Reviews

El Priorato del Naranjo by Samantha Shannon

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ive_00's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

_bookishbrina's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.5

I’d like to thank my friends and family as they supported me while I incessantly complained about the length of this book. At least, it was worth it.

Love Actually (everybody knows everybody to some degree) meets Merlin (gay round table knights) meets Game of Thrones (dragons and complex political environment + secret societies).

Narrators in a nutshell:
Loth - The cool cousin that everybody likes that seems down for adventure, but truly is a Hobbit and wants to stay home; alas he was chosen for missions beyond his understanding. Very Bilbo. Very Frodo. Very demure.

Tané - the annoying cousin who thinks who’s better than everyone and does one legit thing once in a while: but it’s legit enough to keep her around. She’s also the one who never finished anything and changes uni program all the time.

Ead - the calm & cold first daughter that handles everything and spreadsheets her way through life. Reliable. Tough as a cookie. Talks back to her dad without blinking.

Niclays- Wet sock energy. Very Pettigrew.

Side characters:
Sabran - Sharpay Evens. In the sense that you hate her at first, but the as you grow older and rewatch HSM, the more you realize there is more to her and she might not be the villain, after all.

MAIN COMPLAINT:
Not NEARLY enough dragons - it’s on the COVER for Christ’s sake. 750 pages over political plot and twists for a battle of 50 pages and the shortest ending ever.

gamergirlangie's review against another edition

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5.0

I loved it. The worldbuilding is extensive in the beginning. This book definitely took me longer to read than most. I had to reread a lot in the first 100 pages and flip back to the maps/glossary multiple times. But it's so worth it! With so much worldbuilding, the book pulls you in and makes you believe the world exists somewhere in the distance.

The character development is wonderful. I loved the feminine touches and empowerment of the main characters. They held their own story without the need for a male hero to sweep in and rescue them.

There was lots of representation of all types of people and relationships without it feeling forced or pushed onto me. The representation was integrated into the story and felt like it belonged beautifully.

I also really enjoyed the writing style. It took me a bit to get into the groove of it, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. It was written in a style that was very reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. Overall, if you enjoy fantasy books, this is a MUST read.

peytonb97's review against another edition

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This book dragged as an audiobook. Very hard to focus on and get into. Tried very hard to finish but just couldn’t

sofi0518's review against another edition

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5.0

I finished!

Guys, I was scared of this book. Why? Why would the person who read the entire Song of Ice and Fire series in less than two months be scared? This is the same person who devoured the last Outlander book (clocking in at a whopping 888 pages) in THREE days.

Because she’s dumb.

I have long said that I am not a fantasy reader with a few exceptions. It’s a big investment of both time and mental real estate to go through the world building a fantasy book requires. The names are weird, the locations unfamiliar, and the beasts difficult to conjure in your mind’s eye. But, for this book, it was totally worth it. I can now say, I AM A FANTASY FAN.

This book had everything I love across all genres – political intrigue, warring factions, mysteries to solve, complicated relationships, personal growth and DRAGONS. Once I made it through the first third of the book (cough, world building, cough) it was a riveting story all the way until the end.

The main characters were interesting, complex and often battling within themselves about what they thought was right and wrong. Their loyalties were all tested and some did better than others. They felt very real, and for the most part, I could identify with their struggles (had I been a witch or a dragon rider or a queen or whatever LOL).

And while some of the events in the book were over the top, that’s the great thing about fantasy. You don’t have to take anything with a grain of salt and you can just enjoy it.

If you have been thinking about picking up this book, don’t think anymore, just do it.

5 bajillion stars