lara_bk's review against another edition

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adventurous tense 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


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rinku's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 The second part of The Priory of the Orange Tree continues right with the intriguing story of the first part of the book. I was more motivated to read this second book, but it still didn’t fulfil my expectations, so I gave it 3.5 stars. 

This time, there was again only on storyline that I liked: the one of Ead. After the events of the first book, she was forced to flee from the castle and is now back at her home, the priory of the orange tree (roll credits). She can’t stay there for too long and
Spoilerreturns to the castle where a huge conspiracy is going on. This political part of the story was my favorite, even if I didn’t understand everything completely. The closer Ead gets to the castle, the more interesting the story gets as well. It was so nice when Ead and Sabran meet again but they sadly argue instantly. One of those arguments is around their different beliefs which was such an interesting conflict


In comparison to this, I really disliked the other storylines. I hated the pirates so much and hence wasn’t the biggest fan of Niclay’s storyline. I also didn’t see so much sense in Tané’s story besides her
Spoilerhaving one of the jewels inside her which is needed to save the world. The only moment I enjoyed with her was when she met her dragon again
. In all of those storylines, there are dramatic revelations about some characters, but I often couldn’t remember who they were and why the revelation was dramatic. 

But what I loved was the last fourth were the different story lines are slowly connected to each other which was just so great. I loved seeing
SpoilerEad and Tané meeting for the first time, and it was just epic. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the fact that the final battle was in the ocean, but the dragon fights were epic nevertheless. What surprised me though was that none of our characters died. I then noticed that bittersweet happy endings can be nice from time to time as well, like with Niclays. I also like the fact that Sabran wants to change things in the queendom


I probably talked about this in my first review as well, but I appreciate greatly how much thought is put into the world. This sadly leads to moments where characters just tell each other stories which was a bit tiring, and to too many names that the reader needs to remember. Overall though, the settings and the writing were nice but this book would’ve perfectly worked with one-hundred or even two-hundred pages less. 

Generally, I appreciated how often gender roles are switched up throughout this novel and that most of the cast is female. I also started to bound with the characters more. Coming to the single characters, I felt so sorry for Niclays, he deserved better. I still liked Ead and especially her friendship to Loth was depicted so well, but I had the feeling she was a bit Mary Sue like, just like Tané. Talking about Tané, I strongly dislike her and thus her chapters.  

What was great about The Priory of the Orange Tree was the interesting and deep world and somewhat intriguing story, even though it was quite slow in parts. The characters were not the greatest as well but there were still some of them who found a place in my heart. 

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veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

Der Orden des Geheimen Baums wird auf jeden Fall eins meiner neuen Lieblingsbücher. Ich hoffe, dass von der Autorin noch viel mehr Bücher kommen, auch zu dieser Welt. 
Im Deutschen ist das Buch ja in zwei Bücher aufgeteilt, was ich gar nicht schlimm finde. Es passt sogar ganz gut. Dir Übersetzung ist auch sehr gut geworden.
Dem zweiten Buch im deutschen würde ich allerdings vlt nur 4.5 Sterne geben, da teilweise auf einmal so viel passiert und die Handlung plötzlich so schnell vorangeht im Vergleich zu vorherigen Kapiteln. Da es aber im Orginal ein Gesamtwerk ist und ich hier wirklich auf höchstem Niveau merkere, runde ich auf 5 Sterne auf. 
Das perfekte Buch für einen Buddyread <3

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