Reviews with content warning for Gore - The Priory of the Orange Tree

I have been yearning for a book like this my entire life. I need MORE!!! The characters felt so strong, and the imagery is so vivid. I want to live in these lands and be with these beautiful ladies fighting dragons (and loving dragons!). The only character I could never get behind was Roos -- I wanted to just skip his chapters. I didn't empathize with him and saw him as just a way to move certain plot points along. I almost wish I cared about him more, but he kept making such bad choices! But the Sabran and Ead chapters, I will be re-reading until the end of time. If the Great Kwiriki loves me this will become a movie and there will be more of Sabran and Ead!!

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achay91's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

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chronicacademia's review against another edition

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adventurous tense slow-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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georgialee01's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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kyleighf's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring slow-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? No

5.0

Did this take me a while? Yes. Do I enjoy fantasy? Not particularly. Should you read this? Yes.

World building was long and drawn out and at times in the first 200 pages I’d wonder how the heck I was to remember so much detail. Maps and timelines and more maps and a glossary(!) and an index of people. Plus 4 different narrators with subtle indication of who was at the forefront each chapter.

This book was a test of my strength, memory, will, stubbornness, but it will forever be worth it.

Some of the BEST LGBTQ+ representation I’ve read, and that’s not even close to the focus of the story. It’s refreshing to read about a sapphic couple who are not a plot point in the story but treated as any heterosexual couple would be.

I think this was the first time I put down a book to start another in the middle which is part of why it took so long, but I’m so glad I powered through.

Characters are fleshed out, the character development is immaculate and to die for. The ending leaves you satisfied but curious. Everything wraps up sensibly and doesn’t feel forced. Pieces intertwine and disconnect and intertwine, it’s very satisfying to watch the threads build a tapestry.

Here’s to (eventually) reading the prequel. Not anytime soon, but eventually.

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_persephone's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful tense slow-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

5.0

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internationalreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I’m frustrated because I liked a lot about this book - the world building! The queer love story! The way all the seemingly separate storylines came together! - but the way the author treated religion and politics was a huge miss for me. There is no way

anyone who was raised to believe certain thousands-years-old truths, let alone a queen and nobles whose entire existence is based on those truths, would believe that their religion is all a lie immediately. Similarly, all of the political leaders coming together incredibly easily to fight the Nameless One at the end, after thousands of years of political estrangement??

We could have had a much more interesting read on those two fronts.

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travis_zalesky's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

An engaging and artfully written fantasy novel that takes what it wants from the genre and leaves the rest behind. A diverse cast of characters are faced with an insurmountable evil which must be vanquished, but rather than a single hero who saves the day, Priory emphasizes that power of teamwork to overcome.

The characters were believable, if somewhat flat and over the top. I am willing to give Priory a pass though on character development because of the epic nature of the tale. An epic fantasy of the scale of Priory calls for over the top characters, sometimes verging on caricature. The cast is lovable and Shannon does a great job of helping the reader see both sides of a conflict, but don't go looking for massive character growth or a treatise on the human condition.

Set in a matriarchal society, and infused with modern feminist theory, I found the world of Priory to be novel, inspired, and refreshing. The narrative was believable and immersive, and only occasionally did it come off as preachy or tiresome. The magic was convincing and consistent with a plausible internal logic for slowly ramping up the power throughout the story. However, there were several plot holes,and a few noticeable contrivances which would occasionally take me out of the story. One of my biggest criticism is seemingly inconsistent travel times. While there are differing modes of transportation that could partially account for these differences, at times a character might take days or even weeks to traverse a short distance on the island on Inys, while at other times they blaze across leagues of Lysia seemingly in an instant

all before a mortally wounded character can bleed out

. An appendix with a detailed timeline of events could have massively assuaged this issue but unfortunately the author only included a timeline of the historical events leading up to the start of the tale. I also found the overuse of the dramatic loss of consciousness, fade to black, trope to be distracting. On balance these flaws were minor and did not spoil my enjoyment of the book.

While a few nit-pick criticisms prevent Priory of The Orange Tree from being a 5-star read I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end, and found myself eagerly devouring the last few hundred pages. I would not hesitate to recommend it to any fans of the genre, and I would be shocked if it does not get picked up for a major movie deal soon. Priory will certainly be long regarded as a classic of modern fantasy.

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