Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

308 reviews

unfoundation's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.75

This book started off so well. Shannon’s world building is excellent and there is great excitement and some really cool scenes as the plot begins to unfold. You do have a love/hate relationship with some characters which I like (Sabran, Roos). Ead’s storyline is probably the most interesting and entertaining. I even found myself mildly charmed by Loth despite how annoying he is at times. Tane is the only storyline that 100% fell flat to me the entire time. The book as a whole falls apart towards the end. Some of the “character development” and changes of heart come out of nowhere and seem more convenient for the plot rather than natural. Many events building towards the climax feel very convenient too and unrealistic given the beginning. It starts jumping around a lot more seemingly just to slot things into place for the big showdown. You lose the sense of tension from earlier in the story because you start to realise there is no chance of the heroes losing. In the end the reveal and battle with the big bad is disappointing and really brief. I would still recommend this book as the world building is an excellent example for fantasy and it has some interesting and original takes. A good introduction to fantasy, but there are stories that deliver the pay off better.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility and Miscarriage

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, War, Violence, Death, and Blood

meesha_mo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

So many villains. So many heroes. So many pages.

I mostly enjoyed this book. The character arcs and the things that prompted their growth was interesting. Except Tame. She just always felt flat/the same to me and I couldn't tell you exactly why. I know she's a very important character but every character of the West felt more important than her. It's like the story was only originally meant to be about Ead/the West and the author added Tane as an afterthought. 

There were some world building things I didn't understand, like the Abyss, but I probably missed some details in all the pages or it was just meant to be mysterious.

Also, Niclays' abrupt about face

- not sure how believable it is in the context of the whole story, but it was a necessary plot device I guess.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, and Blood

Minor: Death of parent

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.”

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Dementia, Vomit, and Torture

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy

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

kiwij96's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Incest, Pregnancy, and Suicide

amschelly153's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

Good read overall, the pacing is a bit slower than its prequel though. I really enjoyed the character development and look forward to more journeys in this world!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Violence, War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

lemonyanne's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

I NEED MORE OF THESE. I WANT A WHOLE HBO 8 SERIES SHOW ABOUT THIS. I LOVED IT. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, War, Gore, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Tender and loving lgbt relationships

latelygrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Body horror

queenkath32's review against another edition

adventurous tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility, Religious bigotry, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, War, Death, Miscarriage, Violence, Grief, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

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.

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Infidelity