A review by kucingliest
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

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? Yes

4.5

Lgtbq+ high fantasy at its finest, immersive and exciting read that played out like a movie in my head. Driving themes are politics, mystery, dragons, war, religious conflict. 

Characters within this book have complete story arcs that are explored as the plot progresses, the majority of which are written beautifully. There is only one arc that I found a little forced and confusing, and a bit too convenient for the story progression.

Spoilers below about a dragon character. 
A less so forgiving flaw is

the lack of bonding between a dragon rider and her dragon. As the reader I did not feel very attached to the dragon character when she was captured, which was a shame, because I desperately wanted to learn more about her and dragons in general. The author unfortunately spent less attention to those two compared to the other story tellers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, War

Moderate: Gore, Religious bigotry

Minor: Miscarriage