Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

49 reviews

cumminsn's review

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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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thebankofbooks's review against another edition

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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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av0universe's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0


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_ao_'s review

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

4.75

My criteria for a 5 star book means it moves me to tears, so I can't give 5 stars to Priory of the Orange Tree. But it's sweeping and lore-rich, with a ton of bad-ass women leading and supporting the story. Give yourself some time to read this baby, and you'll find something to love about it. 

Also, I would have liked a tiny bit more in the way of an epilogue.

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lonelylooper's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5


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latelygrace's review

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adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.25


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cozy_gremlin4's review

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

There's too much to say about this book. It's probably the best I've ever read so far, and definitely my favorite. 

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scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Getting into this one was really really rough. The first chapter caught my attention and then there was just so many introductions of characters and situations that my head swam. By about 45% through though, I started to get into it. It took me a while but I liked the romance and I liked the resolution of the plot by the end of the book.

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bookshelfhannah's review

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adventurous challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0


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