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

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.0

I’m going to do my best to condense this absolute unit of a book into a succinct review. Here goes -

Likes:
All my favorite fantasy tropes: magical weapons, quests, DRAGONS, political intrigue, royals, spies, mages, witches, religion and myth. It’s all there. It’s also queer-normative with a gorgeous sapphic romance subplot and other world…EVEN WITH pressure to continue a bloodline happening in several ways. 

The depth of portrayal around how religion and myths get told and perpetuated was excellent. No one point of view was fully accurate in portraying the world these characters were functioning in and also none of the points of view were portrayed as morally superior to any other. It is clear where each of these societies gets their dominant views and the shortcomings of each come through, yet the ending is hopeful and ultimately collaborative.

The prose is beautiful. Some lines struck right to my heart. I’ve included a few in the slides for your enjoyment.

There’s a plague!

Dislikes:
This story would have hit harder as a trilogy. I was desperate for more details of particular parts of this narrative: Tane training with her dragon, the Unending Emperor, Niclays and Jannart’s backstory. 

Because it’s all in one book, some of the parts of the story felt a little rushed or too tidy. I suppose if your biggest gripe is that you wanted more, that’s a good thing!
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