Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

79 reviews

changreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Genocide, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Murder, and Sexual content

aidamaria_reads's review against another edition

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

bettysbookishworld'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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Miscarriage

Moderate: War

Minor: Torture

liaandersson's review against another edition

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!

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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

marscantread's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective 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

I really enjoyed this book! The world building and character development were amazing, but the narrative does have some inconsistent pacing (this didn’t bother me too much, but it would be a fault for someone who enjoys books with a very well developed plot). I also really liked the sapphic side romance and the cast of characters had great diversity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Blood, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, and War

Minor: Infidelity, Animal cruelty, and Cursing

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

I finished this book weeks ago and I still don’t even know what to say because I loved it so much. <i>The Priory of the Orange Tree</i> is rich high fantasy and uses so many tropes and ideas common to the genre and yet somehow still feels totally unique. The worldbuilding is intricate, but because it is based in real European, Middle Eastern, and Asian folklore (and because the writing is amazing), it was never confusing (Frank Herbert, take notes!). The combination of sweeping worldbuilding, legends and folklore, and the slowest of slow burn romances pretty much hit all my favorite things to read about. I loved every single character (except Roos. He was annoying) and wanted the best for them (yeah, even Roos. He still sucks though).

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending):

Happy! Though I did feel that a few things were left unresolved—here’s hoping Shannon writes a sequel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, and Vomit

szuum's review against another edition

adventurous slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Religious bigotry

Minor: Medical trauma

strange_little_ranger'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Miscarriage, and Violence

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, War, and Vomit

anavirable's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, and Religious bigotry

the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

5.0

The book was stellar until the last 50 pages or so. The world building and plot development are immaculate, and I adore the characters and the ways they fit together throughout the story. The imagery and writing style are gorgeous and well-done. 

But the ending of the book was crammed into the last 50 (anticlimactic) pages.

For all the high stakes leading up to the final battle, how did no one die? How did literally every plot line just wrap up neatly? It was disappointing and felt rushed.

I would recommend this book to any fantasy fans, but I would warn readers to be prepared for many pages of world building with little action. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Death, Pregnancy, Violence, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Incest