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revolverreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.0
One of the problems with this book is that it follows multiple perspectives. This isn't inherently an issue, as other series successfully use multiple viewpoints to drive the narrative forward. However, in this case, we get no time to become attached enough to care about what happens. It's that attachment to the stakes and the impact on the characters that leaves you feeling happy, devastated, or shocked, and Priory of the Orange Tree provides none of that. This book would have benefitted from being a series, allowing the audience to see the character development and actually care about what happens.
There are so many different characters and locations that it's almost jarring, especially because some are meant to be crucial to the plot, like bringing down a big, bad evil, yet we barely get a page about them. But the greatest crime of all is naming your villain "the Dark One" and not taking a moment to give them an actual name beyond this generic code name. Throughout the novel, it's repeatedly emphasized that you need to fear the Dark One, but no actual history is provided. If he's just going to blow fire and singe someone's laundry, he's not the greatest evil ever—he's basically a medieval dryer at that point.
Moderate: Blood, Infertility, Child death, Alcoholism, and Death
chimichannika's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Torture, Gore, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Violence
Moderate: Incest, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Xenophobia, Miscarriage, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Excrement and Infidelity
meghan_w's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
My struggle with high fantasy is keeping track of characters, but the author is amazing and has a glossary of characters and definitions in the back. 👏🏻
Moderate: Child death, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, and War
Minor: Sexual content
a_novel_craving's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Death, War, Addiction, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Infertility, Gore, Pregnancy, Blood, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
inlibrisveritas's review against another edition
- 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
Full of incredible lore
Three badass FMCs
Dragons
This is everything I want in a fantasy and more
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Grief
sehenry20's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Child death, Violence, and Pregnancy
fluffy_comet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Vomit, Death of parent, Mental illness, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Self harm, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Death, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Child death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and War
kappafrog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
There is a wide variety of characters here of different shades of moral greyness. At first I really didn't like Sabran, but she grew on me over time; and as the book went on, I felt more mixed about Ead. Tané grew on me some as the story went on too. All of the characters in the book, including the many queer and female characters, were complex and multi-layered. Loth, Margret and Chassar were the most consistently likable, while Roos was the hardest to like but still sympathetic at times. Even the disgusting Kalyba was not a one-dimensional villain. The Priory was not what I expected, and I loved the evocation of different landscapes and cultures with clear inspirations from our world. The book's length felt merited since there were a lot of different political, magical, and character aspects to explore. I felt like my investment in the story and its characters really paid off. Shannon is not afraid to kill her characters, so there were real stakes at every point in the book. The finale was epic and also gave us enough time to spend with each character in the aftermath of the climax.
All in all, this was a great re-introduction to epic fantasy for me. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys high fantasy.
Graphic: Blood, Infidelity, Violence, War, Death, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Infertility, Deportation, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, and Murder
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Incest, Medical content, Classism, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, and Animal death
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Child death
reeeeedmg_123's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Animal death, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Cursing, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal cruelty, Torture, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Grief
Minor: Vomit, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Child death
lonelylooper's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Cursing, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Infertility, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Dementia, Classism, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Xenophobia, and Murder
Minor: Suicide, Incest, Death of parent, and Infidelity