Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

105 reviews

cstein's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.5

Could benefit from additional and repeat explanations of various imagined words, a large cast of characters and their connections to one another, and the histories and geographies of several fictional countries. Some relationships and events (specifically, what should have been the climatic battle) were more or less convincingly fleshed out. Nonetheless, an engrossing escapist read that kept my interest for weeks.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Torture, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Death, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, War, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcohol and Cursing

mostlyvoidpartiallystars's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.75

Beautiful romances, heart rending tragedies, terrifying magic, political webs...this book has everything a good fantasy epic needs. 

This book doesn't shy away from death, treachery, or despair, but there is still room for the tension of love, hope, and even triumph. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, Violence, Confinement, Xenophobia, Misogyny, and War

Moderate: Sexual content, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, and Kidnapping

Minor: Sexual assault and Infertility

sophie42's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Infertility, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Mass/school shootings, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, Classism, War, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Abandonment, Colonisation, Medical content, Vomit, Blood, Confinement, Misogyny, Kidnapping, and Animal death

zannayo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

Not many of the main characters are immediately likeable but somehow without even realising it you'll find they've really grown on you by the end of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Animal death, Classism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Pregnancy, War, Murder, and Torture

Minor: Confinement, Deportation, Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

lajoy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Medical content, Misogyny, Confinement, Genocide, and Injury/Injury detail

smithreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Blood, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Homophobia, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Gun violence, Torture, and Infidelity

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, Violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Rape, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Death of parent, Incest, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Infidelity, Dementia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Torture

katrinarose's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Confinement, Death, War, Blood, and Grief

lanid's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, War, Alcoholism, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Animal death, Gore, Grief, Miscarriage, Murder, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

misterwisp's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.0

 Yes. It's long and epic in scope, but it all happens in one book so you won't have to feel obliged to commit to a series or wait for the next one to be written. It looks like a prequel is coming out, but this one is complete unto itself. It's long but keeps up the pace and there were no particularly slow or dry sections. 
For me strengths include how the plot twists unexpectedly at times and doesn't feel like it follows a standard formula. Characters having to see past their religion to meet the needs of the moment was also done in a compelling way. There are familiar aspects to the world building but it's still done thoroughly and well and helps the escapism aspect of it all. It feel like a world. 
Characters change and end at a different place then they started. The ending is satisfying. There are cool dragons. It's good! If you like fantasy you'll find something to enjoy. 
There is a bit of a romance subplot that felt genuine. If that's not of interest know that it doesn't take over the story or become the main focus at any point. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Grief, Violence, and Death

Minor: Animal cruelty, War, Medical trauma, Confinement, Abandonment, and Mental illness

the sexual content part is fairly graphic, but just a little over a page in length.

the animal cruelty is that a dragon has a tooth, some scales and blood forcibly removed against it's will while it's chained up. It's mentioned as being about to occur but happens "off page" and is not specifically described