Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

96 reviews

jodean's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Murder, Grief, Deportation, Blood, Abandonment, Death, and Confinement

Moderate: War, Sexism, Medical content, Infertility, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

hannahpings's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

3.75

i grappled with the rating on this one a little bit, because in terms of likability and recommendation, this book is a solid four to five stars: i loved it! i was engaged the whole time! i dragged my feet finishing it because i was sad it's over! i still am!

at the same time though, for me it's cursed with having been a good book that also could have been better. overall, priory's pacing is good––it comes out swinging and still manages a good amount exposition, the action is well-timed, it's engaging every step of the way––but there are significant gaps and skips throughout, and especially so in the final third. journeys that once took immense narrative tolls and lasted close to 40 pages are reduced to quotidian, one-sentence tasks that seem to exist only because not mentioning them would render the plot unadvanceable. characters make choices that, while you can see how they might make sense given the adequate development, are complete opposites of their intentions up until that point without the text taking the time or putting in the work to achieve that development. things that are given immense weight and word counts early on are not held to the same standard later and are treated like whims, if they're acknowledged at all. (the story's climax is overly convenient too, but it was an emotionally satisfying one, even if a little more mess was to be desired.)

samantha shannon has created a worthy fantasy epic; it's a wold i don't want to leave, a necessary addition to the genre, and one both accessible (even for folks who don't like fantasy or who may be revisiting it for the first time in years) and that made me excited to have to flip to the map or appendices every few pages. all the same, it's hard not to feel that by the end of the book, shannon was ready to be done with it, and glossed over chunks of the narrative accordingly. priory is a story and scope worthy of three, 300–400-page books, and it's hard to understand why it wasn't given the adequate time to breathe and grow into itself.

ultimately though, that's not my decision, and in the end i'm still happy with what we got: something relatively well-written, intercultural and anti-hegemonic, compelling and whose characters it's impossible not to root for, and to whose world i can't wait to return.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Animal death, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Bullying, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Violence, Gore, Incest, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Blood, Classism, Death, Racism, Infertility, Medical content, and Sexual content

Moderate: Rape, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Torture, Trafficking, Suicide, and Panic attacks/disorders

incest/rape:

Spoiler

one character adopts and raises a baby boy as her own, acting as and ultimately becoming his mother. when he gets older, she decides she is interested in him both romantically and sexually, pursues him, and he rejects her advances, telling her he would never consent to either. she is a shapeshifter, and takes on the appearance of the woman in whom he is interested. under the impression that she is someone else, he begins a sexual relationship with her, they marry, and she has a child. she then reveals her true identity to him.

if you would like to know the characters, they are

Spoiler

kalyba and galian

.

fanboyriot's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

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

3.5

Read For:

Dragons

Slow Burn

Fantasy Map

Sapphic Romance

High Fantasy (but make it queer)

I definitely have some mixed feelings about this book.  I wanted to love it but it fell more flat for me than anything else.  It was just kinda meh.  It wasn’t bad but I also just didn’t fall into the hype about it either.  I was a bit bored at times, honestly.

While the worldbuilding/setting was done really well the characters overall just lacked personality.  I found myself confused as to who was who for more than half of the book, which might be more of a me thing than anything else, but even then I just didn't really care for any of them.  I am much more of a character person than a world-building person.

Then there were some chapters that just dragged out, and while in the beginning, it was fine.  It's high fantasy and that's expected to get to know the world and everything but it was no better by the last chapter.

However, I didn’t totally hate this book either.  I really liked how the Queen was the one running things.  It was super nice to read a high fantasy without it being majorly sexist or borderline creepy.  Plus it had some queer relationships as well, a sapphic relationship being the main hype of the book besides the dragons.  And lastly the dragons, I loved how they were written into the story, how they interacted with their riders, and the bond they shared.

Overall, if you're a fan of high fantasy and want to see some queer rep within the book then I recommend this to you.  However, if you’re more like me, where contemporary books have taken over your tbr, then I probably wouldn't recommend it to you.

POV: Switching, Third Person

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Rep: Queer MCs, Queer SCs, Sapphic (main), Achillean (side), Aspec MC

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Pandemic/Epidemic, Miscarriage, Death, Infertility, Child death, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Violence, Murder, Grief, Gore, Death of parent, Torture, Sexual content, War, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Genocide, Bullying, Outing, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Classism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Incest, Infidelity, Addiction, and Gaslighting

Minor: Dementia, Sexual assault, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Rape, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism

arlaubscher's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Miscarriage, Infertility, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Alcoholism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, War, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Medical content, Murder, Mental illness, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content, Slavery, and Trafficking

pbeeandj's review against another edition

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? No

5.0

Huge, epic, and gay. Quality animal and dragon friends to help our protagonists (I especially loved the Ichnuemon). All but one of the pov characters are POC. I wish I could watch this as a series. 5/5 stars and no notes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Religious bigotry, Death, Miscarriage, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

cameronreads's review

5.0

I don’t know how this book managed to surpass my expectations but it did by leaps and bounds. A perfect world, magic system, writing style, structure, and cast of characters. I was convinced I’d be saying it was too long, but if anything it could have been longer - I would spend forever in this incredible world with these life like characters. Loved this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Blood, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Dementia, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Addiction, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Torture

racheyreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

This book was a slog! A positive one, but oh boy the content was so much to digest. I've constantly been surprised by the storyline throughout the entirety of this book which is amazing considering how long it is. One chapter could be explaining the scene and within a single paragraph towards the end of it, everything you knew could just unravel and change. The characters are complex and true to their own places in the world, even after revelations literally shake the foundation of an entire empires beliefs. Religion and belief systems are a huge frame of context for this book, and it was great watching characters firmly stick to their beliefs even when others they loved were of an opposing system. I find it too common characters change to fit the narrative and make telling stories easier rather than remaining complex and challenged. My only gripe with the book was with the conclusion. Fantasy books especially, boast so much adventure and character struggles through the meat of their books that a climax which is lacklustre feels like the entire journey to this point was overkill. Especially when the journey is 800 pages long AND there's an equally long prequel. I'm so heavily conflicted with how this book ended that I'm unsure if I want to spend another month trudging through the next book. However, if you want a book with great characters, incredible world building and you don't particularly care how it ends then this book would be perfect for you!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and Xenophobia

Minor: Murder, War, Death of parent, Violence, and Miscarriage

artie_reads's review against another edition

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

5.0

It's absolutely brilliant! I read this one a while ago - it was a gift from a neighbour who has a very similar taste in books to me - but I still recommend it whenever I get the chance! The worldbuilding is absolutely gorgeous. You will have to do some flicking back and forth to check the map at the front and the long lists of characters and fantasy words at the back but it's absolutely worth it for how richly detailed the politics, religions and history of the world are. Those themes are explored in interesting ways as well.

Spoiler

The twist bringing together the threads of different religions into the actual people who inspired it was brilliant and a bit mind-blowing.

The story itself is told from the perspectives of 4 very different characters to excellent effect. The plot revolves around the characters separately trying to save the world, featuring dragons, witches and fantasy court intrigue! What more could you want?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Grief, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

The xenophobia and religious bigotry are within the context of a fantasy world, rather than aimed at real world groups.

rubybastille's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

5.0

I don’t read a lot of epic fantasy nor do I tend to read gigantic books. I’m glad I made an exception for this one. It had a couple pacing issues and convenient coincidences, but I’d much sooner take an imperfect but still *really good and enjoyable* single volume over a strung-out (and possibly never completed) series. I loved the contrasts in religions and cultures and the way different POV characters learned key plot points at different times. I also loved how it felt like a completely new fantasy experience, from Roos’ character arc to Tane’s relationship with both her dragon and her nation to Sabran’s mental health struggles.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry

ssmylie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

“I do not sleep because I am not only afraid of the monsters at my door, but also of the monsters my own mind can conjure. The ones that live within.”

This was easily a 5 star read for me. I highly recommend it.

I haven’t read a high fantasy novel in a while. I’ve been scared to invest time into their lengthy stories and juggle the demands of my personal life. But, when I started to read Samantha Shannon’s “Priory of the Orange Tree”, I knew that I had to sit down with this book for about a month to get to the end of this book. And that’s what I did. Throughout the month of June, I was captivated by Shannon’s world with strong, young, talented women characters and their allies who are fighting against sexism, ageism, and past traditions to end the greatest evil in the world “The Nameless One.” Also, they are doing this in a world that was divided by their ancestors. So, they were going through A LOT. I was really into the world building, how the stories shaked out, and the ending had me in a chokehold the whole time but I’m glad it ended well!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Xenophobia, Suicide, and War

Moderate: Blood, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Miscarriage