Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

31 reviews

froyobaggns's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.5

it is a whole fantasy series crammed into one novel. it was very enjoyable, and its comparisons of religion and heresy were an interesting look at what we face in the real world. it was a beautifully woven tale. there were some moments where things happened very easily for characters, but overall i thought it was great 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, War, Death, Xenophobia, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Xenophobia, and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Death, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Abandonment, and Child death

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. 

---

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.

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. 🐉

.

.

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.

---

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

liaandersson's review

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-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

Where to begin?..

This could quite well be the best fantasy that I have ever read. There are tons of aspects which I adored and it is easier, for both you and I, if I take it in order.

Religion: Virtudom and the South have religions stemming from the same historical people, the differences being how these people are portrayed and what their acknowledged accomplishments were.  These religious differences put a strain to the fragile relationship between the South and Virtudom. I think this is a terrific analogy of how for example, the real world has countries fighting over which is the one true religion, when the truth is there is no single right one. All of them are right, if they are right for a certain individual. I hope you will understand my sentiment once you have read it, I have a hard time conveying the message through writing.

Mislabeling: There are several instances where foreigners (in relation to the ethnic group discussed) call certain groups by derogatory terms or even slurs. It is, in my opinion, a well-executed representation of modern slurs as well as the misgendering of queer people. The reoccurring scenario where one 'foreign' individual calls another by a negative slur/term, which is then corrected as if someone was misgendered. 

Queer: There is plenty of LGB representation among the main cast, as well as scattered information about historical figures and secondary characters. Still, there are no canon trans characters, even though I imagine some of them to be such. Other than the L, G AND B there is not much representation to see in regards of ace/aro, polyamory, intersex, trans and so on. 

History: I loved how the history of the fictional world was incorporated as storytellings between characters, and other creative solutions. It took me a hundred pages or so to connect the dots between all the historical people and their relevance, but a bit of switching from the index back to the story here and there eventually solved all of those problems. It was all very much worth it before I even got halfway through the book. 

Worldbuildning: Shannon managed to incorporate western, eastern and African fantasy. I loved to see how they all interacted with each other and enhanced one another. I don't believe I can have much to say about whether it was well represented or not, but I do hope it was done as best as could be. 

A fair warning that this book, at least in my opinion, is more driven by the characters than by the plot. Due to this, I have heard the common opinion that the ending of the book is quite abrupt, while I think it is quite satisfactory, from the perspective of the character's developmental arcs. 

Have a fun read!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Infertility, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, War, Abandonment, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Excrement, Toxic relationship, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Infidelity, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Vomit, Colonisation, and Confinement

Minor: Confinement, Torture, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, and Cursing

gracewiley's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: War, Xenophobia, Violence, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Miscarriage

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, and Incest

ameliacollins's review

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

This book is Lord of the Rings with gender and racial equality, queer representation, and dragons. So, in my opinon, it is a world building, magical masterpiece that sees its characters as deeply flawed but growing individuals that act in ways that humans would act. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcoholism, Dementia, Death of parent, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Torture

futureofmydays's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, War, and Xenophobia

kfox's review

adventurous tense medium-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? Yes

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

dancers_and_dragons's review

adventurous emotional inspiring 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

An epic of a book where the very balance of the world is changing, Priory of the Orange Tree tells the story of several main characters whose fates are intertwined. Samantha Shannon does a masterful job of weaving threads that are joined to others later, forming a wide tapestry of fantasy kingdoms and powers who realize the flaws in their morality, and that nothing is truly black and white. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Death, Colonisation, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Terminal illness, War, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

Fantasy Racism that is explored and challenged, fantasy religious bigotry that is explored and challenged, brief and non-graphic sexual content description in two scenes, with fade to black elsewhere

charliebriggs96's review

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious 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? No

4.0

Ok, this book I spectacular and a fantastic read with what seems like to me (I am not POC, so please correct me if I am wrong) great diversity. Of course, it’s a beefy book, but that didn’t overwhelm me once I started reading it. I just took my time and got on with it. However, sometimes the pacing did seem off, only because sometimes time passed without it being mentioned, and it is noted like 100 pages later.

Let’s talk about magic: I usually find magic systems either over-complex or utterly lazy. This, however, has a great magic system that makes complete sense. It almost gave me full metal alchemist vibes with the whole idea that your power is limited to how much you received to gave. I liked that also it heavily implied the yin and yang of energy. You cannot have one without the other. I enjoyed that.

Let’s talk religion: it’s a big part of this book, so it has to be mentioned because I think you can take this book and look at the world and see the similarities between the two. We as humans are prone to jumping the gun when it comes to faith, what is heresy and what is not and so on. Someone else’s religion, if not shared with your own is terrible, and evil, or at the very least a bad omen of sorts. Which is what this book shows, is utter bullsh*t. Every religion has the same underlined meaning and teachings, which can be said for the beliefs and faiths within this book. And I think Shannon did a great job at exploring that.

Let’s talk about the characters: Shannon did an excellent job at making an array of characters that you desperately love, come to love and then hate or despise right off of the bat. I have never in my life hoped for someone’s death more than I did with Niclays. As soon as he did what he did (when you read, you’ll know what I mean

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Torture