Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

214 reviews

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

I have seen this book everywhere. My dad kindly bought me this for my birthday and I thought I would try and crack on with it. This book is slow-paced, and action packed.  

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction, but assassins are getting closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic. Across the dark sea, Tane has trained her whole life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel. Meanwhile, the divide East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.  

I usually struggle with fantasy books due to the world building and the characters and the terminology. But I didn’t struggle with this book. It was like slowly sinking into a marshmallow and I loved it. Usually, I can struggle with huge book if it a standalone, I love to read 600+ pages in the series but I can never usually do it with standalone, but this book worked for our big it was. If it was any bigger, I think I would have struggled.  The book was split into 5 fives and throughout the book, you get 4 point of views which include from the North, South, East and West. I love the slow character building that you can see comes to a point. I also enjoyed the love story within this book, and I wanted more of that.  

The only thing that stopped this being a five-star read for me was every big reveal and big twist was sort of anti-climax, I was just waiting for the reaction to be “Holy Sh*t” and it just didn’t happen, it was just sort of crept in and then we moved on. This was a really enjoyable read, but I was expected to be more of a big drop with the storyline. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, and Violence

Moderate: Infertility, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry

Minor: War

orchidd's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Murder

Moderate: Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content and Dementia

tangerinetea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

mostlyvoidpartiallystars's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

4.75

Beautiful romances, heart rending tragedies, terrifying magic, political webs...this book has everything a good fantasy epic needs. 

This book doesn't shy away from death, treachery, or despair, but there is still room for the tension of love, hope, and even triumph. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Minor: Infertility and Sexual assault

sophie42's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Misogyny, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Colonisation

kat__z8's review against another edition

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

5.0

This book is everything I look for in high fantasy, and more.

I read this book over the span of three weeks, which would usually guarantee a gradual loss of interest were it with any other book. But Priory is one of those rare books that just satisfy me whether I devour it in a few sittings or over a month.

It's a book that's at once immersive and jam-packed with actions and magical quests. It had been so long since I encountered a high fantasy world crafted with such care and details to every single aspect that matters. The countries? Splendid. The religions, myth and lore? Breathtaking. The people, the races and different creatures? Marvelous.

I said this book had more, and I seriously think this is where Shannon won compared to other old classics (sorry, LOTR!). The world here is just so rich and the characters and cultures so diverse, as is fit for our world. I could tell Shannon put so much effort in researching that much of the culture it's inspired from bled into the writing and I just felt so spoiled, the world building in this book was such a treat and feast for my senses! 

We have multiple POVs of characters who are all queer (Ead—lesbian, Tané—aroace, Loth—ace spec, Niclays—gay, and of course we have Queen Sabran, who is a prominent character even without a POV—bisexual). Shannon painted a world that's optimistically accepting and unapologetically feminist. Sure, there were still some sexism and heteronormativity left, but it's more closely tied to classism and there are constant fights by the characters against the system. There were also some small but very refreshing traditions like using a gender neutral term for one's spouse—a companion. Female characters were seen in position of power and it was no big deal. It's just a really refreshing and hopeful world despite the looming threat of the Nameless One. 

Finally, I just want to say that this book did take me some time to get into. The plot was clear from pretty early on, and like any other fantasy books, we get the typical quest to defeat the final enemy almost at the end of the book. In the meantime, I would just enjoy the trips and adventures these characters took me on, sometimes wide-eyed at certain plot twists.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, Blood, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

ezwolf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

Well it took me nearly a year from the first day I cracked it open, but I've finished it! 

I will admit that the beginning is a bit slow but I put that on the sheer amount of world building that's needed and once you're past that it really picks up speed and off we go. 

Ead and Sabran's stories (and story as a couple) and Tane's were really what interested me the most. I enjoyed Loth's POV as well but honestly was not interested in Niclays at all and every time we circled back to him I was ready to move on again. I am not usually a fan of alternating POVs but the way they all worked to tell the story was really fun to watch knit together at the end.

The way Shannon handles having a matriarchy, religious bigotry, politics all in a fantasy setting was beautifully done. 

I will also admit that the way this ends is not the way I like my (mostly) stand alone books to end, but this really only applies to Sabran and Ead. This is only a spoiler for anyone who has seen The Untamed, but it reminded me of the way that the show ends for Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji and I just like a bit more of a solid "and they lived happily ever after" for my couples and would love to see if we ever get anymore with them.

I eagerly await A Day of Fallen Night even though we'll be going backwards in time, it will be interesting to read about events already knowing how the future plays out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Infertility, Sexual content, Grief, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Miscarriage, and Death of parent

smithreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Animal death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, and Torture

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Dementia, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

shingekiyes's review against another edition

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