Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

22 reviews

theirgracegrace's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

The size may look daunting at first, but the depth and wealth of this book is beyond that of many series, much less individual books. Priory is an epic fantasy that stretches across a world divided by their love or and hatred for dragons. In the West, a handmaiden to a queen protects her from a plot while nursing hidden secrets of her own, and a young man is sent on a dangerous mission to an enemy land. In the East, a young woman trains to be the next dragon rider of her people and an old alchemist in exile seeks eternal life in a foreign land. The story travels the length and breadth of the world, culminating in an epic battle to determine the fate of the world. My only gripe with this amazing book was that certain plotlines were solved a bit too quickly and handily in order to get to those end chapters, and everyone seems to be able to speak each other's language with very little explanation. Absolutely cinematic-quality descriptions, heart-wrenching moments, surprise reversals and twists of fate make this a book for every fantasy lover out there. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Homophobia, Excrement, Vomit, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Incest, Cannibalism, and Abandonment

fizzymilk22's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Book is so good it got me back into reading books again immediately despite being a super dense 800 page long fantasy novel. I love how it takes a seemingly generic fantasy setup and uses it to examine human flaws and societal issues in such an interesting and natural way OH GOD it's so amazing. This has to be one of the best casts of characters I've ever seen in this kind of story, they're all so individually compelling but they compliment each other when together as well. Please read this I'm begging you

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ethen_rey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Blood

Minor: Incest and Lesbophobia

lifeinsilver's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Dementia

cstein's review

adventurous lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.5

Could benefit from additional and repeat explanations of various imagined words, a large cast of characters and their connections to one another, and the histories and geographies of several fictional countries. Some relationships and events (specifically, what should have been the climatic battle) were more or less convincingly fleshed out. Nonetheless, an engrossing escapist read that kept my interest for weeks.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cursing and Alcohol

faythfarrar's review

adventurous medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Blood, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Incest and Suicidal thoughts

lainiereads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Despite it being over 800 pages long, I was never bored, which was especially surprising during the POVs of my least favorite character! Even he couldn't have made this book boring. It is so worth every single page. Ead is one of the coolest heroines I've ever seen; she is perfectly brave and kind and powerful. AND she is in love with a brave and powerful woman! What more could you want? And the other characters, such as Loth and Tané are (almost) just as great. Plus there are dragons and pirates and magic. It's the perfect fantasy! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Lesbophobia

cattheteawitchfairy's review

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was incredible! After buying it with hardly any exposition, I adored it. Not only is the cover beautiful but the writing too and I highly recommend to anyone who loves pirates, dragons, queendoms, adventures and more!

Although I placed this book as medium paced, the length of this book can be a little off putting and the density/complexity of the story can sometimes slow reading and understanding. Despite this though, the story is a fantastical adventure of many different characters who all link together in one plot line, although there seems to a very limited link at the beginning.

Additionally this book is slightly LGBTQIA*+ which is lovely! The representation is well written although it is a slow burn, and it is not the main focal point of the story, so I wouldn’t go into the story just for that.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and, although it was a long text, I found it enjoyable throughout and didn’t want to stop reading.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

3.5 stars, in an extraordinary--albeit unfortunate--case of 'it's not u, it's me.' the priory of the orange tree is a technically remarkable epic fantasy that deserves all the praises it's gotten, but also one that i regrettably lack any personal chemistry or sparks w/, and yes it hurts me to admit that.

never have i read a story so vast in scope, detailed in its lore & legends, steeped in religion. additionally, it's imaginative and fresh, and manages to expertly weave all its scattered narratives tgt (sidenote: this book actually reminds me of the poppy war in its worldbuilding, historical inspo, and fire vs water magic). unfortunately, i think its vast scope's a double-edged sword. bc of its sheer range, we constantly jump around from one location and narrative to another; coupling this lack of prolonged focus w/ the (understandable) 3rd person pov, no character--even the main ones--is explored deep enough for my liking, and ultimately i dont feel any real connection w/ them. this affects my enjoyment--or rather my experience of the book: i couldnt fully immerse myself in the book, despite all the adventures, new lands, dragons, escapes, and court intrigue. it was like i was watching it all happen from a detached distance, and didnt rly feel anything no matter what's happening, despite all the countless times the main characters were imperiled. and that's...not fun bc i highly value emotional connection and evocation in my books. another quabble, although a minor one, is the ultimate dragon-wyrm showdown, where i felt like the power imbalance didnt make sense: the wyrms could breathe fire while the dragons could only fly, and for the dragons to be at a disadvantage during the battle even tho they were water creatures literally fighting in the damn ocean???

honestly, this book's rly good. i particularly enjoyed the thought-provoking exploration of religious differences, themes of open-mindedness and duty, many morally gray characters (not loth tho, thats why i have a soft spot for him), worldbuilding, and feminist msg. it's also prolly the first book w/ pet-human bond trope that melts my hard heart. unfortunately, it didnt rly click w/ me, and the lack of emotional connection--that frustrating absence of some spark, a lil sth--makes this a rly-good-but-not-yet-great read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

Moderate: Biphobia, Chronic illness, Confinement, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Death of parent

books_my_beloved's review

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, and Lesbophobia