Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

129 reviews

zoiejanelle's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? No

5.0

this is the best book i have read all year. the minute i picked it up, i couldn’t put it down. i don’t normally enjoy long-winded, epic fantasy. but the complex and relatable characters, the intricate mythos, and the gorgeous prose had me hooked. i devoured this book, all 800 pages, in a matter of days — and i’m a SLOW reader. 
this book has plenty of LGBT characters (and no, there is no “bury your gays here” do not worry!) and incorporates elements of lore and culture from the real world. the plot is slow, and largely based on religion, but the stakes are immediately high and it is easy to become invested in each character’s individual participation in the story.  

though i gave it 5 stars, i have two minor critiques. first, i would have loved more Tané, though i realize this may not have been possible. second, there were a few times when the solution to problems came relatively easily. i wished for some more detective work/struggle, but again, i realize there was a lot of story and i’m certain many cuts had to be made. 

i love this book. i will absolutely be re-reading this as soon as i catch up on my TBRs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, War, Blood, Classism, Infertility, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

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

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

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

lprice618's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

1st half I was totally with it, 2nd half was WAY slower for some reason? 
I liked the multiple perspectives, but my favorites (ie, Tané) were FOR SURE not featured as much as Niclays, who was definitely my least favorite of the POVs.
At the end of the book I was really hoping for

a quick time jump Sabran and Ead scene

, which did not happen. It just felt a little sloppy in the last third?
I’m conflicted. Liked a lot of stuff, but really wanted to DNF.
I was 500+ pages in, otherwise I wouldn’t have finished 😬

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy

sofiefarmer's review

adventurous 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 is an incredibly memorable work. The worldbuilding absolutely blew me away. It was so delicately and believably crafted. I thought the characters were super interesting and I loved the way they were flawed and developed throughout. The plot itself was super engaging. I was really drawn into and immersed in the story in ways I am not typically. It was a really phenomenal story.

My biggest issue was pacing. I thought the first half was well-paced, but the ending felt rushed. There were several times where I wished Shannon would have gone more into depth with a plot point. I found myself saying "Okay, I guess," when things became a little too convenient or a character blacked out for a whole section.

Also, I occasionally felt like the distribution of POVs left me wanting more from certain characters. There were times when I felt like we had completely abandoned a character only to find things neatly wrapped up as time had passed and we returned to them a few chapters later.

My last issue was how this book was marketed to me. I was told it was about lesbians that ride dragons. That is not what this story is about. I am not disappointed because the story was excellent, but I definitely came in with a much different picture of what this book than the reality. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Miscarriage, and Torture

Minor: Death of parent

fatherprozac's review

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

muriel_r's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Infertility, and Torture

rensreading'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

5.0

i have no idea where to start!! my brain feels like its scattered all over but one thing i can say with full certainty is that: this is one of the best high fantasy stories out there, hands down.

the plot? exquisite! the characters? phenomenal! the progression of relationships? flawless! all the twists and turns had me on the edge of my seat!

i think my favorite character would have to be tané. we didn’t get as much of her story as we did the others, true. but she spoke to my soul. a hidden past, seemingly abandoned by her birth parents and taken in by the temple (i’m like 80% sure it was a temple anyway) to learn and train to one day become a rider, having a dragon choose her and call her kin, claiming she has the heart of a dragon all while battling an insurmountable amount of guilt for lives she’s put in danger due to her own ambition. ughhhh i just loved her. i can’t explain it right. just know she’s marvelous and i wish only happy things for her from here on out.

i also love that all the queerness was so casual. the only issue anybody had with queer couples were due to blood heirs and classism. that’s it. so refreshing for two people of the same gender to be together and no one has an issue with it for the mere sake of it. especially in fantasy! you would assume since its all made-up, homophobia wouldn’t be a thing many fantasy stories subscribe to but you would be wrong. i also love that ace and aro also had rep in this. lost of people call this a sapphic fantasy, but that feels like a discredit to all the other queer identities represented in this book.

this is a tome, plain and simple. don’t let its size intimidate you though! once the story has you, its not gonna let go until you’ve read all 800+ pages it has for you. you’ll love it. but if you have trouble reading longer books, divide the book up by parts! it helped me immensely!

and when people say the story really starts to pick up at page 250, they truly were not lying.

5 stars (:

[edited 6/29]

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Religious bigotry, Torture, War, Confinement, Gore, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Cursing, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Pregnancy, Gun violence, Infertility, and Incest

Minor: Colonisation, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

concerning the incest: a character raises a child as her own then ends up falling in love with the child once they are grown. they are, fortunately, not blood related.

abbyschalupa's review

adventurous challenging slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Torture, Infertility, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Miscarriage, War, Violence, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Blood, Murder, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Addiction, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail