Review by youaremykiseki - The Priory of the Orange Tree

youaremykiseki 's review for:

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring 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

Really enjoyed the pacing up to about 80% of the way through the book. The final climax bit felt a little rushed but that could also be because most of the last half in one sitting.

I felt like sometimes things worked out a little too well, but for the most part, the coincidences were explained, and only one or two that I remember really felt contrived for plot purposes (@ the sword falling perfectly onto a ship instead of into the ocean).

This is maybe the most ambitious book I've read in a while, and I think it does a really good job with world building and gradual reveals of the mysterious aspects. I also loved that the character's choices actually mattered and had consequences on their paths through the story; it felt like early Game of Thrones writing. It could have possibly been broken into several books, but I salute the author for choosing to release a single monster of a book instead.

I also really liked all the romance subplot lines! This is extremely rare for me, so I'm happy about that :)

In all, very happy with this book, and will be hoping to purchase a copy for myself soon.

Content Warnings