Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

129 reviews

wreathedinviolets's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

This book is unbelievably complex and I’m so impressed despite all the different interwoven histories, storylines, and religions, everything made complete sense and was easy to follow (not always the case in giant high fantasy novels). I appreciated that all the details had a hint of connection to the real world, especially the old language that was similar to Middle English! Every narrator had interesting storylines (another big win) but I particularly enjoyed Ead and Tane. And of course the wlw storyline is everything!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Xenophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage

Minor: Child death, Torture, and Incest

beeboofighter's review

adventurous emotional inspiring 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

3.5

I enjoyed the part about Tané's and her dragon the most. It remained consistently good over the course of narration.
Just feels ridiculous to me that the book power couple doesn't get almost any of the impact throughout the story compared to the struggles of other characters. I enjoyed their romance nonetheless ofc. But like. Leave my girl Tané and the dragon aloooone 😭😭😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, War, Mental illness, Violence, and Torture

Minor: Pregnancy and Suicidal thoughts

toffishay's review

adventurous dark 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? No

4.25

This was such an awesome sweeping fantasy epic and I loved it! I am not normally a big fantasy reader, but I had heard awesome things and I am not disappointed. You get to read from the perspectives of four different character and it helps you get a sense of the world and get to know the people really well. The stakes also feel very real and I was on the edge of my seat more than once. It doesn't feel too long either, like I thought a book of this length might. It was very well-written and just felt very real. I could even see myself reading it again; maybe not too soon but it is a great time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Infertility, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, War, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexism, Xenophobia, Torture, and Incest

ging090803's review

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I started this book during my finals. Wasnt a great idea. It took more than a month to read... I am now broken. This book is incredible. The worldbuilding around it is insane. At some point, it seemed a little bit too long but i still appreciated it. Well, I freaking loved it. I recommand it for everyone who is into high fantasy. 
It might seem complicated to understand (and it is), but the story is worth to read. The characters are amazing. The past is well written which explained everything during the present. 
Anyway, 5 freaking stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, War, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Miscarriage, and Blood

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Infertility, Murder, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, and Religious bigotry

rtaire's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent, Infertility, Violence, Xenophobia, War, Child death, Gore, Pregnancy, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Miscarriage, Murder, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Mental illness

solarel's review

adventurous hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was creative while also being comfortable in its tropes. The characters felt like good friends, and the adventure! Wow what an epic adventure. 

Some of the plot decisions felt a bit hollow, as I saw some symbolism that wasn’t meant to be there, I suppose. But I can’t fault it for not following the thread I predicted. 

Lastly, for an epic fantasy like this, you would expect it to be dense and laborious to follow, but I found it very easy to digest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Torture, Infertility, Murder, Miscarriage, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Homophobia

Minor: Animal cruelty

If you consider dragons as animals, there is some cruelty.

ktownsend's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Miscarriage and Death

Minor: Pregnancy and Torture

aidamaria_reads's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.0

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon is one of the biggest books I’ve read so far. Was it worth it? Yes! Although I’m still not sure how to feel about the ending, somewhere between content and slightly frustrated? Either way, the worldbuilding is awesome, the women are fierce and the magic system is really interesting. And of course: dragons. 🐉

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However, if you’re a huge romance fan, you should be aware that’s not the main focus of this book. Despite multiple fascinating characters of different backgrounds and ethnicities, the story is mainly plot driven. If I had to pick one, I’d volunteer to be Loth’s companion. That man is too pure for his world and the loyalty to his loved ones blew me away. Anyway, I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves to read books like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones with a feminist twist.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Torture, Violence, War, and Lesbophobia

radioactiv's review

adventurous

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

I really enjoyed this but feel like a talented editor could have made this book truly shine. There are just a few things, particularly towards the end, that just don’t click into place and leave me wanting something more. All that build up and the second-to-last enemy seemed so much bigger and more relevant than the last one.

Despite 800 pages where disparate storylines slowly coalesce, parts just don’t mesh well.

One issue at the end: Noos’s seemingly out-of-nowhere decision not to attack Ead. He goes on this long spiel about alchemical balance and life to justify it, but it just doesn’t feel in character. And when he finds out about Truyde’s death he just… kind of accepts it?

Before that even, we have the extremely unlikely

agreement between all the non-dragon controlled world leaders to ally to defeat the Nameless One, despite Seiiki’s isolationist policies, Inys historically considering several countries damned, etc. All that comes together almost seamlessly with minimal time…

I enjoyed a lot of the world-building, particularly the two different interpretations of the same historic events by two different religious traditions, a la the Abrahamic religions. 

It’s a long book and I finished it in under 2 weeks, despite a reading slump throughout the pandemic. I truly enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and War

Moderate: Miscarriage, Alcoholism, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Infertility

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