Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

64 reviews

kappafrog's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? Yes

4.25

What a great fantasy book! It had been a long time since I sunk my teeth into an epic fantasy book, and this was definitely worth it. I almost gave up on it early on because the formal-fantasy language was a bit irritating, and the opening chapters give you an onslaught of unfamiliar character and placenames. However, once I got into the story, it read really well.

There is a wide variety of characters here of different shades of moral greyness. At first I really didn't like Sabran, but she grew on me over time; and as the book went on, I felt more mixed about Ead. Tané grew on me some as the story went on too. All of the characters in the book, including the many queer and female characters, were complex and multi-layered. Loth, Margret and Chassar were the most consistently likable, while Roos was the hardest to like but still sympathetic at times. Even the disgusting Kalyba was not a one-dimensional villain. The Priory was not what I expected, and I loved the evocation of different landscapes and cultures with clear inspirations from our world. The book's length felt merited since there were a lot of different political, magical, and character aspects to explore. I felt like my investment in the story and its characters really paid off. Shannon is not afraid to kill her characters, so there were real stakes at every point in the book. The finale was epic and also gave us enough time to spend with each character in the aftermath of the climax.

All in all, this was a great re-introduction to epic fantasy for me. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys high fantasy.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Child death

lonelylooper's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Dementia, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Incest, Infidelity, Suicide, and Death of parent

tousledtreasure's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional fast-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

I hoped I could rate it higher, but even though the story gets executed so very well in the first 650 pages and aside from the amazing premise and interesting characters, the later 150 move way to fast along. The first parts get drawn out so long, that you expect the story to have a similar well build finish, but in this case there was more focus laid on the world building than the resolution.

I believed it to be way too convenient, that the Emperor of the empire of the twelve lakes just was in the mood for change to set himself above a ban for outsiders, that was executed for years to the point where those who wash ashore get executed due to their foreign origin. Or that Tané who all throughout the book was wary of change and those of the West, who despised her gods, flew to the West just like that. Some plot points would've needed more time to get resolved. I'm surprised to say it, but I wish the book was longer.

But on the positive, I really enjoyed the Authors worldbuilding and will read her other books in this series. I'm very impressed with her ability to control such a large cast and portray the characters without watering them down. 
Overall this story is great but not perfect.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, and War

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Alcoholism, Incest, Grief, and Classism

lmfry's review

adventurous dark 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Medical content, and Gaslighting

Minor: Suicide and Vomit

kelisabeth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring fast-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

princessrory's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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? No

5.0

“I would live alone for fifty years to have one day with you.”

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Homophobia, Incest, Sexual content, Suicide, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Classism

Minor: Torture, Vomit, and Dementia

sarah_sedai_blueajah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

kiwij96's review

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

4.0

This book was genuinely captivating in a lot of ways. The storytelling and worldbuilding were beautifully written. Yes, it can be a little heavy at times but it is so worth it. The characters are mostly well-developed throughout the story too and you begin to understand what makes them tick and feel their range of emotions through the events that take place. I loved the interconnectedness that slowly took place between each of the characters' individual stories and how their experiences made them grow as characters.

This said, my main criticisms would be that after many chapters of build-up to a conflict, the conflict is over in 2 pages. This happens often and it feels a bit lacklustre for a story of this scale. As a result of this, it oftentimes felt like it was trying to achieve too much and that the conflicts were quickly solved to move onto the next one. Another criticism is that the romance felt massively out of place in the story and wouldn't have changed the plot any if it wasn't there at all. Every other character was fleshed out effectively in the sense that they all had things that made them independent but work well as a part of a team when needed, they each had ambitions and they felt real. I couldn't get a feel for Ead because of this. Of all the characters she was the one with the least development, despite the story following her the most.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Incest, Suicide, and Pregnancy

filipa_maia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

This book just made its way in to my all time favorites.

Despite the heavy world-building, the long list of characters, the very different settings that are described, this book is extremely easy to read. You can easily fall in love with these characters even though you are constantly aware of their flaws.

In the end I was so scared that my favorite characters were going to die that I didn't want to finish the book. That's how much I started to like these fictional people (and non-people too).

I can't wait to read more stories in this world.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Infidelity

cj13's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Classism