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Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
11 reviews
Graphic: Xenophobia, War
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Confinement, Homophobia, Infertility, Sexism, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic
the world-building was insane, the characters are so complex, and the author takes you for a JOURNEY. really loved this one and am itching to read the next one.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol
Oh, the characters. Ead Duryan? Certified badass with secret magic, bodyguard duties, and enough moral complexity to make a therapist weep. Sabran? Queen, icon, drama queen, and absolutely dripping in high-pressure “have-a-daughter-or-the-world-ends” anxiety. Then there’s Tané, our overly ambitious dragonrider-in-training with a guilt complex big enough to have its own ZIP code. Even the secondary cast—like Loth, the soft-hearted noble turned unwilling spy, and Niclays, the exiled grumpy gay alchemist with a wine dependency—had clear arcs and juicy flaws. I could pitch their personalities in a bar after two drinks and a shot of espresso. That’s saying something.
I was absolutely drowning in this world, and I loved it. Shannon crafted a globe-spanning saga, and each locale—be it the austere, wyrm-fearing Virtudom or the sea-drenched, dragon-revering Seiiki—was distinct and alive. The East/West cultural split wasn’t just flavor text; it was the narrative engine, and it drove everything from politics to religion to personal beefs. And the DRAGONS—holy scale-snapping glory, they’re elegant and strange and absolutely not your generic fire-breathing lizards. Give me more of that weird, mist-emitting, pearl-producing dragon magic, please.
Shannon’s prose walked the tightrope between lyrical and digestible without falling into purple prose hell. There were moments of quiet beauty (“water made flesh,” describing dragons? Ugh, yes) and others where I could feel her flexing just a bit too hard. But overall, I never stumbled or groaned, and the mix of narration and dialogue flowed like dragonflight. The multiple POVs were handled with a surgeon’s hand, not a meat cleaver, and I’d happily read her in another genre just to see what she'd do with it.
This was an epic fantasy brick of a book, and it knew it. The pacing, though? It occasionally thought it was running a triathlon through molasses. There were some draggy middle chapters where I could’ve sworn the plot was chasing its tail. But the payoff—oh boy, the payoff. Assassins, ancient evil, court intrigue, dragon duels, and sapphic romance all smashed together in a gloriously ambitious crescendo. It was a bit like watching a political thriller crash into a dragon anime with a side of secret society drama—and I mean that as a compliment. Mostly.
Did I ignore real-life responsibilities to see if Sabran would ever get a clue about Ead? Absolutely. Did I barrel through the dragon trials with Tané while side-eyeing the increasingly sketchy magic politics? Yep. Were there moments where I put the book down because I needed a breather from the intensity and not because I was bored? Also yes. My interest level never dipped into apathy, but occasionally the book got a little too obsessed with its own lore. Like, okay, I get it—ancient evil, dragon cults, destiny—can we please move along?
The internal logic of the world was chef’s kiss. The East/West tension made sense, the magic systems were distinct but not handwavey, and I didn’t spot any gaping plot holes big enough for a dragon to fly through. Relationships felt earned and deliciously messy. Ead and Sabran’s will-they-won’t-they (they did!) was tense, slow-burning, and complicated by power, duty, and trauma. Tané’s guilt spiral and her bond with her dragon (and Susa!) had weight. Niclays? My bitter little heart adored his arc of regret, longing, and queasy pragmatism.
Was this a dense, intimidating doorstopper of a book? Yes. Did I enjoy nearly every page like a rich, forbidden feast in a court full of backstabbers? Also yes. The blend of court politics, sapphic romance, dragon lore, and world-ending stakes was utterly satisfying. I was invested, emotional, and occasionally yelling “WHAT NOW?!” into the void. And I’d absolutely recommend this to anyone who wants a high fantasy epic that doesn’t erase queer women or relegate dragons to glorified taxis.
If Game of Thrones had less incest, more lesbians, and actual competent queens, it would look a lot like The Priory of the Orange Tree.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Genocide, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Outing, Abandonment
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Infertility, Miscarriage, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, War
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Blood, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Gore, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol
Moderate: Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, War, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Classism
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting
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!
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Classism
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry
One thing that is interesting to me is Shannon's willingness to introduce meaningless deaths. None of the main storytellers die, but plenty of people around them die in just meaningless ways. Some deaths I was incredibly upset over, but overall it felt like a good way to emphasis that not every death has meaning, but that doesn't mean that that person's life was pointless.
Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy
Moderate: War
Minor: Suicide, Death of parent