Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Il priorato dell'albero delle arance by Samantha Shannon

23 reviews

katrinarose's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

3.5

It took me a long long time to get into this book, and for me it only picked up around 40% in. This is a long way to get through in an 800 page book. However, I am happy I pushed through because I enjoyed the story. The history and folklore of this world was detailed,  interesting, and very relevant to the plot. The character development was well done and progressed naturally. Most of the main characters were likeable but also had their flaws. I do think there were some overdone fantasy tropes that made it a bit predictable at times, but I also appreciated reading a traditional fantasy without the sexism/homophobia. Overall I do think it was a good book, I just can’t rate it too highly because of how slow the first half was. 

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caroluvr's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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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froyobaggns's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.5

it is a whole fantasy series crammed into one novel. it was very enjoyable, and its comparisons of religion and heresy were an interesting look at what we face in the real world. it was a beautifully woven tale. there were some moments where things happened very easily for characters, but overall i thought it was great 

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aet_rebecca's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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snipinfool's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

The first half was a slog for me. The second half was much better. I appreciated the glossary in the back of the characters and who they were.  Sometimes it can be hard to keep the major and minor players straight in the beginning of a new world. I think I resonated the most with Tane.
I am glad she found her redemption in the end.

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liaandersson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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? No
Where to begin?..

This could quite well be the best fantasy that I have ever read. There are tons of aspects which I adored and it is easier, for both you and I, if I take it in order.

Religion: Virtudom and the South have religions stemming from the same historical people, the differences being how these people are portrayed and what their acknowledged accomplishments were.  These religious differences put a strain to the fragile relationship between the South and Virtudom. I think this is a terrific analogy of how for example, the real world has countries fighting over which is the one true religion, when the truth is there is no single right one. All of them are right, if they are right for a certain individual. I hope you will understand my sentiment once you have read it, I have a hard time conveying the message through writing.

Mislabeling: There are several instances where foreigners (in relation to the ethnic group discussed) call certain groups by derogatory terms or even slurs. It is, in my opinion, a well-executed representation of modern slurs as well as the misgendering of queer people. The reoccurring scenario where one 'foreign' individual calls another by a negative slur/term, which is then corrected as if someone was misgendered. 

Queer: There is plenty of LGB representation among the main cast, as well as scattered information about historical figures and secondary characters. Still, there are no canon trans characters, even though I imagine some of them to be such. Other than the L, G AND B there is not much representation to see in regards of ace/aro, polyamory, intersex, trans and so on. 

History: I loved how the history of the fictional world was incorporated as storytellings between characters, and other creative solutions. It took me a hundred pages or so to connect the dots between all the historical people and their relevance, but a bit of switching from the index back to the story here and there eventually solved all of those problems. It was all very much worth it before I even got halfway through the book. 

Worldbuildning: Shannon managed to incorporate western, eastern and African fantasy. I loved to see how they all interacted with each other and enhanced one another. I don't believe I can have much to say about whether it was well represented or not, but I do hope it was done as best as could be. 

A fair warning that this book, at least in my opinion, is more driven by the characters than by the plot. Due to this, I have heard the common opinion that the ending of the book is quite abrupt, while I think it is quite satisfactory, from the perspective of the character's developmental arcs. 

Have a fun read!

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thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

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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. 

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bleuennreads_'s review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.5


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li_reading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75


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anxiouspurpleelephant's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious 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

I LOVE THIS BOOK!! I thought I’d got bored of fantasy books as (I sometimes find) they all have a similar plot and they were starting to get a bit boring… which is why at first I wasn’t  sure if I would like this book (and the 800 pages slightly scared me) but omg it is so worth it. 


First of all can I just say that Ead and Sabran are just so amazing and cute I love them. I also love how amazingly the whole world was developed, but I’m super disappointed it isn’t a series because I feel like since the world is so built up soooo much more could be done with it. I also love Margaret and Tané. I need a water dragon in my life. 

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