Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

81 reviews

maileesque's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

I absolutely loved this book. as most fantasy books with intricate worldbuilding it takes a while to get into, but as an autistic person, all that information is a dream. I loved the romance between Ead and Sabran, and I would die for Ead and Tané—they’re so badass. what I will say, however, is that the battle scene felt a little easy or short, but that could also just have been because I was tearing through the pages at an impossible speed.

edit upon reread: one thing I adore is how Shannon lets her character have flaws. she lets them make mistakes, lets them be wrong—horribly wrong, even. she doesn’t shy away from showing her characters’ moral failings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Incest, and Suicide

pregnancy and childbirth (and fear thereof) and miscarriage are major themes. religion also plays a big role. fantasy-typical violence and death are there. I would suggest visiting doesthedogdie.com for an extensive list of warnings

oliviafaye's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

tinana's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Miscarriage, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death

troisha's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Infertility, Sexual content, Torture, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, and Dementia

emmeline's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Rape, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Incest, Infertility, Sexual content, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

sarah_d's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, and Grief

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Blood, and Murder

baexlee'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? Yes

5.0

This one took me a while longer than it probably should have because life got in the way but wow did that give me the chance to really savor this book. Samantha Shannon creates a vibrant world that is easy to slip away into for hours at a time. I read this book as a buddy read with a friend so I had a lot of comments and thoughts along the way and in turn decided to annotate. My annotation system included 5 colors for the following subjects - interesting/notable plot point, beautiful prose, good line, questions, romance. 

There is so much packed into this novel that I almost cannot remember where I can begin now that I am at the end, it's a journey driven by the character through and through. Well paced and beautifully tied together in the end it was a pleasure to read and absolutely blew me away. 

From the moment we meet the main characters they each tell us who they are through their actions, Ead by killing the mercenary that was outside Sabran's bedchambers, Tané by putting her ambition above the protocol and Susa's safety and allowing her to take Sulyard to Roos, ultimately kicking off the chain of events for everyone involved. 

I loved Ead and Sabran's relationship, damn me for saying I wanted to see more of it explored on page. I had an entire annotation flag for it and it was one of the most used flags. (9 if you were wondering) But I would still love to see more of them exploring what it means for them and their places of power, especially at the end when Sabran is suggesting stepping away from the throne in a few years.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, and Religious bigotry

booksandcat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Slavery, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

goldengirlbookclub's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Murder

foreverinastory's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

4.5/5

This reread went SO MUCH BETTER than I expected! I remember being very indifferent about this book when I first read it (it was a case of it's me, not the book). I didn't remember a solid like 50% of this LMAO. What I did remember happened a lot faster than I was expecting, especially

Aubrecht and Kit's deaths, I definitely thought those had happened much later

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I love Ead. She and Tane are definitely my favorite in this book. Also Tane is ace in case you were wondering. I totally fell for these incredible warrior ladies, especially Ead. We see had damn badass she is ALL THE TIME and I was here for it. One day I'd like to sit and read this book with my eyes, but alas that will probably be when I retire LOL. 

The mythology and world-building is absolutely incredible. There is so much of it too, so be prepared. But it is absolutely necessary and done so well. The cast of this book is incredibly diverse in racial identity/ethnic identity and sexuality. The only thing I wish was there were nonbinary or trans characters. 

Also there are dragons!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Bullying, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Dementia