A review by lexhayz
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
3.0
Edit several months later: downgrading to 3 stars because I really didn’t like this very much.
I’m finishing this book really not sure how to rate it. I am settling on 3.5 rounded up to 4. It was beautifully written and demonstrated creative world building, the stunning development of cultures and languages, and it prominently featured people of color and LGBTQ characters. I loved all of those things about the book. Frankly, I think I would have loved everything about this book, but the length of the book really took away from the experience for me. Too much happened for this to be one book, and I think it should have been divided into at least a two-book series. Despite the beauty of the story, the amount of time it took me to get through it made me enjoy it much less than I could have.
A word of advice to those that haven’t read this yet, read it on a Kindle if you can! The world building and characters would have been very confusing if I didn’t have the Kindle X-ray feature.
I’m finishing this book really not sure how to rate it. I am settling on 3.5 rounded up to 4. It was beautifully written and demonstrated creative world building, the stunning development of cultures and languages, and it prominently featured people of color and LGBTQ characters. I loved all of those things about the book. Frankly, I think I would have loved everything about this book, but the length of the book really took away from the experience for me. Too much happened for this to be one book, and I think it should have been divided into at least a two-book series. Despite the beauty of the story, the amount of time it took me to get through it made me enjoy it much less than I could have.
A word of advice to those that haven’t read this yet, read it on a Kindle if you can! The world building and characters would have been very confusing if I didn’t have the Kindle X-ray feature.