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honeys's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Edit: I sat with this book for a couple days after finishing and I've found myself missing the characters. I changed my rating from 2 stars to 3 because of that.
I do still believe it was unnecessarily long, but if you're someone who enjoys a long, slow build with never ending world building I believe you would enjoy this.
It also felt silly to have an 800 page book about a terrifying monster who was defeated in 2 pages
Original: I think this book has more characters than there are people on earth.
It was a fine enough book, but there was no need for it to be 800 pages. The story could have been told with just as much gusto with half that at most.
I do still believe it was unnecessarily long, but if you're someone who enjoys a long, slow build with never ending world building I believe you would enjoy this.
Original: I think this book has more characters than there are people on earth.
It was a fine enough book, but there was no need for it to be 800 pages. The story could have been told with just as much gusto with half that at most.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage
electrachet's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I loved this story and would definitely recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in high fantasy. The length may seem daunting at first, but I read the first half of the book in less than a day and I'm usually a slower reader. There's so much world building to really keep you engaged! However, there were a few details that keep me from giving the book 5 stars. I wish we had a tiny bit more in the way of an epilogue. Niclays Roos was also an unnecessary character in some ways and The Nameless One had very little overall participation in the book. I felt the overall "villain" (or villains) driving the plot were underdeveloped. I also wish we got to experience more of Tané's story. I felt her POV was abandoned in the middle in favor of Ead, Sabran, & Loth's stories but she was still a compelling character I wanted to get to know better. I ultimately think the confinement of the story to a single book does weaken the overall narrative. This would have been better as a duology or even a trilogy, but maybe I just wanted to spend more time with the characters in the beautifully rich world that they live in. :')
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Miscarriage, Grief, War, Infertility, Sexual content, Classism, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Death of parent
torturedreadersdept's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cursing, Gun violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Body horror, Bullying, Xenophobia, Confinement, Dementia, Genocide, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Death, Torture, Violence, War, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Miscarriage, Animal death, Dysphoria, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
nineinchnails's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4.75
i will definitely be rereading this at some point! partly because there was a lot of stuff i didn't fully understand but mostly because i enjoyed it so much. i don't think i've ever read such a rich, sprawling epic fantasy contained within one novel. the characters were complex and interesting but i wish we got a little more focus on tané and loth. they both felt less fleshed out to me than ead and roos. the only other thing that kinda bugged me was how rushed the ending felt in comparison to the rest of the book. i expected the final battle to be drawn out longer than it was so it felt almost anticlimactic but it was still tied up pretty neatly. my main priorities in fantasy are character development and worldbuilding and those elements were near perfect!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: War, Pregnancy, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Classism, and Grief
Minor: Abandonment, Incest, and Death of parent
Pseudo incest_ao_'s review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
My criteria for a 5 star book means it moves me to tears, so I can't give 5 stars to Priory of the Orange Tree. But it's sweeping and lore-rich, with a ton of bad-ass women leading and supporting the story. Give yourself some time to read this baby, and you'll find something to love about it.
Also, I would have liked a tiny bit more in the way of an epilogue.
Also, I would have liked a tiny bit more in the way of an epilogue.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia, Miscarriage, and Death
Minor: Infidelity, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Infertility, Vomit, Animal death, and Pregnancy
corrinaababee's review
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
It took me a while to read the whole book. I’d say I got interested interested around page 500. Maybe it’s because there were four perspectives and investment was trying. Also I do feel like Roos perspective was unnecessary but overall the book was filled with adventure and was written very excellently. Ead was by far my favorite character, a true badass.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage
rainydaycookies's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
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? It's complicated
3.5
There was a slow start as the reader got to know the world and characters. I didn’t know how all the pieces fit together but once I started seeing the whole story I really enjoyed this book. Very heavy on descriptions of death, blood and guts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Murder, Death, Violence, Torture, War, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Miscarriage
samglade's review against another edition
The themes of 'I must give birth to a daughter; my sole goal is life is to have a baby daughter' have become too much. I've got enough of talk like this IRL.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage
ginamiya's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Xenophobia, and War
Minor: Miscarriage
curlykristenk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
4.0
Oft what a doozy of a book. I found it challenging to get into (800 pages is daunting) and confusing at first but once I accepted that I wouldn’t know every persons name or remember every place mentioned it was easier to let the plot and the book carry me along and it did well to remind me of stuff that was important which I loved. I looooved the characters and their intricacies and seeing them develop within the overarching plot. I did end up having to take notes on what happened within each other storyline and where we last saw them because the book jumps between storyline’s so much, once I did that I felt a lot better and was more in tune to what was going on. I loooved the twists and turns of this book I didn’t really ever guess what was going to happen.
I loooooved the role of women in this book and the men being like helpful side charactersalthough Loths a feminist king and does so much he’s not the main ‘hero’ ya know? Love him tho. Kit and Meg are fuckin angels too omg.
I love the parallels between this book and the real world regarding misogyny.Comb said that sabran failed her chief duty as queen by losing her baby. As if that’s a queen or rulers (or women’s) most important task. But misogynists believe that women’s only job is to be baby machines. And in cases of women being in positions of power, that babies overrule everything. And it’s her fault because of something she couldn’t control. And then Sabrán the fuckin QUEEN says “A woman is more than a womb to be seeded”.
Another fun parallel is the concept of balance of nature which I 100% believe in this world as well.
My thoughts on the ending - ⚠️⚠️SPOILERS ⚠️⚠️
I also loved that all the religions were a little bit correct in their own way. Kinda cute of them.
I kinda loooved the witch of the woods character. Slayed.
👎 missing Margrets marriage
I’m glad they didn’t give up their respective careers and paths but 10 years 😭😭💔💔 I wish their betrothal was more of a moment than her just saying have you heard of this thing… I totally love and get them following their own paths but oft it broke me.
Tane??? Damp with blood? Huh? What a cliff hanger. But I’m so glad nayimathun didn’t die.
I love loth and margrets impending swap of responsibility and just both of their characters in general I love.
Roos. What a roller coaster I felt for that man. I was sobbing at the end regardless. Aleidine is mother and queen for what she did and her attitude. EVEN WANTING TO SET NICKLAYS UP AGAIN. I CANT.
I feel like the end went by really quick and got wrapped up really quickly. But I also like how it all played out anyways. I feel like the battle also could’ve been longer or had more go wrong but I’m also not complaining.
I think the slow start and the fast wrap up is what doesn’t get it to a 5⭐️ for me but I loved it all the same.
I loooooved the role of women in this book and the men being like helpful side characters
I love the parallels between this book and the real world regarding misogyny.
Another fun parallel is the concept of balance of nature which I 100% believe in this world as well.
My thoughts on the ending - ⚠️⚠️SPOILERS ⚠️⚠️
I kinda loooved the witch of the woods character. Slayed.
👎 missing Margrets marriage
I’m glad they didn’t give up their respective careers and paths but 10 years 😭😭💔💔 I wish their betrothal was more of a moment than her just saying have you heard of this thing… I totally love and get them following their own paths but oft it broke me.
Tane??? Damp with blood? Huh? What a cliff hanger. But I’m so glad nayimathun didn’t die.
I love loth and margrets impending swap of responsibility and just both of their characters in general I love.
Roos. What a roller coaster I felt for that man. I was sobbing at the end regardless. Aleidine is mother and queen for what she did and her attitude. EVEN WANTING TO SET NICKLAYS UP AGAIN. I CANT.
I feel like the end went by really quick and got wrapped up really quickly. But I also like how it all played out anyways. I feel like the battle also could’ve been longer or had more go wrong but I’m also not complaining.
I think the slow start and the fast wrap up is what doesn’t get it to a 5⭐️ for me but I loved it all the same.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Death, Miscarriage, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail