#the priory of the orange tree spoilers

[standardissueplottwist]

The mood around 200 pages in.

[bbygirlsunite]

i finished reading "the priory of the orange tree" and i very much enjoyed it, here is a list of thoughts in no particular order:

Loth aro/ace icon? more likely than you think

very much enjoyed the scene where Ead is like "I'm no longer wearing fancy clothes, can't protect you in them" and Loth remarks on Sabrans odd expression.... she wants her so bad

the sadness i felt when Niclays was like "you know what? i'll be better, i'll go to Truyde, be a grandfather to her, make Jannart proud:)" while knowing that Truyde is dead

Kalyba, vomiting violently, her talking about Galian completely took me out of my immersion in the story, i was not ready for that at all, hate her

i understand the criticism that the final fight was too short, i felt that the part where they stuck the sword in the nameless one could have had a few more pages

did Tané die at the end???? like "[...] a white butterfly was cupped in her hand, and her side was damp with blood" what????

[magic-is-something-we-create]

im currently reading A Day of Fallen Night (im almost exactly half way through) and it's been a year or so since I read Priory but HHHHH. HHHHHHHH

GOD I LOVE HAVING THE CONTEXT OF PRIORY BUT THE DRAMATIC IRONY IS KILLING ME BECAUSE I KNOW WHO THIS PERSON IS AND THE CHARACTERS DONT AND I DONT TRUST THIS ONE BIT

[yennefer]

i am so unwell.

[iblamethenubbins]

Me reading The Priory of the Orange Tree, trying to guess the sapphic relationship...

" ... In all that time, she had never said anything to nettle her. Now she was like a viper, unable to keep her tongue in her mouth. Something made her want to rile the Queen of Inys."

There they are

[obscene-beans]

THATS HOW YOU DESCRIBE A FUCKING KISS, CASSANDRA CLARE.

The book is The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

[Photo ID: the first photo is a paragraph from a book that reads, “Sabran drew back to look at her. Ead caught a glimpse of her face in the candlelight—brows smooth, eyes dark and resolute—before they came together again, and the kiss was hot and new and world-forming, the flare of star birth on their lips. They were honeycombs of secret places, fragile and intricate. Ead shivered as the night welcomed her skin.” End paragraph.

The second photo is a screenshot from the Simpsons, the “that’s how it’s done” meme, of a father in a green shirt smacking the back of his son’s head and mouth open with scorn, while the son himself looks aggravated. End ID]

Forever irritated and mildly scarred at how Cassie described kissing in her books, especially in The Infernal Devices, because it was all just so physical and it lasted for like 6 fucking pages, I couldn’t stand it. Yes they melted into each other’s bones or whatever, what else.

[free-dogs]

[schmopples]

Chapter 53 of The Priory of the Orange Tree is my favorite so far!!

"But it would be a greater burden to know that my friend felt she could not open her open her heart to me."

I absolutely love Loth's relationship with Ead and Sabran because it isn't often you get accurate portrayals of deep platonic relationships between men and women. Samantha Shannon does a great job of making relationships between characters feel meaningful.

And of course I have to mention:

"I shared all my secrets with you, Ead. You saw me as the night does. As my truest self"

...

"Tell me, Eadaz uq-Nāra, am I a greater fool to want you still?"

"No more a fool than I to love you as I do."

aaahhhh!! Every page to get to this scene is worth it. I mean it's all so so so good, but still! I can feel the conflict in Sabran when she asks Ead that and for her to respond back with that!!!

Also- good for Margaret! She deserves happiness, the scene between her and Lintley was cute.

[orangelit]

Kalyba is such an evil woman… but that’s why I love her character so much. She’s so corrupt and horrible. Besides the obvious (the Galian thing): when she shapeshifts it’s seriously unsettling, and when she kissed Tunuva - it honestly scared me, for the same reason. She is genuinely *disturbing*. Samantha Shannon is an amazing writer.

What makes it so good is that you also sort of feel for the witch in the woods - she’s been lonely for centuries. but then she does something so goddamn evil again that you remember why she’s a villain in the first place

[tragedykery]

I wonder when the position of spymaster in inys was created, since it doesn’t seem to exist yet in adofn. considering the circumstances with eller, though, I think it would make sense if glorian invented it, to make sure something like that could never happen again

[a-devout-shannonite]

The people of Inys being told that their queens who have all looked almost identical for 1000 years are actually clones of an evil sorceress:

[readingbooksinisrael]

He had fallen for a trick--a trick that should have fooled no one--because he had expected weakness. As he looked her in the face, Tané knew, at last, that he would never call her village chaff again...The only way to save face was to treat her as his equal.

The Priory of the Orange Tree/Samantha Shannon

[bbygirlsunite]

I keep forgetting that all the Berethnet women look the same so I’m imagining Sabran as uh sabran but glorian as freckled and blonde and curly haired and she does just not look like that

[kienava]

you’ve got to be careful reading fantasy books that are also romances because when the horny scenes arrive they’ll say shit like “i had a dream you were still a godsinger, and i was your shrine” and “i may not be your queen, but i am yours, and you will find that i can be very generous”

[yennefer]

are you kidding me???? ead and sabran finally hook up and then she has to flee the country? this is an attack against me personally.

[amemoryofwot]