Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Priory of the Orange Tree

This book was genuinely captivating in a lot of ways. The storytelling and worldbuilding were beautifully written. Yes, it can be a little heavy at times but it is so worth it. The characters are mostly well-developed throughout the story too and you begin to understand what makes them tick and feel their range of emotions through the events that take place. I loved the interconnectedness that slowly took place between each of the characters' individual stories and how their experiences made them grow as characters.

This said, my main criticisms would be that after many chapters of build-up to a conflict, the conflict is over in 2 pages. This happens often and it feels a bit lacklustre for a story of this scale. As a result of this, it oftentimes felt like it was trying to achieve too much and that the conflicts were quickly solved to move onto the next one. Another criticism is that the romance felt massively out of place in the story and wouldn't have changed the plot any if it wasn't there at all. Every other character was fleshed out effectively in the sense that they all had things that made them independent but work well as a part of a team when needed, they each had ambitions and they felt real. I couldn't get a feel for Ead because of this. Of all the characters she was the one with the least development, despite the story following her the most.

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vulturetime's review

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2.5

This is what the lads call a personal disappointment. There's a number of critiques I have of the book, which largely come down to personal preference. It's almost 2 am right now so this is really just going to be notes on different aspects of the books that I have critiques of.

The structure:
The pacing and the division of storylines was honestly not it. I personally try to go into stories knowing as little as possible, not because I think spoilers ruin a story but because I inevitably cook up a story I like more than the actual story which just leads to disappointment. So I knew very little of the plot going on.

As such, the division of POVs was honestly a bit annoying in that Tane's storyline received so little comparative attention. Ead's storyline received the most, and while Niclays and Loth didn't have too many chapters, the latter was largely connected to Ead's storyline and Niclays' often felt more self contained than Tane's.

This makes Tane's eventual role such like. bullshit to me, because we barely get to see her and now she's really important at the end and instead of feeling like she's a fleshed out character, it just felt rushed. The blurb focuses on Sabran, Ead and Tane so like. You'd think Tane would have had more of a prevalent role in the story consistently but noooo

.

This book is very long and because it is trying to be so expansive, at least for me, the emotion really suffered as a result. I couldn't really get into the characters' headspaces because the readers are often just dumped into moments with a recap of the past few days (that were covered offscreen), something that is meant to be thought-provoking or a motif, and then move on. There are cases where this kind of pacing does hit, but it doesn't happen consistently. I think this book should have been longer so that each character could have felt more like actual people.

The prose:
This relates to the last part of the structure critiques, which is that there's a lot of "telling" essentially. The most annoying example to me is that of the "ghost" metaphor with Tane. It just started being inserted into the text that Tane is "like a ghost" or "became a ghost" or the old her was dead and all that was left was "a ghost" and it's like bitch stfu already. All the pieces were there to make this a good haunting metaphor but the emotion just really wasn't there, for me.

Additionally, the story is in third-person limited, but highkey, if you removed all identifying details from the passages (names), I don't think I could immediately distinguish between the POVs. I do wish that the author had gotten into thought processes more.

The characters:
They basically all fell kinda flat for me. Niclays I did feel something for but everyone else I was like idgaf. I am the most mad about Tane because I feel like her storyline was just so much wasted potential.

Partially because I don't like the trope of "hidden magic bloodline" especially when a lot of a character's chip is the fact that they come from nowhere and nobody. Just feels like a cop out. But also her classmates only reappeared in the end of the story and it's just like. bruhhh she was so under utilized.

The worldbuilding: (I got the most gripes about this)

So why was there so little about dragons in here? Why didn't we get to see more about dragons? Yes we got some wyrm action but like, that was about it. If I didn't know the dragon characters were dragons I probably wouldn't have guessed they weren't human. Why are they so human like. Why is a god calling its rider "little sister" -- something like "child/hatchling/starling" would've been more appropriate if going along the kin route. These dragons had a lot of talk around them but really not a lot of action. Especially with what the deal was with the nameless one.
Speaking of the nameless one. So at first, I was like "this is stupid, we don't see anything of him like wtf." Then I tried to pacify myself and reminded myself that when only looking at the LOTR trilogy, we don't learn a whole lot about Sauron's motivations either (beyond what he wants). But then I remembered that you actually see Sauron's impact all over the world and you encounter his underlings directly AND the ring is an extension of him. The nameless one did not have that reach At All. He had Fyredel and wyrms were waking up but honestly? There was not a whole lot of dragon fighting. It just felt kind of stupid.
Part of this has to do with the fact that for such an expansive story, it still remains so self-contained. You barely get to see the actual destruction wrought by the wyrms or the lives lost or most of the consequences for people who aren't the main characters. Which is like. Not a sin for a book but it's boring to me to read.
What the fuck even is Virtudom. Since that is the government we see the most of I will complain the most about it: the kingdom of Inys was founded on the ideas of six "virtues" which includes things about purity. Now, here's the thing. Those are real standards held against women (like the idea of purity) and though there is some discussion of like,
how Sabran was almost molded into the obedient and completely virtuous queen with no personality or backbone,
it is solely in the context of that one character (and technically some of her predecessors). No talk as to the effects on society as a whole. There are a lot of similar gaps with the other nations and it just makes me baffled. You don't have to include every detail, but like, going back to LOTR, Tolkien was great at hinting at the larger story behind something while not giving it to you. This is probably because Tolkien actually knew the larger story. He knew his world incredibly well.
Along that point, the themes of kingdom/empire and the "feminism" just kinda ticked me off. Like I get that this book's goal is not to talk about imperialism but like. the fact that "virtudom" is led by what is probably fairly restrictive morals (and on the pain of death oftentimes) has got to have a strong effect on society that is overall negative! and it's just not talked about. everything even remotely concerning about these nations was just brushed off to the side to focus on the plot of stopping the nameless one, and yet, book was still rushed at the end. The "feminism" aspect remains because like. Yes there were a lot of female characters in this story and many of them had positions of power. The main female characters had pretty surface level flaws though (in that they barely affected the narrative). Let the female characters be fucked up. Let them be actually messy (and not that they'll talk about it --- show it. It was shown a bit for Ead and Sabran in the beginning but then both mellowed out). Also I feel like actually having a discussion about, say, Virtudom's values and the restrictions based on that, would have done more about the feminism topic then just having a majority female cast.

it is past 2 am at this point so i will just sleep. it's not a bad book, it was just disappointing for me personally because I expected more in terms of character, analysis of the social situations, and pacing. i know some people really appreciate this book for being a standalone but it should've been either a longer standalone or two books.

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acebooknerd_07's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Breaths in, there is so much to talk about this book so let's go...

WORLD BUILDING:
Okay the first thing I want to talk about is world building in this book. This was my very first high fantasy I have read till now and I still understood the world building well enough is a proof enough that it can be read by anyone. There is a significant amount of world building and I pretty much liked it.

PLOT:
This is one of the tastiest thing about this book there is so much intrigue, drama, politics, power struggle, thrill and adventure as well. Plot of the book took some time to grow on me but when it did, it became pretty hard for me to keep the book down. There were times when my jaw dropped on the floor because of some plot twists but there were also time when I was under whelmed as well because there were some points in the book where there was such a high build up but execution fell flat to me, but there is one thing about this books which was done exceptionally well was the romance between the two main main characters. It was so refreshing to see romance between two grown adult women who have their own fears, insecurities, principles. Best thing about the book was that romance didn’t overpower the plot rather it complemented it well and that was the best part about the book for me.

CHARACTERS:
This book is written in a multiple POV so there is more than one central character in the book which makes it even more interesting to see how these characters will come together and how they are all connected to one another. What I can say about the priory is that it’s heart lies with it’s characters, who are flawed, have their own insecurities and ambitions which makes them very much real and at times relatable as well. The only issue I had with this book was there were lots of characters in the book and not all of them got enough time for them to shine when book is already 800 pages long. My most favorite character from the book was hands down “Nayimathun” I love her so much and the dynamic between “ Tané and Nayimathun” was my favorite. After “Nayimathun” I loved “Eadaz uq-Nāra” for obvious reasons because she made me question whether I want to be her or be with her. I also liked the character development of “Sabran IX”. In starting of the book I didn’t fancy her much but by the end of the book I started liking her for more than one reasons. But the best written and most complex characters of this book were “Niclays Roos” and “Kalyba” they were the most interesting characters in the book. I could neither hate them nor love them, they were one of the best and most complex characters in the book and honestly they made the book so much interesting for me.

WILL I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK:
We already know the answer, but let’s put it out out there YES I will recommend this book because what’s there to not recommend? It has love, drama, politics, adventure, magic, dragons some good plot and interesting characters and their dynamic. This book is not perfect but it’s still worth giving a time in my humble opinion.

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travis_zalesky's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

An engaging and artfully written fantasy novel that takes what it wants from the genre and leaves the rest behind. A diverse cast of characters are faced with an insurmountable evil which must be vanquished, but rather than a single hero who saves the day, Priory emphasizes that power of teamwork to overcome.

The characters were believable, if somewhat flat and over the top. I am willing to give Priory a pass though on character development because of the epic nature of the tale. An epic fantasy of the scale of Priory calls for over the top characters, sometimes verging on caricature. The cast is lovable and Shannon does a great job of helping the reader see both sides of a conflict, but don't go looking for massive character growth or a treatise on the human condition.

Set in a matriarchal society, and infused with modern feminist theory, I found the world of Priory to be novel, inspired, and refreshing. The narrative was believable and immersive, and only occasionally did it come off as preachy or tiresome. The magic was convincing and consistent with a plausible internal logic for slowly ramping up the power throughout the story. However, there were several plot holes,and a few noticeable contrivances which would occasionally take me out of the story. One of my biggest criticism is seemingly inconsistent travel times. While there are differing modes of transportation that could partially account for these differences, at times a character might take days or even weeks to traverse a short distance on the island on Inys, while at other times they blaze across leagues of Lysia seemingly in an instant

all before a mortally wounded character can bleed out

. An appendix with a detailed timeline of events could have massively assuaged this issue but unfortunately the author only included a timeline of the historical events leading up to the start of the tale. I also found the overuse of the dramatic loss of consciousness, fade to black, trope to be distracting. On balance these flaws were minor and did not spoil my enjoyment of the book.

While a few nit-pick criticisms prevent Priory of The Orange Tree from being a 5-star read I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end, and found myself eagerly devouring the last few hundred pages. I would not hesitate to recommend it to any fans of the genre, and I would be shocked if it does not get picked up for a major movie deal soon. Priory will certainly be long regarded as a classic of modern fantasy.

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hannahpings's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring fast-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? No

3.75

i grappled with the rating on this one a little bit, because in terms of likability and recommendation, this book is a solid four to five stars: i loved it! i was engaged the whole time! i dragged my feet finishing it because i was sad it's over! i still am!

at the same time though, for me it's cursed with having been a good book that also could have been better. overall, priory's pacing is good––it comes out swinging and still manages a good amount exposition, the action is well-timed, it's engaging every step of the way––but there are significant gaps and skips throughout, and especially so in the final third. journeys that once took immense narrative tolls and lasted close to 40 pages are reduced to quotidian, one-sentence tasks that seem to exist only because not mentioning them would render the plot unadvanceable. characters make choices that, while you can see how they might make sense given the adequate development, are complete opposites of their intentions up until that point without the text taking the time or putting in the work to achieve that development. things that are given immense weight and word counts early on are not held to the same standard later and are treated like whims, if they're acknowledged at all. (the story's climax is overly convenient too, but it was an emotionally satisfying one, even if a little more mess was to be desired.)

samantha shannon has created a worthy fantasy epic; it's a wold i don't want to leave, a necessary addition to the genre, and one both accessible (even for folks who don't like fantasy or who may be revisiting it for the first time in years) and that made me excited to have to flip to the map or appendices every few pages. all the same, it's hard not to feel that by the end of the book, shannon was ready to be done with it, and glossed over chunks of the narrative accordingly. priory is a story and scope worthy of three, 300–400-page books, and it's hard to understand why it wasn't given the adequate time to breathe and grow into itself.

ultimately though, that's not my decision, and in the end i'm still happy with what we got: something relatively well-written, intercultural and anti-hegemonic, compelling and whose characters it's impossible not to root for, and to whose world i can't wait to return.

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fanboyriot's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

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

3.5

Read For:

Dragons

Slow Burn

Fantasy Map

Sapphic Romance

High Fantasy (but make it queer)

I definitely have some mixed feelings about this book. I wanted to love it but it fell more flat for me than anything else. It was just kinda meh. It wasn’t bad but I also just didn’t fall into the hype about it either. I was a bit bored at times, honestly.

While the worldbuilding/setting was done really well the characters overall just lacked personality. I found myself confused as to who was who for more than half of the book, which might be more of a me thing than anything else, but even then I just didn't really care for any of them. I am much more of a character person than a world-building person.

Then there were some chapters that just dragged out, and while in the beginning, it was fine. It's high fantasy and that's expected to get to know the world and everything but it was no better by the last chapter.

However, I didn’t totally hate this book either. I really liked how the Queen was the one running things. It was super nice to read a high fantasy without it being majorly sexist or borderline creepy. Plus it had some queer relationships as well, a sapphic relationship being the main hype of the book besides the dragons. And lastly the dragons, I loved how they were written into the story, how they interacted with their riders, and the bond they shared.

Overall, if you're a fan of high fantasy and want to see some queer rep within the book then I recommend this to you. However, if you’re more like me, where contemporary books have taken over your tbr, then I probably wouldn't recommend it to you.

POV: Switching, Third Person

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Rep: Queer MCs, Queer SCs, Sapphic (main), Achillean (side), Aspec MC

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ssmylie's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

“I do not sleep because I am not only afraid of the monsters at my door, but also of the monsters my own mind can conjure. The ones that live within.”

This was easily a 5 star read for me. I highly recommend it.

I haven’t read a high fantasy novel in a while. I’ve been scared to invest time into their lengthy stories and juggle the demands of my personal life. But, when I started to read Samantha Shannon’s “Priory of the Orange Tree”, I knew that I had to sit down with this book for about a month to get to the end of this book. And that’s what I did. Throughout the month of June, I was captivated by Shannon’s world with strong, young, talented women characters and their allies who are fighting against sexism, ageism, and past traditions to end the greatest evil in the world “The Nameless One.” Also, they are doing this in a world that was divided by their ancestors. So, they were going through A LOT. I was really into the world building, how the stories shaked out, and the ending had me in a chokehold the whole time but I’m glad it ended well!

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