Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

299 reviews

oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Wow, this book is a behemoth, but one of the few books I've read that deserves its length! It truly was an epic adventure akin to Game of Thrones. It has everything - palace intrigue, politics/diplomacy between kingdoms, dragons, assassins, and magic. What makes this book so unique is the women-forward cast, a place where women get to be heroines instead of damsels to just move the plot forward for the men. There are complex, woven plotlines with great history and world building. It stands up to some of the best fantasy books out there!
Strongly recommend this for female fantasy readers once you've gone through all the romantasy books. It's a good next step from a series like Throne of Glass. While I wouldn't say this is a romatasy by any stretch, it is a fantasy with a romance plotline so it still scratches that itch if you're willing to really invest in it!
The only downside is that there are a lot of characters - a ton of names, places, and dragons - to remember. I kept a running glossary in a phone note only to find that there was an actual glossary in the back of the book. Use that and it will be immensely helpful. The few hundred pages were a bit slow as we learned the history and current culture of the kingdoms and people in them, but the build up was worth the pay-off for me on this one! 
I'm on the fence as to whether or not I will read the prequel (mostly because prequels aren't really my thing), but I'd take a sequel to this one any day! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, Torture, and Death of parent

lunaviolet's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

You’d expect that after 800+ pages, there are no questions left unanswered. And yet. 

I just wanna know Cleoland and Neporo’s stories. Please, I just wanna know their full life stories, from beginning, to end, is that too much to ask?

Anyway, that said, I really really enjoyed this book. 

A few things before I gather my thoughts for a full review:
- very vibes heavy book. The vibes carry much of the book, but I was fine with that
- Hozier’s Take Me To Church. Yeah, that’s it.
- detailed and immersive world
- political intrigue except instead of politics it’s religion
- the characters storylines paralleled each other very nicely
- the lesbians had

very little chemistry and that confused me, as a lesbian who was convinced to read this bc it had lesbians in it

(My commentary as I was reading can be found on my Instagram page @earlywormeatsthebook)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Incest

essie101's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and War

Moderate: Violence

periodblood's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I'm extremely relieved to have read this book and finish it. It's wonderfully written and contains many elements I value while reading. I really love many of the characters and love the reflection of their personality. One of my greatest joys is learning about the history and customs of the worlds I read, which is greatly reflected in this book. 

Ead and Sabran's relationship has become deeply engraved in my mind and I will forever love them. They're greatly represented.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Cursing, Infertility, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest and Sexual content

vikart's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

"The Priory of the Orange Tree" by Samantha Shannon is, overall, an amazing high fantasy book that can be really easy to get through as long as you are paying attention and not rushing through it. The book itself comes with two maps that show you all of the kingdoms that come into play during the book, and it's not too difficult to orientate yourself through them. At the back of the book, there is a list of all the characters, in case you ever get confused as to who is who, and a glossary for all of the new magical words (priory being one of them.)

I found this book to have very good writing, and overall enjoyed it thoroughly. Although it's not a comedy book, I would say there were a few moments that made me laugh. As well as a few moments of surprise.

Overall, this is a good book for anybody who enjoys dragons, high fantasy, other worlds and their religions etc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, and Violence

Moderate: Infertility, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Minor: Incest, Infidelity, Sexual content, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

sorakiras's review

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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Torture

Moderate: Religious bigotry

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

eelin's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Mental illness and Sexual content

dalek_caan's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

I loved this book so much. I wasn't sure what to expect with how much hype it got, but I'm so glad I went in not knowing what to expect. For a book this big, the fact that it kept me engaged the whole way through is amazing. It was so worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

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