Reviews with content warning for Genocide - The Spear Cuts Through Water

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.

Content Warnings

charlotteregan's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

wardenred's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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

Wow, this is an incredibly hard book to rate. On one hand, I almost automatically five-starred it simply for how it is written. I'm in awe of what the author has done with the narrative and the structure. All the POV work alone, and the whole story within a story/world within a world thing—I have no words. And the prose is so eloquent and intricate, too. Honestly, the shape of the story is so masterfully constructed, it's unbelievable. I took so many notes while I was reading. It's a novel, but it's also kind of a play, and a massive mythic folk tale, and OMG, I wish I knew how to make language and structure do such magic.

On the other hand, when it comes to the essence of the story... Well, the longer I sit here, having finished it, the more I start feeling that it got a little lost under all the structural twists and curves. It was hard for me to connect with any of the characters, despite finding Jun's and Keema's journey really poignant. But it wasn't poignant in a way that made me perceive the characters as semi-real people existing at the intersection of the author's imagination and my own, as a reader. It was more like... the central themes of war and power and the impact they have? They shone really brightly through these characters' interactions, and the characters served their purpose really well as elements of the narrative. I don't know if I can explain it any better at this point.

Also, as I look back at the central plot, I feel like it was... maybe even a little bit less interesting than the framing device part, or at least some of the things the framing device part kept hinting at? If it wasn't for the structure, it would be fairly predictable, and it's more than a little slow. On the other hand, it sure was constructed in a way that showed off a lot of really amazing and skillful worldbuilding with plenty of original elements. But it still felt like what the story is came second to how it's told, and I'm not sure I'm a fan of this approach. At the same time, I do feel that the way the story's told is unique, beautiful, and also kind of makes all the darkness within the pages easier to bear (and trust me, there's a lot of darkness within these pages). When you're constantly figuring out the new angle to witness the narrative from, all the gore and the pain becomes just a little more artificial. Something that can't touch you on its own, but can be a vehicle to bring the themes home. Is that a good thing? Damn if I know. Maybe it's simply a little too litfic for my reading habits?..

Content Warnings

bittennailbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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

4.5

This is a love story to its blade-dented bone

This book changed my DNA. A frustrating, devastating, and blood soaked love story dedicated to fantasy lovers everywhere.

Two warriors are tasked with the impossible as they haul a dying mother god through the corrupt lands of her tyrannical children in hopes of stopping their reign once and for all. It holds no punches as it drags you hog tied through each gory act written like a play and told through the ever changing proverbial "I". As gory as the "Poppy Wars" and lyrical as "The Starless Sea", this is your next read for fantasy lovers everywhere. I repeat, read this book now!

Content Warnings

chymerra's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

When I first received the publisher’s request to review The Spear Cuts Through Water, I almost didn’t accept it. I had reviewed The Vanished Birds and “meh” about it. But when I read the blurb, it caught my interest, and I decided to give this book a chance. I am glad I did because this book was one of the most uniquely written books I have ever read. Oh, and I also really liked it.

The Spear Cuts Through Water had an exciting plotline. It follows the journey of Keema, a one-armed outcast, and Jun, grandson of the emperor, as they escort Jun’s goddess grandmother across the country. Jun and Keema face many dangers but discover strengths they didn’t know they had. There is also another storyline that is intertwined with Keema and Jun. That is the story of an unnamed man who finds himself in a place called the Inverted Theater after a lifetime of hardship. He is watching a play about Keema and Jun and their journey. Like me, he had questions about their journey. Will they complete their journey?

Usually, I will put a trigger and content warning at the end of my review. But, if I feel that the book’s content will immediately affect the reader or the triggers are horrible, I move it to the top of the review. The triggers in this book are a combination of both. If you are triggered by gore, genocide, ritual cannabilism, body horror, dismemberment, and ableism, do not read this book.

The Spear Cuts Through Water is a medium-paced book in a dystopian ancient Japan or China (I couldn’t figure out which one). The author uses a lot of Japanese and Chinese folklore as a base for the story. I loved it!! It made the book so much more enjoyable for me to read because I enjoy the folklore/mythology from those areas.

As I stated above, this was very uniquely written book. It was written in equal parts, 2nd person and 3rd person POVs. I can count on one hand how many books I have read in 2nd person. And I can count how many of those books I have liked on half of that hand. The author seamlessly switched between the 2nd and 3rd person without disrupting the book’s flow. I was surprised at how much I liked the way it was written. Now, saying that the way this book is written isn’t for everyone, and I would keep that in mind when starting it.

The main characters of The Spear Cuts Through Water were well-written. The author did a great job of fleshing them out and making me care about them (and their journey).

Keema—I liked him. There’s not much I can say about him other than that he was almost stupidly brave. I wouldn’t say I liked that he was looked down upon for only having one arm or that the other guards picked on him because of it. His journey with Keema was to find himself as much as it was to bring the Moon to her final destination.
Jun—So, he didn’t make the best first impression when he showed up in the book. But, as the book continued, I saw Jun’s character evolving. He started to care about Keema and what the Terrors were doing to the people during his journey. Heck, he even cared about the tortoise. By the end of the book, he has changed from the beginning.
Unknown Narrator—This is the person being told Jun and Keema’s story and their own life story. I felt terrible for this man. He had been through so much in life. He was amazed to find himself at the Inverted Theater, watching this story unfold. There was a more fantastic connection between Jun, Keema, and himself that was revealed at the end of the book. I didn’t see that twist coming!
The Three Terrors—I was going to make them secondary characters, but I got to thinking, and they each, in their way, were main characters. To me, they embodied the worst traits that society had. Jun’s father (the First Terror) was Violence. He participated in genocide in the Old World. He did love his sons, but that was his only redeeming quality. The Second Terror, to me, was Greed and Gluttony. In my eyes, he was the scariest Terror, mainly because of what he did to gain the powers of the tortoise. The Third Terror, I couldn’t place him in any group. He was a horror exiled from his family at a young age. I will not even get into what he was or what he did. But I did feel bad for him. The scene with the man in that dungeon was both gruesome and heartbreaking at the same time.
The Moon— I wasn’t sure about her. I understood why she wanted to leave (who would want to be held captive under a palace). But I wouldn’t say I liked how she coerced Jun and Keema to do what she wanted. She didn’t get to her destination, forcing Jun and Keema to do something atrocious, something I had heard of but had never seen written in a book before. She also held no love for her children. That bothered me more than anything, to be honest.

The Spear Cut Through Water did have a lot of notable secondary characters. I will not list them, but they all added extra depth to the book.

The Spear Cuts Through Water was listed as a fantasy novel. I agree, but it is more suited as a dark and epic fantasy. The author did a great job weaving the epic fantasy angle (the journey) and the dark fantasy angle (everything else). It made for a great read.

I also want to add that there is a romance and LGBTQ+ angle to this book also. Keema and Jun’s romance is cultivated throughout the entire book. There was so much given with a look between them. And the yearning, oh my, it was almost too much for me to bear.

The author amazingly wrote the main storyline with Keema, Jun, the Terrors, the Moon, and their journey. The author had me glued to the book, wanting to know more, and you know what? He gave it to me in spades. The author explained everything, and he tied everything together. The author left no loose ends with this plotline. There were a couple of twists I didn’t see coming.

The storylines with the unknown narrator and the Inverted Theater was well written. I didn’t get as invested as I did with the main storyline, but still, it drew me in. A twist in that storyline made me put my Kindle down. I needed a second to process what I had read because the twist was that unexpected and that good.

Several secondary storylines give some added background and depth to the main storylines. The author incorporated them into the main storyline without pausing the book’s flow.

The end of The Spear Cuts Through Water was not what I expected, but at the same time, I expected it, if that makes sense. I loved how the author ended the main storylines and how he merged them both.

Three reasons why you should read The Spear Cuts Through Water:

The storylines.
The characters.
Jun and Keema’s slow-burn romance

Three reasons why you shouldn’t read The Spear Cuts Through Water:

The triggers. I am usually pretty good with the number of triggers in the book, but even I got triggered by this book.
The way it was written. Being told in 2nd and 3rd person isn’t most people’s cup of tea.
The Terrors. They genuinely creeped me out.

Content Warnings

madamenovelist's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.5

Content Warnings

More...