Scan barcode
A review by claudiaswords
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
4.75
I loved mostly everything about this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed every page and moment of reading it. If you know me, you know I love pirates and dragons and magic and this book has all three and more.
I think my favourite thing were the characters, I couldn’t help but fall in love with Ead and Loth and Meg and Tané and Sabran and Niclays. I adored seeing their growth and change, most of all I felt adrenaline when their stories began to mix and tangle together, when the marvelous web Samantha Shannon was spinning started to get more and more intricate. Because the second thing I loved most was Samantha Shannons writing and world building. I can’t express how delighted I was at the backstory of the kingdoms in this book, their folklore stories and characters made the world feel utterly real.
I’ve said it before in this review but I feel it necessary to repeat, I enjoyed reading every single page of this book. At first I was intimidated, it is a long, high fantasy standalone (for now) and it felt daunting, but as soon as I started it I was gripped and found the characters delightful to read, the plot intriguing and the world building fascinating. The only reason why thi isn’t an immediate 5 stars is because of the death of a certain character that I felt wasn’t necessary and made me very sad. This rating might change because honestly it is a very minor thing compared to all the things I loved about the book.
I think my favourite thing were the characters, I couldn’t help but fall in love with Ead and Loth and Meg and Tané and Sabran and Niclays. I adored seeing their growth and change, most of all I felt adrenaline when their stories began to mix and tangle together, when the marvelous web Samantha Shannon was spinning started to get more and more intricate. Because the second thing I loved most was Samantha Shannons writing and world building. I can’t express how delighted I was at the backstory of the kingdoms in this book, their folklore stories and characters made the world feel utterly real.
I’ve said it before in this review but I feel it necessary to repeat, I enjoyed reading every single page of this book. At first I was intimidated, it is a long, high fantasy standalone (for now) and it felt daunting, but as soon as I started it I was gripped and found the characters delightful to read, the plot intriguing and the world building fascinating. The only reason why thi isn’t an immediate 5 stars is because of the death of a certain character that I felt wasn’t necessary and made me very sad. This rating might change because honestly it is a very minor thing compared to all the things I loved about the book.
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, Violence, Pregnancy, and Murder