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

Reviews tagging 'Outing'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

8 reviews

bionerdatgc's review

slow-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

2.5

Content warnings first: the sapphic romance was touching in its buildup, culminating in a sex scene that was beautifully poetic and not graphic. However, sex and nudity scenes after that were very physically descriptive. The book had several f-bombs and a completely unnecessary c-word that jarred me out of the story. Miscarriage due to a violent (draconic) attack was graphic, as was the grief after the fact. And just in case you weren't convinced of a particular villain's villainy, it is revealed that they seduced their own adoptive child. Yuck.

On pacing: it was very slow to start, which is OK when weaving lots of storylines together. However, the story's first POV character actually gets the least amount of "screen" time - which in my opinion is a tragedy, because she and the Eastern dragons are the most interesting part of the story yet seem more like afterthoughts. Everything builds so slowly that when any action happens, it's over too fast and feels unfulfilling. The climax is awesome at least. I felt like it was paced just right, but there wasn't enough of it compared to the buildup.

I think this was a very well-conceived story, and it was woven together well in the amount of space it had. It lives up to the scale of epic fantasies. That said, I think it fell flat of its potential. Seriously, DRAGONS! Why have hundreds of pages of court intrigue on one side of the world when there are DRAGON RIDERS on the other side? And a convent of DRAGON SLAYERS down in the south? Flashbacks from Ead's childhood in the Priory would have added action to slower stretches and provided a much richer backdrop. And I really wish Tané had been given more time with her dragon. I would have loved to see them patrolling together instead of just talking, for instance. I would have loved to see the Sea Guard in action. So many things that could have been developed were overlooked in favor of court intrigue.

As a writer, I'm glad I read this book because I've learned a lot about my own preferences and style from it. However, I did not enjoy it enough to read it again.

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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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questionable_reader's review against another edition

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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

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jayden_314's review against another edition

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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.

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