There were some things in Priory that were super impressive, but I think overall my biggest issue is that there's just too much for a stand-alone novel, even one that long - the worldbuilding, the characters, they needed a longer series. The zooming around the world just so every country could show up for five minutes got completely ridiculous. And no, adding that prequel afterwards (which I haven't read) isn't a solution. Also, let's face it, there's a pretty big Mary Sue problem with Ead - the other protagonists are fine but don't get as much screentime anyway.

Leigh Bardugo seems to be everywhere these days, doesn't she? I've yet to read any of her books, but the Netflix adaptation of her Shadow and Bone series is pretty good.

As for Oppenheimer and Barbie - still have to see the former, did see the latter but didn't like it quite as much as I'd anticipated. Yes, there's a great cast but most of them are criminally under-used, other than Robbie, Gosling and Ferrera (who is amazing as always, but even she can only carry so much) and the plot is rather messy and confusing.