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

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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a_kt's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

5.0

Reading The Spear Cuts Through Water is like trying to remember a fever dream. When you lay down to sleep at night and your mind starts to swirl with all sorts of imaginary ideas but then you suddenly remember that time your brother stole your favorite toy for no reason, but then you imagine a really cool waterfall, but then you hear your grandma's stern voice telling you not to go outside with wet hair or you'll catch a cold, but then you try and think about mysterious warrior on an epic quest... but then you remember that presentation you're supposed to give at work tomorrow which makes you realize how tired you've become of your job... And so on. Are these thoughts and images and worries and distant memories connected at all? Well, yes. Otherwise your brain wouldn't be tossing them all together in your tired mind like a salad.

To read this book is to experience this sensation every time you crack it open. Scarcely page goes by where you, as the reader (and the narrator sometimes??) aren't poured out from one plotline to another like water from a cup. Sometimes the transition is so seamless its difficult to remember where you are. Sometimes its so jarring you get frustrated by not knowing what happens in the previous section. This book is a new form of stream of consciousness where I feel like I'm inside someone's mind right as they're about to fall asleep.

The plot(s) are beautifully interwoven with each other, the characters are extremely well written. The fantasy elements of this book are like experiencing an entire mythology breathed to life and then brilliantly burning out like a supernova. The more personal parts of this book are like looking into a cracked window of someone familiar's home. Its definitely one of the most thoughtfully written stories I've read, maybe ever.

If you were a fan of Vanished Birds, or if you are of the Ursula K. LeGuin, N.K. Jemisin, or Jeff Vandermeer persuasion, I'd definitely recommend picking this up. Be warned though, as other reviewers have pointed out, the narrative structure of this book does not lend itself very well to audiobook format- you almost certainly want to read this on the page in order to make sense of the shifting perspectives.

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wordsareworlds's review against another edition

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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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vatakarnic33's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring reflective 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

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becalexa's review against another edition

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4.75

i bought this book bc of the gorgeous cover and intriguing title and i couldn’t have been more unprepared for the masterpiece i was about to find within the pages. it’s like nothing else i’ve ever read and took a little while to get used to reading but once i was in i was IN. the way the author plays with perspective and tense is quite a feat, expertly weaving the reader in with the characters and occasionally suspending the story over itself in a way i’ve never read before. i just loved this story and the experience reading it was something special. the only reason this isnt a full 5 star is there were a few sentences that suffered from sentence fragment syndrome which i have personally been noticing a lot in newer novels and has become a pet peeve. additionally a thought i found myself having throughout was i would love to listen to an audiobook of this story recorded by the narrator of baldur’s gate 3 and additional voices for the italicized lines (if you’ve read it u know what i mean) lol i think her voice would be an amazing addition to the story.

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jesshaleth's review

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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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