Reviews

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

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lilivari's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

harrydixon93's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? No

4.0

fuufi's review against another edition

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4.0

While it was an amazing epic fantasy, there are still a few things that don't allow me to rate this book a five star read
It may have an awfully low start, like I was a hundred pages in and not understanding anything nor was anything really happening but after that, I was madly enjoying it. (once I understood where every city was and who was in which city).

Mild spoilers ahead:
I entered this book mostly in the dark, so I had no idea there was queer rep here (nor multiple pov's).
As a consequence, for half of the book I was shipping HARD two of the characters, but I thought "well, it's nice to ship them but it will never happen" and then, it happened! so I was really happy

I think that there are too many circumstances favouring the plot out of thin air, so that was a bit of a disappointment. You have almost nine hundred pages, so you think the plot would be well thought, executed and justified and that sometimes things like that happened was a bit of a bummer.

I also feel like the ending was a bit disappointing as it was almost too easy to beat the great menace we've been told throughout the whole story

linkelvin11's review against another edition

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3.0

5.5/10

The setup for this story is very compelling. The first act has quite a bit of momentum, and Shannon really draws you into the setting and stakes of the world. However, the pacing quickly falls apart in the second act. The events of the story feels too convenient for the main characters, and fails to challenge the cast's beliefs. This undercuts a lot of the emotional depth in each character's journey, as one of the main plotlines of the book is about uncovering the truth to the various myths and legends scattered throughout the continent(s).

The third act and finale are mostly fine, but has a very different tone than the first two acts.