Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

111 reviews

indigo_fox's review

adventurous challenging 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? No

4.25

I didn't fall in love with this book immediately but I'm glad I stuck it out. It took a few (I think 3 or 4) chapters to get into the groove of this book. Once I started to learn more about the world things started to get interesting. The author does a great job with worldbuilding. I love the inclusion of myths, stories, traditions, and food. The food part especially speaks to me since it is such a huge part of culture. Its neat to see the staples of each section of the world. 

The characters were great. Their personalities stood out in a way that gave them life. There was a range of personalities too, which seemed very realistic in a group of randos banding together to defeat a great evil. 

I love the way this story is structured. It takes on various POVs and it is fun to see how everything connects in the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, and Death of parent

saskiahill's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Sexual content

thea_elise's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

4.0

This is the largest book I’ve ever read, so now I’m quite proud of myself for finishing it:)

I liked the multiple povs, and my favorite one was Tané’s. At times I found myself irritated over it suddenly switching over to another, but I do understand that it’s an attempt at making the story as linear as possible. 

I was a bit hard to get interested and invested in the story, and at time I struggled to keep my focus.  But that does not mean that it was a boring book. Not at all. I think it was the most complex book I have any remembrance of. The world building was stunning and at time a bit overwhelming, I often found myself wanting to learn more and more, but that just the history nerd in me. 

I mostly listen to the audiobook and  the narrator gave both the story the characters a bit more dept. One of the few narrators I’ve heard, whose voice did not irritate me, but more catch my attention. 

I did not like the inconclusive ending, mostly because it’s no talk of a second book (as far as I’ve heard), but I do look forward to reading the prequel:)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Torture, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

kukazashi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

mazes_end'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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Biggest sin of this book is that almost nobody and nowhere has pronounceable, memorable names. Everything else is good once you buckle up for the early chapters lore dump necessary for a grand story like this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

kiaras's review

adventurous emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Confinement, Xenophobia, Grief, and Classism

emmiej's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Deportation

aroraback's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.5

I enjoyed this book, I went in wanting to read a dragon book, and I did get some dragon. Could have had more dragons.

But on the grand scheme of things, there was a lot of extra, unnecessary information, like more than is enjoyable. Also the whole idea behind this plot was balance, but the author definitely didn’t hold it true to what should be major things. And why did the dragons need riders??? And the end happened soooo fast for this being an 800 page book…. 

Reads like a first time author, despite her having an apparently popular series 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death and Death

Death, all the death. Susa, Mita, Aubrecht, baby princess, Igrain, Kit, Traim, Truyde, plus some who I probably forgot…

mangofraiche's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cknight95's review

adventurous emotional hopeful sad 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? No

4.5

This was such a great read! I never wanted it to end! I will be reading all of Samantha Shannon’s backlog at some point. I laughed. I cried. I gasped. I wanted to throw my kindle at one point. 

This book has romance, it has adventure, it has mystery. Most importantly, it has dragons. Absolutely worth the hype. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Miscarriage