me enjoy his character a lot more because he was wallowing in self-pity a lot less during this section.

Finally, Lord Arteloth Beck. His time in Yscalin was definitely a turning point for me and my interest in the story. It was around this point that I really started getting into the story and wanting to know more. Details were being revealed and it was an introduction into a new, unexplored world as a reader. I think this also helped with Ead's story as some areas had already been explored and it helped the flow by not introducing too much new information. Loth's relationship with the Donmata was so good I wanted to see more and I wish he was in Yscalin for a little while longer, just because I wanted to explore the world more. I also just loved all the moments with Loth and Nayimathun because they were really great. I think Loth had the most exploration of the world and that is so cool. I do wish that Kit's death had been a larger plot point than it actually was (if I'm being, honest this is one of the only issues I have with the novel. Death just sort of happens but it doesn't necessarily further the plot. I feel like something more could have happened with any/all of the character deaths but I do understand how that could have impacted the story. After all, I was annoyed by Niclays constant grief and bringing up Jannart's death so that's why I don't have too much of a problem with this area of the story). It was only brought up two or three times right after it happened and right at the end in Loth's final chapter.

To summarise this LONG review, I absolutely loved this book. It will likely remain a favourite for years and I am already excited for a reread next year. If you love magic, dragons, political and religious conflict, and/or amazing sapphic stories; I definitely recommend this book. It is an incredible read if you can do it.

Content Warnings