Reviews tagging 'War'

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

26 reviews

selenatothemax's review

adventurous dark 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: Cannibalism, Violence, War, Torture, Ableism, Gore, Blood, Death, Grief, Incest, Murder, and Forced institutionalization

cozyscones's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Cannibalism, Animal death, Violence, Gore, Domestic abuse, Murder, Animal cruelty, Ableism, and Death

Moderate: Torture, Excrement, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Misogyny

sunjaybooks's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring slow-paced

5.0

This book has it all! Gender, family trauma, psychic tortoises, ableism, gay sex, moral ambiguity, genocide, the broad scope of history, magic and myth. It's beautifully written and also deeply deeply violent and yet still humanistic in its portrayal of the aggressors, victims, and all the morally ambiguous people in between.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Excrement, War, Ableism, Alcoholism, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Classism, Self harm, Suicide, and Genocide

city_girl_writer's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Words cannot capture how much I have felt while reading this amazing piece of literature. Simon Jimenez became a new all-time favorite and auto-buy author for me. Check out the content warnings though because this is a dark story.

This is a love story to its blade-dented bone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Child abuse, and Ableism

Minor: War and Sexual assault

stinkyleaf's review

adventurous dark hopeful sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

Slowish start. Captivating style and narration. Dark and brutal depiction of Old Country life and death, very violent. Original legend/ mythology shines through

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Slavery, Death, Child death, Animal death, Excrement, War, Torture, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

vigil's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Abandonment, War, Death, Body horror, Animal death, Child abuse, Murder, Blood, Death of parent, Cursing, Confinement, and Alcohol

brideshead's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A perfect blend of first, second, and third person perspective that masterfully evokes folklore, epic fantasy, and brutal human drama. It haunted me the whole time, and it was a visual delight with searing imagery. The characters probably will not leave me for a long while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, War, Excrement, Death, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Ableism, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Body horror

yomireads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

How can such a dense and confusing prose style be so emotionally evocative and lush at the same time?? I almost want to lower my rating to reflect how difficult it sometimes was to follow the narrative, but the story being told was done so powerfully and evoked such profound moments of introspection that I ultimately found my gripes to be disingenuous. 

Told through a shifting perspective that begins in second person, readers know they're in for something off-beat from page one. Adapting to the writing style took me a long moment, and even by the end I had to be actively engaged in the text to keep track of the POVs and the relevance they added to this epic quest/war/political unrest story. We track our spear's path across this epic fantastic landscape, coming to know and love the two men accompanying the journey as their goals entangle together.

Lush with descriptive metaphor and imagery, it's not anything close to what I would consider something bingeable. I would recommend consuming this novel piece-meal as thay allows for reflection on the lessons that can be taken from the narrative and the unique theatrical impact the writing takes.

I was also floored by the characters, and the complex nature of growth, pain, guilt, love, resentment, shame, and duty (to name a few themes) play in creating a person. I having a disabled character who was disadvantaged but strong in the face of it, and particularly respected the way his backstory was handled, in that he was shown as more than what he lacked. He was represented as a whole, even when others disagreed. 

Check those content warnings, however, because there is a lot to be wary of. Cannabilism plays a large part in the plot of this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Cannibalism, Death, and Excrement

Moderate: Body shaming and Confinement

lexicona's review

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Violence, and War

charlotteregan's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

OH MY FUCKING GOD. When I tell you this book ruined me 10000x more than The Vanished Birds did. It is just so, so good. I devoured every paragraph in this book and I cannot even begin telling you how wonderful Jimenez’s writing is. 

The thing is he takes you in this world NO ONE will ever be able to create other than him and makes you believe you live there, and once you’ve finished reading his masterpiece, you will look in your ceiling and wonder why you still live in this useless reality where people isn’t just as magical as Simon Jimenez has made them out to be in his amazing, showstopping world. 

Jun and Keema? Amazing. My beloveds. My poor, sweet children. They very much deserved that ending and I am so happy. Jimenez loves making me cry with his queer ships and I will never be able to forgive him for it. 

Please please please pick up this book. Please read it. And please tell me everything. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gore, Cannibalism, Genocide, Body horror, and Ableism