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

Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

5 reviews

bionerdatgc's review against another edition

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? No

2.5

Content warnings first: the sapphic romance was touching in its buildup, culminating in a sex scene that was beautifully poetic and not graphic. However, sex and nudity scenes after that were very physically descriptive. The book had several f-bombs and a completely unnecessary c-word that jarred me out of the story. Miscarriage due to a violent (draconic) attack was graphic, as was the grief after the fact. And just in case you weren't convinced of a particular villain's villainy, it is revealed that they seduced their own adoptive child. Yuck.

On pacing: it was very slow to start, which is OK when weaving lots of storylines together. However, the story's first POV character actually gets the least amount of "screen" time - which in my opinion is a tragedy, because she and the Eastern dragons are the most interesting part of the story yet seem more like afterthoughts. Everything builds so slowly that when any action happens, it's over too fast and feels unfulfilling. The climax is awesome at least. I felt like it was paced just right, but there wasn't enough of it compared to the buildup.

I think this was a very well-conceived story, and it was woven together well in the amount of space it had. It lives up to the scale of epic fantasies. That said, I think it fell flat of its potential. Seriously, DRAGONS! Why have hundreds of pages of court intrigue on one side of the world when there are DRAGON RIDERS on the other side? And a convent of DRAGON SLAYERS down in the south? Flashbacks from Ead's childhood in the Priory would have added action to slower stretches and provided a much richer backdrop. And I really wish Tané had been given more time with her dragon. I would have loved to see them patrolling together instead of just talking, for instance. I would have loved to see the Sea Guard in action. So many things that could have been developed were overlooked in favor of court intrigue.

As a writer, I'm glad I read this book because I've learned a lot about my own preferences and style from it. However, I did not enjoy it enough to read it again.

Content Warnings