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A review by bottomofthebookshelf
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
5.0
Wow, did this one ever live up to the hype for me! When I first heard of this book I added it to my TBR list, then I heard about how long it is and I was so intimidated by a high fantasy novel of that size that I thought I would never read it. THEN all I saw were 5 star reviews for it and decided I needed it in my life. I’m so glad I took the leap and picked this one up because it was better than I ever could have imagined. Dragons, queer representation, and amazing world building? Count me in!
First of all, the characters... just wow. This book is told from multiple perspectives and they’re all so well done. I found each perspective to be incredibly compelling and I loved how they all started coming together like a puzzle throughout the story. There’s also a crazy amount of characters in this book and, from the main to side characters, they all had personality and felt real. The main few, Ead, Tané, and Niclays, are portrayed as believable characters with flaws as well as loveable traits. I just couldn’t get enough of them and their stories. The amount of strong female characters in this blew me away and it was so refreshing to read a fantasy book with a world ruled predominantly by women. I also found my favourite couple to ship of all time in this book but I won’t name names as I think it’s a spoiler, but just *chef’s kiss*.
Now I have to talk about the incredible world building this book has because I haven’t read anything quite like it in a while. From the magic system, to the various religions, to even the food descriptions of every kingdom; I was just so impressed with how the world came together. Every detail of the universe was so well thought out down to the history of each region, and that just immersed me completely in the story being told. The way dragons were handled in this book was also so incredible and now I just want to be a dragon rider.
As you can tell, I fell in love with this book. It was definitely the best fantasy novel I’ve read to date and I kind of wish there was a sequel to continue the story. I’m just not ready to say goodbye to this world and it’s characters. I really can’t recommend this one enough. Please don’t let the page count or complexity of the world intimidate you out of reading it like it almost did for me. This is truly a phenomenal book and I can’t recommend it enough.
Favourite characters: Ead and Tané
Favourite quote: “To be kin to a dragon, you must not only have a soul of water. You must have the blood of the sea, and the sea is not always pure. It is not any one thing. There is darkness in it, and danger, and cruelty. It can raze great cities with its rage. Its depths are unknowable; they do not see the touch of the sun. To be a Miduchi is not to be pure, Tané. It is to be the living sea. That is why I chose you. You have a dragon’s heart.”
First of all, the characters... just wow. This book is told from multiple perspectives and they’re all so well done. I found each perspective to be incredibly compelling and I loved how they all started coming together like a puzzle throughout the story. There’s also a crazy amount of characters in this book and, from the main to side characters, they all had personality and felt real. The main few, Ead, Tané, and Niclays, are portrayed as believable characters with flaws as well as loveable traits. I just couldn’t get enough of them and their stories. The amount of strong female characters in this blew me away and it was so refreshing to read a fantasy book with a world ruled predominantly by women. I also found my favourite couple to ship of all time in this book but I won’t name names as I think it’s a spoiler, but just *chef’s kiss*.
Now I have to talk about the incredible world building this book has because I haven’t read anything quite like it in a while. From the magic system, to the various religions, to even the food descriptions of every kingdom; I was just so impressed with how the world came together. Every detail of the universe was so well thought out down to the history of each region, and that just immersed me completely in the story being told. The way dragons were handled in this book was also so incredible and now I just want to be a dragon rider.
As you can tell, I fell in love with this book. It was definitely the best fantasy novel I’ve read to date and I kind of wish there was a sequel to continue the story. I’m just not ready to say goodbye to this world and it’s characters. I really can’t recommend this one enough. Please don’t let the page count or complexity of the world intimidate you out of reading it like it almost did for me. This is truly a phenomenal book and I can’t recommend it enough.
Favourite characters: Ead and Tané
Favourite quote: “To be kin to a dragon, you must not only have a soul of water. You must have the blood of the sea, and the sea is not always pure. It is not any one thing. There is darkness in it, and danger, and cruelty. It can raze great cities with its rage. Its depths are unknowable; they do not see the touch of the sun. To be a Miduchi is not to be pure, Tané. It is to be the living sea. That is why I chose you. You have a dragon’s heart.”