Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

498 reviews

weewillow's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Religious bigotry

blueberry0531's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Violence

Moderate: Death

sammy357's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I loved the book but it's too long and a little too slow in the beginning for me to want to reread it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Torture

eni_iilorak's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Torture, Medical content, Dementia, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Cursing, Infidelity, and Sexual content

hevlav's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

First 200 pages: 📝📚😵‍💫

Next 600 pages: 🪄🐉🤯

Really - I think it took me 2 months on and off to sit down and commit to reading this book, then 2 weeks to actually finish it. 

While it does start slow, the world building and plot development done in the beginning of the book paints a rich and complex world that draws you in and makes the events of the book that much more impactful.

Love, betrayal, dragons, witches, what more could you ask for?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Miscarriage

Moderate: War

Minor: Homophobia

dreadspawn's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Alcoholism, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

katbotelho's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

this book has no business being as long as it is. the amount of perspectives really threw me and it bothered me that they weren’t all featured equally. a lot of the book was really boring there were some parts in the middle that interested me but by the time i got to the end i was losing my desire to read it. as well the use of old english language makes it harder for me to understand whats going on at times. ultimately it was partially entertaining but i couldve spent the month it took me to read this to read something else

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and War

Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

Minor: Incest

mlkao94697's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really loved this book! The quality of this story matched the quality of the book cover art. I’m so happy to read a feminist epic fantasy with amazing world building and characters. The plot wasn’t overly predictable; there were several points where I was genuinely shocked. I loved the different cultures and how they were integrated into the storytelling. My favorite character was Tané but honestly all of the characters were well-written, even the ones I kind of despised

(*cough cough* Niclays)

. Also the dragons are so cool.I rated it a 4.5/5 only because I felt the pacing was a little rushed in a couple of spots, otherwise it would’ve been a 5/5 for me. I’m considering reading the prequel at some point as I make my way down my very long TBR

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Miscarriage

Moderate: Incest

cumminsn's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

What an incredible tale, where do I even begin? If you are a fantasy lover, this absolute beast of a novel has just about everything you could want: magic, corrupt courts and religions with a foundation of lies, shape shifting witches, pirates, adventure, romance, and of course, dragons! Also, the positive LGBT+ representation was very refreshing to read in this kind of high-fantasy setting.

It would be an understatement to say “this book is long.” It took me months to get through it, but it was worth it. There were sections that I was hoping to get through faster, mainly because by that point there were narratives that interested me more than others and I wanted to get back to them. But, I wouldn’t say there are things that happen that weren’t there for a reason. All of the branching plot points happening between the several different perspectives we see manage to come together very satisfyingly, despite how vastly different each individual’s story was. There are very intricate religious systems made here that tie in to both the magic, the dragons, and in with tales and legends of ancient figures whose importance grows as the story progresses. It was particularly intriguing to learn of our current character’s connections to some of these legendary figures, and what that means for the roles they can expect to fill.

The ending did a great job of wrapping up the current stories of these characters, though the final epic battle did feel slightly rushed compared to the build up it took to get there. Nonetheless, I was very invested in each character’s story, and was pleased to see that their endings, while satisfying, did have a few mysterious threads to them that work well as potential hooks for even more tales to be woven in the future. I’m so curious to see where my favorites go from here!

Samantha Shannon has truly created a very intriguing world with Priory of the Orange Tree and it really is worth reading all 800+ pages of it. I already have the prequel novel in my possession and look forward to diving back in for more!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Violence, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

thebankofbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Infertility, Miscarriage, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, and War