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bittennailbooks's review against another edition
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!
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
Graphic: Gore, Death, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Body horror, Death of parent, Excrement, Blood, Genocide, Grief, Ableism, Murder, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Homophobia
blueshime's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
best book ive read this year and definitely one of the best ive ever read. literally changed the way stories can be told for me, i will never be the same after seeing how first, second and third person can be weaved so cleverly like this.
i read this via audiobook and the narrator did such an amazing job i was never lost or confused when we switched perspective but i can see that it might be different reading it traditionally.
i cant explain how like ?? raw and human this book is even tho its a fantasy ? some of the elements were also just weird but it worked so well for me i absolutely loved how things were told as they were.
loved loved LOVED. cant wait to see more by this author!
i read this via audiobook and the narrator did such an amazing job i was never lost or confused when we switched perspective but i can see that it might be different reading it traditionally.
i cant explain how like ?? raw and human this book is even tho its a fantasy ? some of the elements were also just weird but it worked so well for me i absolutely loved how things were told as they were.
loved loved LOVED. cant wait to see more by this author!
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault, Violence, Cannibalism, and Torture
madamenovelist's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Racism, Gore, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Murder, Religious bigotry, Rape, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Violence, Sexism, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Torture, Slavery, Sexual assault, Grief, Genocide, and War
poetry_shaman's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Gore, Emotional abuse, Murder, Violence, Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual content, Trafficking, and Sexual assault
mugs_it_is's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
As its blurb warns, this book will be like no fantasy you’ve read before, and that’s far from a bad thing. I thought The Spear Cuts Through Water was excellent, and rated it 4.5 stars. I also think it’s very hard to describe. Imagine a story told in a theater, and you are a member of the audience (yes, a portion of this book is told in second person, but even if you aren’t a fan of second person I urge you to suspend your distaste; it works here). The subject of this play is the story of an ancient myth, and that myth is real and forms the basis of the tale. It’s told both as the main story and as ‘you’ remember it being told by your grandmother, against the backdrop of some nameless war that takes place centuries after that tale. The whole thing is enlivened by a chorus of ghosts. There are talking animals, fantastically realized mythologies, and world-building so detailed you feel like you’re traveling within the tale as you read it. It’s not for the those who like their fantasy glossy and warmhearted; when Jimenez introduces us to the Emperor and his terrible sons, he does not hesitate to show us, again and again, how terrible they and the machinery of their power truly are. There is a lot of violence. But it is also a hopeful tale; epic and at the same time contained, giving a lot of credit to the ordinary, the day to day. It does not sweep human tragedy under the rug, either. If you’ve ever read a fantasy epic and wondered: How can an entire army just go poof? Jimenez’s chorus of ghosts is there to remind you at every turn that the characters whose deaths merit mere sentences are as living and as real (within the story world) as any person who gets a tale told about them. Perhaps if you like second person (Harrow the Ninth), or story-within-a-story narration (The Night Circus), you’ll like this. But I struggle to compare it to other books; I think only that it’s worth picking up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Animal cruelty, and Death
Moderate: War
Minor: Sexual assault
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