Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

20 reviews

princessrory's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.”

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

snackattackisback69's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

The rich world building and character development of this story were phenomenal. The multiple POVs and the shorter chapters made the story flow and made the length of the book much more digestible. The sapphic romance in this book was also incredible. My one issue is the finale of book felt a little anticlimactic due to how short it was in comparison to the large build up throughout the book. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

takarakei's review

Go to review page

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

4.5

  • EPIC fantasy
  • sapphic slow burn
  • dragons
  • fate/destiny
  • battle against 'evil'

I honestly highly recommend reading A Day of Fallen Night first if you haven't. I believe SS recommends that you try and it does make ADOFN a bit of an uphill struggle with all the world building, but it pays off when you get to TPOTOT and you're just breezing on through (well... it's easier at least)!

My biggest critique of this book is the Niclays POV - I just did not care enough about him as a character and I felt his was the weakest POV and that side of the story could have been told differently. Also slight pacing issues as the end feels a bit rushed and doesn't match the pace of the rest of the book. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

questionable_reader's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

marjoleinvanderspoel's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad 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

4.5

Aaaahhhh screaming, crying, etc.

Just such perfect fantasy, great worldbuilding and fantastic pacing throughout. The development of the mystery felt really natural and the twists were unexpected but never random. All the characters felt very real and acted according to their own motivations. Only wish the ending would have been more grand and epic to befit the build-up, it did end up feeling a little rushed, or too neat somehow. Still, what a ride.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

charlee92's review

Go to review page

adventurous 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? No

2.5

 whew. I did it. I'm not a stranger to long books but this one is not very digestible. I understand a lot of world building needs to be done, but with 4 different plots happening alongside each other having this being broken into 2 books would have been better.

So much time was wasted on the building and fluff parts that it felt almost all of the big parts were to short, too quick. the climax just immediately tanks, if it even really builds all the way to the climax.

I saw another reviewer say inelegant and I feel that is perfect to describe this.

the dragons were cool, I like the characters. it just felt like a slog because of the length vs plot struggle.  I thought about giving it a 3 but then I was like I am not sure I would really recommend this.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

doodeedoda's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

2.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

theirgracegrace's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

The size may look daunting at first, but the depth and wealth of this book is beyond that of many series, much less individual books. Priory is an epic fantasy that stretches across a world divided by their love or and hatred for dragons. In the West, a handmaiden to a queen protects her from a plot while nursing hidden secrets of her own, and a young man is sent on a dangerous mission to an enemy land. In the East, a young woman trains to be the next dragon rider of her people and an old alchemist in exile seeks eternal life in a foreign land. The story travels the length and breadth of the world, culminating in an epic battle to determine the fate of the world. My only gripe with this amazing book was that certain plotlines were solved a bit too quickly and handily in order to get to those end chapters, and everyone seems to be able to speak each other's language with very little explanation. Absolutely cinematic-quality descriptions, heart-wrenching moments, surprise reversals and twists of fate make this a book for every fantasy lover out there. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

fizzymilk22's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Book is so good it got me back into reading books again immediately despite being a super dense 800 page long fantasy novel. I love how it takes a seemingly generic fantasy setup and uses it to examine human flaws and societal issues in such an interesting and natural way OH GOD it's so amazing. This has to be one of the best casts of characters I've ever seen in this kind of story, they're all so individually compelling but they compliment each other when together as well. Please read this I'm begging you

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ethen_rey's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings