Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

47 reviews

cheruphim's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.5

[reposted from Goodreads]
 This was a blast to read!

The lore and cosmology in it is rich, and the writing lends itself elegantly from third to first to second person. I love the story that Jimenez weaves in this novel, and I can't wait to read more by this author! :) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Ableism, and War

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Torture, Violence, and Slavery

Minor: Sexual content

isa_isa's review against another edition

2.5

Just not for me, the story felt too convoluted and slow paced. Very gory and graphic which isn’t my fave.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Torture, Cannibalism, and Death

persephonefoxx's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

5.0

This is, without a doubt, the most unique book I have ever read. My experience with this book (and experience is truly the only word to describe it) is one I highly doubt will be replicated any time soon, if ever. 

The story this book tells is as dark and raw as it is beautiful for it is “indeed a love story. Down to the blade-dented bone”

There is so little to say, because this book left me speechless and I fear it will consume my mind and soul for some time to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: War, Child abuse, Grief, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture

Minor: Death of parent

ellen_is_reading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

This book is otherworldly. Told as a dream, a story, a play, a dance, it is lyrical and magical both in content and writing. The people interject, filling the world with voices and details that make it feel like a rushing river of a story. It's dark, but beautiful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Animal death, Child death, Blood, Body horror, War, Violence, Murder, Torture, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Classism, Medical content, Child abuse, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, and Misogyny

a_kt's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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

5.0

Reading The Spear Cuts Through Water is like trying to remember a fever dream. When you lay down to sleep at night and your mind starts to swirl with all sorts of imaginary ideas but then you suddenly remember that time your brother stole your favorite toy for no reason, but then you imagine a really cool waterfall, but then you hear your grandma's stern voice telling you not to go outside with wet hair or you'll catch a cold, but then you try and think about mysterious warrior on an epic quest... but then you remember that presentation you're supposed to give at work tomorrow which makes you realize how tired you've become of your job... And so on. Are these thoughts and images and worries and distant memories connected at all? Well, yes. Otherwise your brain wouldn't be tossing them all together in your tired mind like a salad. 

To read this book is to experience this sensation every time you crack it open. Scarcely page goes by where you, as the reader (and the narrator sometimes??) aren't poured out from one plotline to another like water from a cup. Sometimes the transition is so seamless its difficult to remember where you are. Sometimes its so jarring you get frustrated by not knowing what happens in the previous section. This book is a new form of stream of consciousness where I feel like I'm inside someone's mind right as they're about to fall asleep. 

The plot(s) are beautifully interwoven with each other, the characters are extremely well written. The fantasy elements of this book are like experiencing an entire mythology breathed to life and then brilliantly burning out like a supernova. The more personal parts of this book are like looking into a cracked window of someone familiar's home. Its definitely one of the most thoughtfully written stories I've read, maybe ever. 

If you were a fan of Vanished Birds, or if you are of the Ursula K. LeGuin, N.K. Jemisin, or Jeff Vandermeer persuasion, I'd definitely recommend picking this up. Be warned though, as other reviewers have pointed out, the narrative structure of this book does not lend itself very well to audiobook format- you almost certainly want to read this on the page in order to make sense of the shifting perspectives.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Violence

Moderate: Ableism and Gore

Minor: Cannibalism

wordsareworlds's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

This book is a masterwork in playing with story structure, culture through diaspora, and basically so many feelings I felt on the verge of drowning in them but would drown happily.

Highly recommend the audiobook version, the narrator was a perfect pairing for the text and gave the entire work that extra dimension that drove home each level of the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, War, Body horror, Bullying, Murder, Violence, Grief, Animal cruelty, and Ableism

Moderate: Alcohol and Torture

Minor: Cannibalism

jesshaleth's review

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

4.75

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

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

strawb3rrysugar's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

If you're looking for a grand, epic fantasy that's unlike anything you've read before, and you're patient enough for a non-linear reading experience that shifts POVs (and narration styles) and timelines every couple of pages, I recommend this book. It took a good while for me to "get into" it, or to even really know what's going on, but I believe this to be the author's intention - you will have lots of questions and few answers. Also, do look up the TWs ahead of time. This book can get unflinchingly grisly at some points; this does not reflect upon my overall review of the book, but if you can't stomach kind of intense gore, maybe pass on this one. 

As is the case with a lot of 500+ page books, this book plays the long game - you will spend a good portion of it not entirely clued into what's going on. While it starts slow and sometimes lulls in the middle, the third act is excellently crafted. Anyone who loves a gritty, deeply human fantasy would enjoy this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Ableism, Death, Death of parent, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Drug use

Violence, war, trauma, and ableism are described often and in great detail, as they're core themes to the book. So there's a lot of the above, sometimes depicted cruelly - people in power enjoying the suffering of others to a strong degree. There's also many uses of the word cr*pple, and a sickly talking tortoise that's called "the Defective one." Some of the ableism is directed at mc Keema since he only has one arm. A lot of vomit scenes/mentions. A lot of references to bodily functions in general - piss, poop, and so on. Sexual content includes references to pornographic tablets sold by a street vendor and some sexual interactions with the main two MCs, eventually

culminating into a brief sex scene at the very end

The emperor's treatment of the empress in flashbacks could allude to sexual abuse.

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful 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

A really original and beautifully told story. The structure takes some getting used to but it's ultimately worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Ableism, Confinement, War, Murder, Violence, Grief, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Animal death, Mental illness, and Torture

Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Incest

starryjoy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I'm going to be processing my emotions for a few days. Just going to say for now, please try out this book. It was surprising how much I enjoyed it. Someone mentioned this is like Princess Mononoke but dialed up and the dial keeps spinning...oh no it broke. Theater vibes. Stories within stories. Top fav for this year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Cannibalism, War, Violence, Blood, and Ableism