Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

57 reviews

bel017's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

The ending is good. I feel that's critical when reading such a chonker of a book. 
The story is told from the viewpoint of four different characters, which were woven together well - I was never confused as to whose viewpoint I was reading. I did get confused in some of the historical plot and side plots, but it's a huge cast of characters, with two different sides giving the same characters different names, and some having the same or similar names. The confusion didn't diminish my enjoyment though. I enjoyed it so much that, even though I literally just finished it I am very tempted to just turn back to the beginning and start all over again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Violence, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, War, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Confinement, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia

Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Abandonment, Incest, Infertility, Dementia, Gore, and Emotional abuse

caroluvr's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Stalking, Death of parent, Classism, Kidnapping, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, War, Infertility, Body horror, Bullying, Genocide, Misogyny, Murder, Suicide, Blood, Death, Gore, Pregnancy, Torture, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Animal death, Excrement, Grief, and Incest

Moderate: Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Infidelity, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

isabel_c's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.75

SO GOOD read this right now omfg. This book is worth it’s length and even after spending 26 hours reading it I have no regrets. I love Ead and Sabran and I love how their story unfolds. I also love all the other characters and Samantha is just a genius for writing this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death of parent, and Death

lainiereads'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

5.0

This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Despite it being over 800 pages long, I was never bored, which was especially surprising during the POVs of my least favorite character! Even he couldn't have made this book boring. It is so worth every single page. Ead is one of the coolest heroines I've ever seen; she is perfectly brave and kind and powerful. AND she is in love with a brave and powerful woman! What more could you want? And the other characters, such as Loth and Tané are (almost) just as great. Plus there are dragons and pirates and magic. It's the perfect fantasy! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Miscarriage, Infertility, Grief, Pregnancy, Murder, Death, and Confinement

Moderate: Sexual content, Kidnapping, War, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Lesbophobia

fatherprozac's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book's female characters and the lack of homophobia, racism in relation to skin color, and blatant misogyny (other than that toward Sabran) in the world. It feels very socially modern and so it managed to capture me in a way that many other fantasy books haven't. Overall, a great story. I do wish that

Tane's part of the story had been bigger, I found myself frustrated at the clear focus on the West's side of the narrative. I also wish we had seen more of Nayimathun--even the book itself points out how often she and Tane are separated.  I also despised the long chapters surrounding Niclays as I personally found him extremely unlikeable--which may have been the point, but they were a chore nonetheless. Finally, the climax of actually fighting the Nameless One was a bit disappointing for me, pretty anticlimactic.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Murder, Xenophobia, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, and Kidnapping

ate_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Murder, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Death, Infertility, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

quinn24's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Miscarriage, Classism, Murder, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Gun violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Infertility, Sexual content, and Dementia

eunoia11's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

The first part was really slow given it was mostly world building and setting up the plot. I’m glad I tabbed the book because it was nice to be able to go back and review plot points and characters. After that though, the plot flowed beautifully and was always filled with action.

The way the four “storytellers” as Samantha Shannon calls them, all intertwine and bring the plot together was beautifully done. The characters are complex, heroes and villains alike have their flaws and good qualities. The exploration of religion and history in this world was extremely intriguing and makes us wonder about the flaws in our own world.

The strong female characters, poc, and lgbtq+ representation was done quite well and I’m glad said characters and relationships are seen as the normal and not as “strange and other”

I’m manifesting this book adapted into a film because I need it in my life.

I hate Niclays but when he speaks of Jannart my heart melts
I fell in love with Kit and he was taken 2 pages after I decided he was my favorite😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, War, Death of parent, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Blood, Death, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Infidelity

changreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Genocide, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Murder, and Sexual content

snipinfool's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

The first half was a slog for me. The second half was much better. I appreciated the glossary in the back of the characters and who they were.  Sometimes it can be hard to keep the major and minor players straight in the beginning of a new world. I think I resonated the most with Tane.

I am glad she found her redemption in the end.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Violence, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, and War