Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

45 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

narzibenoucdel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cannibalism, Blood, Death, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: War, Body horror, and Sexual content

fostley's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Violence, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse

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

mothie_girlie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

Zuko dupe

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Genocide, Cannibalism, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Alcoholism

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.

nettles's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual content and Cannibalism

Gay!

harryjordan42's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Gore

Moderate: Vomit and Torture

Minor: Sexual content

britnic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Blood, Cannibalism, Torture, Gore, Genocide, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual content

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