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emmwalt 's review for:
The Priory of the Orange Tree
by Samantha Shannon
[No Spoilers] This is one of the most masterfully written books I’ve read *in my life.* The prose is out of the world gorgeous and frequently gave me chills. I learned so many new intoxicating words. I have never read female characters so reverently described — this book felt like a love letter to women and the way women love (and can easily be enjoyed by anyone of any gender identity).
The diversity of this cast of characters (ethnicity/gender/sexuality/age) is wonderful to see in fantasy and from a white (sapphic) author who clearly did her due diligence and research. This book also discusses and deconstructs political/cultural/religious divide in ways I found really illuminating and profound. There are metaphors and illusions to our real world, seamlessly woven in, striking you with their subtlety.
This author also treats her readers like smart people, connecting her main cast of characters patiently, names and details dropped here and there so you pick up what she’s putting down without large paragraphs of exposition.
PRO TIP: Read this book consistently until you finish it so you remember the characters because there are a LOT of names (also a wonderful index of them all in the back!) and so you can remember how the characters are connected to each other because it’s quite the stunning and intricate web.
If only I could read this book again for the first time. Wow.
The diversity of this cast of characters (ethnicity/gender/sexuality/age) is wonderful to see in fantasy and from a white (sapphic) author who clearly did her due diligence and research. This book also discusses and deconstructs political/cultural/religious divide in ways I found really illuminating and profound. There are metaphors and illusions to our real world, seamlessly woven in, striking you with their subtlety.
This author also treats her readers like smart people, connecting her main cast of characters patiently, names and details dropped here and there so you pick up what she’s putting down without large paragraphs of exposition.
PRO TIP: Read this book consistently until you finish it so you remember the characters because there are a LOT of names (also a wonderful index of them all in the back!) and so you can remember how the characters are connected to each other because it’s quite the stunning and intricate web.
If only I could read this book again for the first time. Wow.