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✨ A ✨ 's Reviews > The Priory of the Orange Tree
The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1)
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✨ A ✨ 's review
bookshelves: adult, 2019-release, buddy-read, read-in-2019, three-stars, fantasy
Apr 05, 2019
bookshelves: adult, 2019-release, buddy-read, read-in-2019, three-stars, fantasy
“We may be small, and we may be young, but we will shake the world for our beliefs.”
I'm not gonna lie, I feel fucking proud of myself for managing to make my way through this giant. I have been wanting to read this book for months and with every high rating I saw on my GR feed, it made me even more excited.
To say that I'm sad that this turned out to be a three star read for me is an understatement.
This review is going to be a short one. I'm not going to give a summary of what this book is about because I do feel that it's the sort of book you jump into.
What I liked:
• the easy writing
• the relationships and friendships
• the reps and diversity
• females in power
When I finally had the time to dive in I was pleased to find the writing style to be beautiful and easy to read. The different kingdoms, religions, hard-to-pronounce names and creatures became easier to remember as I went on.
What I disliked:
• almost everything else
Most of this book was slow paced. And then towards the end everything was so rushed and thrown together.
I did not connect with the characters. I just felt so detached and that put a damper on my experience.
I did appreciate the character growth of Niclays. He, Tane and Loth became dear to me and I was very invested in their story lines.
I did not like Sabran. I just found her obnoxious, arrogant and dislikeble. Now don't get me wring, sometimes those traits could make me love a character. I found it hard to sympathize with her and I honestly couldn't care less about her.
The ending was poorly executed and, for me, was a huge let down. My dissapointment was akin to the heartbreak suffered by millions of fans when season 8 of Game of Thrones ended.
I was sitting there staring at this gigantic book and my first thought was: Really? That's it?
I know my opinion is unpopular and that most readers absolutely loved this book. And that's great! I think this book would be awesome for people wanting to start reading adult epic fanatasy. It's not too complicated and it's easy to follow.
____
Buddy read this monster of a book with Helena!!! 🐉
I'm not gonna lie, I feel fucking proud of myself for managing to make my way through this giant. I have been wanting to read this book for months and with every high rating I saw on my GR feed, it made me even more excited.
To say that I'm sad that this turned out to be a three star read for me is an understatement.
This review is going to be a short one. I'm not going to give a summary of what this book is about because I do feel that it's the sort of book you jump into.
What I liked:
• the easy writing
• the relationships and friendships
• the reps and diversity
• females in power
When I finally had the time to dive in I was pleased to find the writing style to be beautiful and easy to read. The different kingdoms, religions, hard-to-pronounce names and creatures became easier to remember as I went on.
What I disliked:
• almost everything else
Most of this book was slow paced. And then towards the end everything was so rushed and thrown together.
I did not connect with the characters. I just felt so detached and that put a damper on my experience.
I did appreciate the character growth of Niclays. He, Tane and Loth became dear to me and I was very invested in their story lines.
I did not like Sabran. I just found her obnoxious, arrogant and dislikeble. Now don't get me wring, sometimes those traits could make me love a character. I found it hard to sympathize with her and I honestly couldn't care less about her.
The ending was poorly executed and, for me, was a huge let down. My dissapointment was akin to the heartbreak suffered by millions of fans when season 8 of Game of Thrones ended.
I was sitting there staring at this gigantic book and my first thought was: Really? That's it?
I know my opinion is unpopular and that most readers absolutely loved this book. And that's great! I think this book would be awesome for people wanting to start reading adult epic fanatasy. It's not too complicated and it's easy to follow.
____
Buddy read this monster of a book with Helena!!! 🐉
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Reading Progress
June 16, 2018
– Shelved
June 16, 2018
– Shelved as:
anticipating
February 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
crushing-that-tbr-2019
May 9, 2019
–
Started Reading
May 9, 2019
– Shelved as:
adult
May 9, 2019
– Shelved as:
2019-release
May 9, 2019
–
0.0%
"So like I'm supposed to be starting this but I can't stop thinking about Bloodwitch 😰 Why did I think it was a good idea to go on a fantasy spree this month with no genre breaks in between?"
May 13, 2019
–
12.0%
"“He never liked my poetry, you know. Only a soulless husk could hate poetry.”
I know I probably shouldn't get attached but dammit I LIKE KIT AND HE BETTER STAY ALIVE"
I know I probably shouldn't get attached but dammit I LIKE KIT AND HE BETTER STAY ALIVE"
May 13, 2019
– Shelved as:
buddy-read
May 29, 2019
– Shelved as:
read-in-2019
May 29, 2019
–
Finished Reading
July 23, 2019
– Shelved as:
three-stars
April 16, 2020
– Shelved as:
fantasy
Comments Showing 1-43 of 43 (43 new)
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Shar
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Apr 05, 2019 01:53PM
It's sitting on my shelf and I'm to scared to start hahaha
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I just got it last week and can't wait to actually start! But also quite hesitant...
Shar wrote: "It's sitting on my shelf and I'm to scared to start hahaha"Be brave! I want to read it but April challenge is already set full with books. Ugh I have to wait till next month 😢
Türkan wrote: "I just got it last week and can't wait to actually start! But also quite hesitant..."Its quite huge right!
I just have to pick it up from the library.
@Amberrae I'm so jealous 😭!!!! Have fun tho
@Mary It's not even funny *sobbing* 💔💔💔💔💔💔
This book was a beast it took me well over a week to finish but it was so worth it! Honestly a beautiful story❤️❤️❤️
Savannah Stevie wrote: "This book was a beast it took me well over a week to finish but it was so worth it! Honestly a beautiful story❤️❤️❤️"I'm so glad you loved it!! I've heard only good things. Hopefully in May I'll have the time to sit with it. I'm nervous lol
Good luck, Azrah! You can DO it! ;)
Best of luck! It’s sitting on my TBR shelf right now. One day I will get to it!
@megs_bookrack Thank you! I hope so!
@RLCarlo Thank you ✨ Ah yes! Sitting on the good old tbr shelf 😂 mine has been too but I'm taking the leap and hoping it's a good one!
I almost bought it today lol. I turned around though my TBR is big enough already lol.
@Kayla Oooff! I get you 😅 TBR struggles ✊
Haha hope you like the little monster! It’s a heavy read but worth the shot, happy reading 🤓
I bought this book with a gift card I got for my birthday and I still haven't started it! I'm overwhelmed every time I look at my TBR. LOL
I have this one on my book case and I both reaaalllly want to read it and I’m MASSIVELY overwhelmed when I see it 🙈😂
Ana wrote: "Haha hope you like the little monster! It’s a heavy read but worth the shot, happy reading 🤓"Thank you ✨ I really enjoyed it 😄
Jenny wrote: "I bought this book with a gift card I got for my birthday and I still haven't started it! I'm overwhelmed every time I look at my TBR. LOL"it can be very overwhelming!! Everytime I finished 10 chapters I felt so accomplished 😂 Just be brave and dive in!! Although I suggest making sure you have the time for this book. It's not the kind that's great to start and stop, you know?!
Miranda wrote: "I have this one on my book case and I both reaaalllly want to read it and I’m MASSIVELY overwhelmed when I see it 🙈😂"I was anticipating reading it for months and then just before I started I almost backed out because DAMN THE SIZE!! I hope you gain the courage to pick it up!! Happy reading 🐉
You should be damn proud of yourself, that is a BEAST of a book!I'm sorry it wasn't all you'd hoped for but I am glad there were redeeming qualities and characters even if the ending was a bit of a let down.
Have you tried her Bone Season series? I think it is still being written, but Mary S.R. has sold me with her awesome fangirling this week *dance*
I read three quarters of it yesterday and I was thinking the same thing about Sabran. I don’t quite understand the attraction, i didn’t feel like the characters made sense in this, I felt no connection. Her arc seemed a bit senseless. The love story in this book didn’t really feel well-developed.
Aoife wrote: "You should be damn proud of yourself, that is a BEAST of a book!I'm sorry it wasn't all you'd hoped for but I am glad there were redeeming qualities and characters even if the ending was a bit of ..."
thank you Aoife! I really wanted to like it : (
No lol i actually gave that series away because it has been sitting on my shelf for way too long. Mary is the one who got me to read this book in the first place 😁
Sarah wrote: "I read three quarters of it yesterday and I was thinking the same thing about Sabran. I don’t quite understand the attraction, i didn’t feel like the characters made sense in this, I felt no connec..."This book has such good representation and I felt guilty for not liking it more. I think it could have been executed better
Amazing review. I’ve just finished the book myself and could not agree more! The pacing was a massive issue for me, especially as the epic conflict in the end probably had less pages than the boring slog that was the start of the book
Matt wrote: "Amazing review. I’ve just finished the book myself and could not agree more! The pacing was a massive issue for me, especially as the epic conflict in the end probably had less pages than the borin..."Oh wow thank you! I felt bad for not enjoying it as much as everyone else clearly did. But yeah the ending was super rushed and thrown together. Everything at the end went according to plan and I found that annoying? I don't know, I expected MORE somehow
Yes this!!!!! I used this exact comparison
Thank you! I couldn't connect with any of the characters (with a tiny exception of Meg, but she was barely in it so I didn't feel much). I hated Sabran and didn't understand the romance there. I found problems with the structure of Virtudom and it all seemed a little stupid to me. Like how the pirate Empress had a useless wooden arm, but was someone able to skillfully use it to clean beneath the nails of her real hand and gracefully twirl a knife with the wooden one? And one of the last sentences when Loth says, "He is dead." I first read it as him talking about the unconscious character in front of them and it threw me for a loop. I think this book tried so many good things and ideas that it failed to be engaging and make an emotional connection. I'm happy I read it, but I'm so glad it's finally over.
I could not agree more and actually was thankful to find another review that discussed what I enjoyed and what it was lacking. Thank you!
Devan wrote: "Yes this!!!!! I used this exact comparison"😁
Noel wrote: "Thank you! I couldn't connect with any of the characters (with a tiny exception of Meg, but she was barely in it so I didn't feel much). I hated Sabran and didn't understand the romance there. I fo..."So sorry you didn't enjoy it either : (
Leighellen wrote: "I could not agree more and actually was thankful to find another review that discussed what I enjoyed and what it was lacking. Thank you!"Aww ♥ you're welcome!
I’m 160 pages in and I am considering DNFing, because I like everything you liked, but I just don’t connect with the characters. I just don’t care somehow? Which is starting to get upsetting because in theory they should have been feeling very passionate about their respective journeys and challenges and everything. I mean it all *sounds* so good. But I just don’t care. And I hate that I don’t know how to try harder than I have been, other than keeping slugging through this 🙁
Elisa wrote: "I’m 160 pages in and I am considering DNFing, because I like everything you liked, but I just don’t connect with the characters. I just don’t care somehow? Which is starting to get upsetting becaus..."so sorry you're not enjoying it. I wish I had dnf'ed
Well...what I disliked was...• the relationships and friendships
• the reps and diversity
• females in power
The rest though?...not bad at all!
I felt the same way when reading it to the point that I wanted to read it just to say I read it not because I enjoyed the story
ugh you say GOT season 8 and instantly know how you feel lol
I feel the same way about this book, unfortunately :(
Yeah I’m about a little over 200 pages in and I’m about to dnf it because of the slow pacing. I guess I’m not a fan of her books since I barely got through the bone season for the same reason. Slow pacing until the very end and then it seems rushed.
This is exactly how I felt about this book, it was so slow at the beginning but then important parts or supposedly difficult tasks for the characters were just so easy. They just went and succeeded instantly in their task with little trouble. The rest of the book was essentially just a repeat of that again and again until a very anticlimactic end. And I felt overall many of the characters were a bit empty with little development.
