Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

25 reviews

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

inmyths's review

5.0

absolutely adore this type of storytelling 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Blood, Animal death, Death of parent, Excrement, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, War, Cannibalism, Death, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Vomit, Sexual violence, and Suicide

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

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

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

augustriver's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cannibalism, Animal death, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, and Violence

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

niakantorka's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Every other year there’s a book among the many books one reads that’s unlike anything else. It can be the way of storytelling like in The Time Traveler’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger) or the play with composite and punctuation marks in The Stone Heart (Arno Schmidt) or the gargantuan idea in The Dark Forest (Liu Cixin). Amazingly, The Spear Cuts Through Water was also such a book for me.

Why did I think it is so special?

- There’s the way the story within the story which also contains countless other stories is told. 

- Then there is a potpourri of povs and tenses and among it everyone’s (except mine’s) least favourite second person pov. The narrator changes between paragraphs or even between sentences. One has to get used to it in the beginning but this unique style adds so much to the magic of this book. 

- There are different time lines, a more or less modern one where there are cars and telephones and a war,  the one of The Old Country where gods and magic rule and where your life can be forfeit in the blink of an eye, and the dream sphere where both worlds meet in a play on the stage of The Inverted Theatre set between The Moon and The Water and conducted by their child.

- Our protagonists in The Old Country’s storyline are on a quest to help the escaped Moon goddess to change the ruling of the country which implies to kill off her children and grandchildren. Let’s just say with one and a half exceptions this family is a living nightmare and one can relate to her wishes pretty soon. Oh, the two guys, Keema and Jun, have got 5 days to get this accomplished. No pressure. 

- Our protagonist in the modern time is more elusive and maybe one isn’t as engaged in her family tale as in the other thread running but both are and will be connected.

- Its language is vivid, its imagery vast, and it gave me the most superb fairytale vibes. 

- It’s also a very gruesome and cruel book which contains descriptions of all sorts of mental and physical violence and abuse. I went in without knowing more than its summary but I’m not one to be disturbed by a fantasy setting.

That said, I can see how this is not a book for everyone. And yet I loved reading it so very much. 

I can imagine that The Spear Cuts Through Water would be an amazing play or movie and - now that I know the story - is a worthwhile audiobook to listen to. Though I’m not sure it’s a good idea to try the latter from the beginning because it takes a while to get used to its style and to make the connections between its different parts.

This is a book for people who love to be surprised, who like a challenge, and who can be patient when it comes to gathering what it’s all about. You’ll be rewarded with a one-of-a-kind tale about life, love, and - yes - also about death.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Physical abuse, Blood, Mental illness, Death, Dysphoria, Body horror, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Torture, and Gore