Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

28 reviews

mnstarr's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Cannibalism

max_audet's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

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Every once in a blue moon, you read a book that makes you reevaluate the limit of what storytelling can be. The Spear Cuts Through Water is one of those extraordinary books. Expertly blending 3 POVs and 3 tenses (sometime in the same paragraph) the author carefully threaded together an incredible story that left me feeling empty and completely satisfied at the same time. An ode to the legacy of stories told through tradition and spoken word.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence

Minor: Body horror, Rape, Vomit

jesshaleth's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional 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

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A dream about a play of a folk tale your grandmother used to tell you. And yet it doesn't feel distant and alien, like an abstract telling might, it just feels mythic and beautiful. ...okay well no some of it was quite graphic and I couldn't call it all beautiful, check the content warnings, but like it fit into the themes and vibes somehow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Abandonment, Alcohol, War

iszys's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional 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

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While reading this, I really had to give in and just trust that the author was giving me enough information. I felt uncomfortable with my lack of truly understanding what was happening at all times, but I ended up really enjoying his unique writing style. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Cannibalism

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, War

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Rape

booklifeisthelife's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark 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: Complicated

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I really enjoyed this book. It was dark, gritty but also lyrical. It had me on the edge of my seat. The way it was written was great and different but also challenging and confusing which is why there it's a 4 and not a 5. But the story is engaging, the characters interesting. There was a lot of twists and turns I did not see coming. Unpredictable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Death, Torture, Grief, Cannibalism, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Rape, Suicidal thoughts

sunjaybooks's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional inspiring slow-paced

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

madamenovelist's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail

caseythereader's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

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Thanks to Del Rey Books for the free copy of this book.

 - THE SPEAR CUTS THROUGH WATER is one of those books that I simply have no idea how to review because it's so special. I've never read anything like it, and even at 500+ pages, I did not want it to end.
- The storytelling style took me a minute to get a handle on, as the narration drifts through many viewpoints and realities. The only way I can describe it is that the story felt liquid, and I was carried along the currents.
- The world Jimenez has created is vast and detailed, filled with so many characters with whom I would gladly spend whole separate novels. His writing is gorgeous and delicate. Even though this story is often harsh and violent, it is filled with tenderness for its characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Suicide