Okay...I feel like being a little disappointed has been a theme for the last few books I've read and unfortunately this one is in that category as well.

This book received a LOT of hype, and it isn't that it was a bad book or a boring story, it's just that I expected more. It isn't primarily a romance novel, but the amount of discussion around the great queer love stories in this book led me to believe otherwise. In all, there were probably six total chapters of ~romance~ of any kind, throughout the entire 800 page book. I love the representation, but I wanted more more more.

Speaking of the length, I get world building is important in fantasy novels, and I was happy to be reading fantasy that was not faerie or vampire-based, but for the entire plot to be wrapped up in the last 20 pages of an 800 page novel is criminal behavior. I also had a really difficult time visually connecting with this book. Typically when I read, it's like a movie in my head, but for some reason I was just getting snippets as I read Priory, which made me feel a bit disconnected from the plot.

Things I did like: The number of strong female characters in this book, the magic system and lore, the picture of a world divided.

Overall, this is a good book, but it did not come even close to living up to the hype, in my opinion.