humbleboar 's review for:

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

4.0

adventurous slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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finally a book i liked, and probably the longest book i've ever read! yeah, the pacing was kind of weird and i would've liked to see maybe a training montage with ead and tane and i don't know how i feel about the world being our word but.... fantasy. i still enjoyed the world and the world building, the distinct tones and beliefs of the narrators, and the slow bloom of attraction between ead and sabran. i really enjoyed hearing about someone from multiple perspectives and then eventually meeting them. i went from "eh idk who that is" to "oh i've heard that name before" to "oh it's you." it made the world feel alive and interconnected without feeling contrived.

there were things i wanted to happen by the end of the book, that i was certain would happen, but didn't.

i wanted to see tané present nayimathun with the two jewels, see nayimathun restored to her previous splendor (didn't the nameless one bite the end of her tail clean off, or did i misread that?). i wanted to see loth find love, something more substantial than a correspondence with the donmata. i wanted to see the state kalyba left the priory in. i wanted to see ead and sabran reuinite, even if only in the style of the untamed.

Alas.

my biggest gripe, however, is that there was far too much niclays. hate that guy.