Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

5 reviews

aurora4847's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark mysterious 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

---

I was very confused about this book before I listened to it, it was nothing like I expected it to be! I anticipated a run-of-the-mill story with some interesting narrative devices, but this was truly like nothing else I've ever read. It was confusing at first, but by the end of the first day I was deep in it. I loved the little interjections from the background characters especially. It was a lot darker than I expected, which wasn't bad but caught me a bit off guard, especially with regards to

The Defect

and the

cannibalism

. I think if I completely engulfed myself into the book I would've gotten way more out of it and appreciated it a lot more than I did, but even a more surface-level read was very enjoyable!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol

Minor: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy

This book is dark, but also things go by quick enough that you don't linger in all the horrible things. There are multiple scenes of cannibalism, from both POVs. People are mind-controlled, including to do harmful or sexual things against their will. There's a lot of upsetting stuff that happens to sentient tortoises.

msrobynsonreads's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

terranstorm's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

---

Absolutely stunning and lyrical, I loved every moment of this. I read this like I was in a trance. I had to slow down and enjoy it, chew on it. I want to read this again when my heart needs something beautiful.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Sexual violence, Excrement, Cannibalism

magicman12348's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

rnbhargava's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

This book has a fantastic story that has you see the narrative of the story from a multitude of points of view but honestly it doesn’t get confusing. There’s even points where you recontextualize earlier points in the story where things weren’t exactly what you thought they were.
This is honestly one of my favorite reads in years. I now need to find Simon Jimenez’s first novel. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

The layering of potential triggers is heavy in this book. There are figures that are dead/potentially dead. There are figures that are mixed with animal appearance. There’s cannibalism. There’s borderline self loathing/coming to grips with being homosexual. There are points where characters are in each other’s heads. The villains are brutal and unforgiving. Even some of the supporting characters aren’t fully trustworthy at points. This book’s narrative is intense.