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incipientdreamer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Cannibalism, Child death, Blood, Ableism, Body horror, Cursing, War, Violence, Animal cruelty, Death, Animal death, Colonisation, Gore, and Death of parent
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
twocents's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
What an abrasive story.
There are three things that I think people should know going into it:
1. The story is three layers: you (literally) as a child being told stories by your lola and your father, you watching a dream theater, and the dream theater playing the story that is the description on the back of the book. It's interesting the outer two stories are not mentioned at all in the book's description given that it is literally the setup for the book and is what closes out the story.
2. The story alternates between second, third, and first person, sometimes changing even sentence to sentence in a single paragraph. It takes some getting used to. Read the Amazon preview. If you don't like that bit, you won't like the way this story is told.
3. Although it's not technically grimdark, I have read intentional grimdark that salivates less over its violence and that is less violent. You will read things likethe perspective of a person being eaten alive in ritual cannibalism. It seems to revel in its grossness at times.
So I don't know who I would recommend this book to. The first two lend itself toward someone who likes a slow paced story (and by god do you get that in the last half of the book), but the last point lends itself to someone who likes a brisk paced story, as grimdark tends to work best when it cuts sharply.
I liked that the world seemed to be doing its thing, regardless of what the heroes were up to. I was interested in seeing Jun succeed. (Keema increasingly felt improbable to me.)
I didn't like the sheer bloat of the story. I thought it was done, and there was another 30+ minutes on my 1.25x speed audiobook. I don't really understand the things that it chose to beat you over the head with to make sure you understood vs. the things that were legitimately interesting that weren't touched on AT ALL.
So I'm left feeling like it was one of the most interesting style of books I read this year, but god is it abrasive.
There are three things that I think people should know going into it:
1. The story is three layers: you (literally) as a child being told stories by your lola and your father, you watching a dream theater, and the dream theater playing the story that is the description on the back of the book. It's interesting the outer two stories are not mentioned at all in the book's description given that it is literally the setup for the book and is what closes out the story.
2. The story alternates between second, third, and first person, sometimes changing even sentence to sentence in a single paragraph. It takes some getting used to. Read the Amazon preview. If you don't like that bit, you won't like the way this story is told.
3. Although it's not technically grimdark, I have read intentional grimdark that salivates less over its violence and that is less violent. You will read things like
So I don't know who I would recommend this book to. The first two lend itself toward someone who likes a slow paced story (and by god do you get that in the last half of the book), but the last point lends itself to someone who likes a brisk paced story, as grimdark tends to work best when it cuts sharply.
I liked that the world seemed to be doing its thing, regardless of what the heroes were up to. I was interested in seeing Jun succeed. (Keema increasingly felt improbable to me.)
I didn't like the sheer bloat of the story. I thought it was done, and there was another 30+ minutes on my 1.25x speed audiobook. I don't really understand the things that it chose to beat you over the head with to make sure you understood vs. the things that were legitimately interesting that weren't touched on AT ALL.
So I'm left feeling like it was one of the most interesting style of books I read this year, but god is it abrasive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Cannibalism, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Body horror
kaschaller's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Ableism, Grief, Colonisation, Gore, Body horror, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Torture, Excrement, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Confinement, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, War, Vomit, and Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Sexual content
Minor: Infidelity
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Thanks to Del Rey Books for the free copy of this book.
- THE SPEAR CUTS THROUGH WATER is one of those books that I simply have no idea how to review because it's so special. I've never read anything like it, and even at 500+ pages, I did not want it to end.
- The storytelling style took me a minute to get a handle on, as the narration drifts through many viewpoints and realities. The only way I can describe it is that the story felt liquid, and I was carried along the currents.
- The world Jimenez has created is vast and detailed, filled with so many characters with whom I would gladly spend whole separate novels. His writing is gorgeous and delicate. Even though this story is often harsh and violent, it is filled with tenderness for its characters.
- THE SPEAR CUTS THROUGH WATER is one of those books that I simply have no idea how to review because it's so special. I've never read anything like it, and even at 500+ pages, I did not want it to end.
- The storytelling style took me a minute to get a handle on, as the narration drifts through many viewpoints and realities. The only way I can describe it is that the story felt liquid, and I was carried along the currents.
- The world Jimenez has created is vast and detailed, filled with so many characters with whom I would gladly spend whole separate novels. His writing is gorgeous and delicate. Even though this story is often harsh and violent, it is filled with tenderness for its characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, Grief, Murder, Vomit, Excrement, Abandonment, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Gore, Sexual content, Confinement, Death of parent, Blood, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Violence
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Suicide
maddisaysmeow's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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 story is told in the mysterious inverted theater, outside of time and space. You are transported there with a spear in hand and your head full of stories. Stories your lola has told you about the old world. Performers enter the stage and begin to act out the five day journey of warriors Jun and Keema. They are tasked with delivering a dying god to her final destination across the old country. They face many obstacles and adversaries on their way. The author pushes the boundaries of storytelling in a way reminiscent of how stories are passed down through generations. This is a wondrous tale of family, duty, regret, and love.
I loved this book! Jimenez has such a way with words, I’d read his grocery lists. The writing is breathtaking, as are the characters. This book will require an open mind; The narration is done in second person for a good portion of the book. This invites the reader into the story in an incredibly unique way. If you like fantasy and myths, take a chance on this book. I promise it’s worth the leap.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Cannibalism, Violence, Death of parent, and Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Torture
Minor: Sexual content
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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