The Priory of the Orange Tree (Roots of Chaos)

by Samantha Shannon

[Emma (SCR)]

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I had seen this book on Instagram for many months and had it on my TBR pile for a little while. I saw Samantha interview Jay Kristoff last year and I knew I had to bump it up.

There are two things you should know about this book. The first is that it is a very large book and the second is it has a lot of world-building. I find big books quite intimidating. I'd much rather read a long series of shorter books than one big one. I enjoyed the book but it did take me a long time to read it. There were times when I thought I would never end. I think this book could have really benefited from being a series or duology to reduce the size of the book. So much happens in this book that I feel like I definitely missed something. I think I would need a re-read to really get everything but the book is so long that I just don't know if have the time for that.

There are 4 POV in this book all at different places in the world. There are lots of side characters too. The world is very intriguing but I felt like I struggled to connect with the characters. I want to try again because I wonder if it was just the timing for me (I read this at the beginning of lockdown and work was crazy). I was reading in snatched moments and short bursts which made the story very broken too.

I'm sorry that this is not a very helpful review but I hope you take something away from it.