Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

49 reviews

immovabletype's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, War, Death of parent, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcoholism, Child death, Classism, Death, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Cannibalism, Cursing, and Excrement

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Trafficking

cadence99's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

5.0

It’s so rare that I find a book that is truly top of my list, five stars, yet this one has absolutely hit it out of the park. A rolling, poetic masterpiece that weaves together two ends of a long tapestry with such beautiful precision. I listened to this one on audio and I’d HIGHLY recommend the experience as it very much feels in the style of oral storytelling. I suspect that this book will stay on my mind for a long time, and it has certainly earned a spot among my all time favorite reads.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Vomit, War, Death of parent, Torture, Violence, Grief, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Addiction, and Alcohol

astrohannah's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Ableism, Animal death, Gore, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Murder

kevinscorner's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

5.0

A Spear Cuts Through Water is a brilliant epic fantasy standalone with unique storytelling. A man enters a dream theater where he watches a retelling about his ancestors while recalling the same story as told to him by his late grandmother. Two warriors are transporting the body of an empress goddess on a five day pilgrimage to destroy the empire she helped build and break the hold of the emperor and the three sons she birthed. Two stories from two separate timelines that weaves together into one epic story.

This book has an unconventional story structure that will be the deciding factor of whether you will love it or not. It is told in first, second, and third person that interject together (even within the same paragraph), jumps between timelines, and has no chapter breaks. In second person is the man in his dream watching in the Inverted Theater as he also recalls the same boyhood story told to him by his aging grandmother. In third person are the two warriors as they travel with a dying god, defeat the Three Terrors, and help destroy an empire. And interspersed throughout are first person perspectives that are formed by random thoughts and statements from various random characters within the story. Taken together, it can feel overwhelming initially, but as the story goes along, it starts making sense why it is told in this way (and not simply just a stylistic choice).

The main storyline is that of Jun and Keema, two warriors pulled together by chance as the earth-bound moon goddess escapes from the clutches of the emperor and his tyrannical reign. The favored son of the First Terror, Jun struggles with his past action and all the harm and deaths he has caused, attempting to somehow balance the scale by aiding the dying goddess return to the Moon Throne. Keema is a disabled outcast from a long-dead tribe, looking for his place in a world that he doesn’t belong in, reluctantly pulled into the plot by an oath he cannot break. From distrust to an uneasy partnership to friendship and more, we see these two young men evolve and grow in an intricate, action-packed, dark, and moving story. It is brutal, honest, and even gruesome (cannibalism being an important aspect as well as body horror). But ultimately, this is a love story “down to the blade-dented bone”. It is wonderful.

A Spear Cuts Through Water is a standout—a layered, complex, standalone epic fantasy with storytelling that is quite a reading experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Ableism, Cannibalism, Death, and Body horror

lumidouce's review against another edition

adventurous 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

It is difficult to rate this book, because I genuinely adored everything about it, except for one glaring issue: the ableism. At least for Keema, it is presented as a bad thing (in the end, at least; not as much in the beginning), but I cannot say the same for other characters,

namely the tortoise and the Third Terror.

The positives: I loved the concept of the Inverted Theater. The writing style is excellent, and I personally was not confused by the POV switches. The romance between Keema and Jun felt very natural and not at all forced, unlike a lot of fantasy novels I've read lately. The fantasy world-building was immersive and wonderful, and I felt like I was able to connect to the characters and the world they were in.

The negatives: the ableism. Some characters are described in ableist ways and are treated poorly by the cast due to their differences.

The tortoise is constantly referred to as "defective," and the Third Terror was shunned by everyone and infantilized. I did not feel that either of them got the ending they deserved or were treated very well in the end.

There are a lot of sexual scenes or comments that felt unnecessary and out-of-place. There is quite a bit of graphic content, including blood, gore, and cannibalism, which I normally do not mind, but some of the descriptions of cannibalism were even too much for me.

Overall, I loved the book, and would give it 4.5 stars if not for the ableism. But I believe it was done out of ignorance and not malice, so I don't feel right giving it 1 star, either. For now, I will leave it unrated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, and Gore

Moderate: Ableism and Sexual content

blakeandbooks's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Torture, Grief, Murder, Kidnapping, and Death

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Sexual content

brinipor's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-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

WOWOWOWOW! This is one of the best books I've read in a minute! It's not for everyone, but it was for me! Normally, I don't like dense, slow-paced books, but this one had so much happening that I was having a grand old time. If you are into frame stories, messy characters, and don't mind second-person narration and hearing from all perspectives, I'd give this a try.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Cannibalism, Gore, Violence, and Ableism

Moderate: Kidnapping, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail

selenatothemax's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Torture

Minor: Misogyny

sunjaybooks's review against another edition

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