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Eleanor (1463 KP) rated The Priory of the Orange Tree in Books

Jan 14, 2020  
The Priory of the Orange Tree
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
8.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Strong female characters (2 more)
No filler
Deep history and lore
Battles could of been stronger (0 more)
Compelling Fantasy
Wanting to try and branch out from just reading mainly thrillers this year I decided to get back on the fantasy track and picked this up at the library. I’m really glad I did it’s a great fantasy adventure set in a lore and history-rich world. I did have to get the ebook as well, as my wrists couldn’t cope with long reading sessions of the hardback copy and I didn’t want to put it down…..

It’s not an overly complicated fantasy tale and despite its 800+ pages, I found I was breezing through it at pace. It easily kept my interest and didn’t get too bogged down at any point. We have a tale of ancient evil rising, and a divided world will need to find a way to work together to defeat it.

Brimmed full of strong female characters we meet Ead hiding in the royal household of Inys under the guise of a maid-in-waiting but really is a kick-ass slayer/mage type, trying to protect the Queen. Meanwhile, on the other side of the great Abyss (big continent dividing ocean), we have Tane who has spent most of her life training to be a fearless dragon-riding warrior. The story is told from 4 different POVs but those two are the most engaging.

We have some romance (sigh lovey-dovey stuff - gross) but we don’t get bogged down in it and it feels entirely part of the story (not just tits and arse for the sake of it).

None of this book felt like unnecessary filler, despite epic journey's, we didn't have to read about every breakfast and lunch eaten (cough...). If anything some of the coincidences in characters meeting felt like it could of had more embellishment but I’m not really complaining it kept the story moving at a good clip. I felt the world that was built deserved a bit more of a complicated/nuanced tale but appreciate not having to slog through many years of sequels to get a conclusion. I didn’t feel the battles lived up to the overall size of the story but that may just be me watching too much TV...

Overall just what I needed to get me to want to keep branching out and reading a more diverse selection of genres - Go libraries!!!.
  
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Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Girls Made of Snow and Glass in Books

Sep 5, 2017  
Girls Made of Snow and Glass
Girls Made of Snow and Glass
Melissa Bashardoust | 2017 | Young Adult (YA)
9
8.8 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Wonderful plot, subverted tropes, lesbian romance (0 more)
A bit of stilted dialogue at the beginning, some predictable actions by characters (0 more)
One of my best books of 2017!
I received an ARC of this book through Goodreads and got to read it before the release date (September 5th! GO GET IT!) and I was SO excited to read it. It did not disappoint! This is her debut novel, and the story is absolutely fantastic. It’s billed as a “fantasy feminist fairy tale” and I think it lives up to that pretty well. There are no princes in this story. There are a couple of men – the King, the Queen’s father, and the Huntsman, but they are not who the story is about. The story really is about the relationship between the Queen/stepmother and her stepdaughter, the Princess.

You can read my full review here: https://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com/2017/09/05/book-review-girls-made-of-snow-and-glass/