Genre: High Fantasy
Rating: ★★★
Spiciness: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ / 5
Did I enjoy this book? This is a question I’ve asked myself over and over again and have yet to arrive at a convenient answer. If you are currently considering giving The Priory of the Orange Tree a read and are curious as to another reader’s experience, read on.
The length – this is an 800 behemoth of a book that has absolutely no business being this long. The whole book felt like a slog until roughly 600 pages in, and even then, I think the sight of the finish line in the not-too-distant future kept me rolling even more than the plot itself did. Much of this length could’ve been drastically shortened.
The world building – Samantha Shannon does a fantastic job getting into the grit of each region she built. She would even go so far as to describe the different pastries and jams from each region – which was lovely, but largely unnecessary. By the end of the book, I felt like I had a decent understanding of the culture, the various opposing religions, the government systems, and the values of each kingdom. However, it was quite the task to wrap my head around each of these as we jumped from character to character with little-to-no warning.
The format – as aforementioned, the format made for a more challenging read. Shannon would flip between four different characters and the associated kingdoms frequently. Often, it would take me at least a paragraph to orient myself to the correct character and location. This would have been drastically easier to navigate if the author flipped character perspectives at the start of a chapter or simply put a header with the name of the new POV we were flipping to. It was lovely to follow a myriad of characters and for their storylines to intersect in various ways, but I do think some minor tweaks could have made this a drastically smoother read.
The storyline – as much as I’ve complained about the format and length, the storyline does bring some fun to the table. It’s not clean and smooth, but it is fun. I loved the various religions and opposing politics that Shannon built, and who doesn’t love a spattering of dragons here and there? The Priory of the Orange Tree largely follows Eadaz (“Ead”) who is a character I came to love by the end of the nearly 800 pages, but intersects with other characters that, in large part, all tie together in the end. The storyline was enjoyable, but again, could have been leveled up with some simple formatting changes. Another gripe I have with the storyline is the way in which information is revealed. Unlike Sarah J Maas or Rebecca Yaros who have built worlds where you can try to guess and predict what the characters are building up to or are secretly planning, Samantha Shannon does all of her “plot revealing” in a direct reveal to both characters and readers. There was very little in this book that I could try to guess at and anticipate, which is one of my favorite things when reading. I might even say this was “story-revealing” rather than “storytelling”.
The romance – Eadaz (“Ead”) is our main character here. Warrior, secret identities, magic, romance – the whole nine yards. I especially loved the female-female romance that slowly develops across The Priory of the Orange Tree. Samantha Shannon did a great job building a believable, respectable, and developed female-female romance here. Spiciness here is low, but still enjoyable and done in a way that I think respects the uniqueness of the characters and their relationship.
If you are thinking about reading – note that you are getting into a longer read! It has some great moments (the magic, the well-developed characters, the romance), but it lacks simplicity in formatting and storytelling throughout the book. The Priory of the Orange Tree is a hefty book to proudly have on your bookshelf, but personally, I would rather have three 4 or 5 star reads rather than a single 3 star read.
– Grethe