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eatallthestars's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
This book redefined what a 5 star book is for me. It feels this masterpiece was crafted by gods and cradled by angels.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War, Alcohol, Sexual content, Child death, Violence, and Torture
creardon19's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
This book was really good. The only problem I have with it is how long it took to understand the flow of the book. If not for that, I would give it 5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism and Gore
violetlunablossom's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
I once heard someone call The Spear Cuts Through Water "the most unique reading experience they've ever had" and I couldn't agree more. This book is so reminiscent of traditional oral storytelling performances that you see across tons of different cultures and I don't think it's any coincidence that Simon Jimenez told this story in the format that he did. The jumps between first, second, and third person were a little hard to grasp at the beginning but once I was able to find my footing in the rhythm of Jimenez's style, my reading experience was automatically amplified.
Even though the main plot is pretty easy to follow—two young warriors are tasked with escorting a dying goddess across the land to end the violent reign of the sons of a tyrannical emperor—the number of twists and turns kept me engaged the entire time. The themes of love and redemption shined through all of this, though, and it was always honed back in when things were picking up or dying down. The two heroes, Jun and Keema, are brilliantly written, and the way their love blossoms through all the pain and trauma they experience is nothing short of touching. I was particularly endeared to Keema and found his thoughtful and tender heart to be a much-needed contrast to the cruelty around him.
I also want to gush about the side characters because never had I been so excited to read a new POV every page or chapter. It didn't matter if they had one line of (internal) dialogue or a dozen pages featuring their POV, all of it was impeccable. There was one particular POV that had me outright sobbing (iykyk) and I quite literally had to put my book down when it ended because it was literally one of the most incredible pieces of character writing I've ever read.
The way that violence is written is phenomenal too. There were so many times that I felt absolutely horrified at what I was reading and it was all the more unnerving with the beautiful prose that it was described with. So often have I read sci-fi fantasy books with straightforward, brutal violence but none have left me feeling viscerally uncomfortable the way Jimenez's descriptions have.
The Spear Cuts Through Water is a celebration of storytelling and a reminder of how impactful it is as a craft. I cannot recommend this book enough and urge everyone who reads this review to either pick up the book or give it a reread.
Even though the main plot is pretty easy to follow—two young warriors are tasked with escorting a dying goddess across the land to end the violent reign of the sons of a tyrannical emperor—the number of twists and turns kept me engaged the entire time. The themes of love and redemption shined through all of this, though, and it was always honed back in when things were picking up or dying down. The two heroes, Jun and Keema, are brilliantly written, and the way their love blossoms through all the pain and trauma they experience is nothing short of touching. I was particularly endeared to Keema and found his thoughtful and tender heart to be a much-needed contrast to the cruelty around him.
I also want to gush about the side characters because never had I been so excited to read a new POV every page or chapter. It didn't matter if they had one line of (internal) dialogue or a dozen pages featuring their POV, all of it was impeccable. There was one particular POV that had me outright sobbing (iykyk) and I quite literally had to put my book down when it ended because it was literally one of the most incredible pieces of character writing I've ever read.
The way that violence is written is phenomenal too. There were so many times that I felt absolutely horrified at what I was reading and it was all the more unnerving with the beautiful prose that it was described with. So often have I read sci-fi fantasy books with straightforward, brutal violence but none have left me feeling viscerally uncomfortable the way Jimenez's descriptions have.
The Spear Cuts Through Water is a celebration of storytelling and a reminder of how impactful it is as a craft. I cannot recommend this book enough and urge everyone who reads this review to either pick up the book or give it a reread.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Cannibalism, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Ableism, and Child abuse
micareads123's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Outstanding. This book is in a league of its own and has raised the bar for adult fantasy storytelling (for me). I think it’s safe to say it’s one of the best-crafted books I’ve ever read. It is a crime that it was overlooked for all of the awards last year.
The prose is phenomenal, almost poetic. Jimenez has undeniable talent, and his style is so incredibly unique. He gives readers only the amount of information they need to follow the story, nothing more. And not only does the author trust the reader to read the book with an open mind, he trusts that the reader trusts him to pull everything together in the end. The writing demands your full attention, but the payoff at the end is well worth the time it takes to read it.
The book feels like a dream, and that’s because it is one. While the majority of the narrative is told in the form of a performance in the Inverted Theatre, in a dream dimension, the story flows seamlessly back and forth through time, the author slowly weaving an expansive and sweeping tapestry. The author also expertly shifts between the first, second and third person, from paragraph to paragraph, even sentence to sentence. It’s as if the author looked at the chaos of juggling all three perspectives and said, challenge accepted. And he delivered.
The story explores themes of oral storytelling traditions, honouring one’s ancestors, colonization, cultural assimilation, war and, above all, love and intimacy. And it took me through so many emotions: awe, love, heartbreak, disgust. It turned my stomach and it made me laugh out loud on several occasions. It gave me sad and happy tears.
You get to see the two protagonists at their ugliest and in their most joyful moments, and by the end of the book, it feels as if you have spent a lifetime with them.
I don’t think this is a book for everyone. It is a book for readers who like to have their limits challenged or who want to read something very unlike anything they’ve read before. I would recommend it to fans of the Locked Tomb and Broken Earth trilogies.
Make sure to check CWs for this one!
The prose is phenomenal, almost poetic. Jimenez has undeniable talent, and his style is so incredibly unique. He gives readers only the amount of information they need to follow the story, nothing more. And not only does the author trust the reader to read the book with an open mind, he trusts that the reader trusts him to pull everything together in the end. The writing demands your full attention, but the payoff at the end is well worth the time it takes to read it.
The book feels like a dream, and that’s because it is one. While the majority of the narrative is told in the form of a performance in the Inverted Theatre, in a dream dimension, the story flows seamlessly back and forth through time, the author slowly weaving an expansive and sweeping tapestry. The author also expertly shifts between the first, second and third person, from paragraph to paragraph, even sentence to sentence. It’s as if the author looked at the chaos of juggling all three perspectives and said, challenge accepted. And he delivered.
The story explores themes of oral storytelling traditions, honouring one’s ancestors, colonization, cultural assimilation, war and, above all, love and intimacy. And it took me through so many emotions: awe, love, heartbreak, disgust. It turned my stomach and it made me laugh out loud on several occasions. It gave me sad and happy tears.
You get to see the two protagonists at their ugliest and in their most joyful moments, and by the end of the book, it feels as if you have spent a lifetime with them.
I don’t think this is a book for everyone. It is a book for readers who like to have their limits challenged or who want to read something very unlike anything they’ve read before. I would recommend it to fans of the Locked Tomb and Broken Earth trilogies.
Make sure to check CWs for this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Cannibalism
Moderate: Ableism
damalireads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
At a high level, SPEAR follows the journey of two warriors as they escort a goddess across a kingdom in order to end the reign of an oppressive family. At it’s core, it’s a love story. Jimenez goes to extreme lengths in storytelling format, prose, and stylistic choices to weave together multiple storylines that connect these two ideas together.
I have never read a book like this in my life. It’s a truly singular reading experience with an intricate format of storytelling that is deeply immersive. SPEAR is really a myth, within a play, within a story. The speaker (referred to as “You”, some parts are told in 2nd person) visits a theater that exists outside of time and space in a dream, and watches a play on the warrior’s journey, which includes the myths told by the speaker’s family through the years. It took me about 50-60 pages to really get into the swing of things, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Effortful reading that pays off is a difficult balance to strike and Jimenez did a great job.
The prose in this book is BEAUTIFUL and lyrical. There’s a very clear rhythm to the writing that makes it easy to flow through 50 pages. There are also some intentional choices that add to the emotional depth of the story. Amidst the face paced and violent journey the warriors embark on, italicized thoughts/commentary/backstory are offered in the text to give life to unnamed characters that are in the background. Also mixed in are the perspectives and commentary of the speaker’s life, their relatives, and side stories tied to them as well. It mimics the slightly wandering nature of oral storytelling, that initially takes a lot of effort to follow, but ultimately pays off by keeping the reader engaged.
I really enjoyed all the characters, even if I didn’t form a deep emotional connection to all of them. The main antagonists, the Three Terrors, absolutely lived up their names. The warriors, Keema and Jun, are initially strangers that grow to trust one another with their lives in a beautiful way. One critique I will say is that much of the characterization is more telling rather than showing, which sometimes made certain character decisions or reactions sudden to me. At the same time, I still loved how the characters developed over the course of the story.
The core critique I have for this book is with the world building. The world of Spear is sprawling with magic, political strife, majestic creatures, all spanning a large geography. There are times through the book where we get more context on why this world exists as it does, and some backstory to make sense of what’s seen, but I did struggle to really grasp the why behind a lot of these choices. Part of me wonders if this is just an element of the oral storytelling style, where myths are not necessarily explained in detail, even though you wish they were. It did cause multiple moments of confusion for me where the twists in conflict felt almost random, albeit exciting. The final 20% of the book had most of these instances for me, but the thrilling ending made me look past these confusing elements. I do wish more time was taken for some deeper world building, but I also think the story was amazing anyway.
All that being said, I’m so glad I read this book. I truly don’t know if I’d recommend it widely because it’s so unique, but if anything peaked your interest, I say you should give it a shot. I would 100% check the trigger warnings for this book before diving in. Ritualistic cannibalism is a theme, so yeah! So are pretty gory scenes. As someone who is very squeamish, I definitely had to skim through some parts.
4.75 stars
<i>Initial Thoughts: One of the most confusing, insane, electric, and moving books I've ever read. Probably the best experience I had reading a book? I'm still a little in shock so I'm sure there's more pointed critiques I could outline but until then! I had the time of my life.</i>
I have never read a book like this in my life. It’s a truly singular reading experience with an intricate format of storytelling that is deeply immersive. SPEAR is really a myth, within a play, within a story. The speaker (referred to as “You”, some parts are told in 2nd person) visits a theater that exists outside of time and space in a dream, and watches a play on the warrior’s journey, which includes the myths told by the speaker’s family through the years. It took me about 50-60 pages to really get into the swing of things, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Effortful reading that pays off is a difficult balance to strike and Jimenez did a great job.
The prose in this book is BEAUTIFUL and lyrical. There’s a very clear rhythm to the writing that makes it easy to flow through 50 pages. There are also some intentional choices that add to the emotional depth of the story. Amidst the face paced and violent journey the warriors embark on, italicized thoughts/commentary/backstory are offered in the text to give life to unnamed characters that are in the background. Also mixed in are the perspectives and commentary of the speaker’s life, their relatives, and side stories tied to them as well. It mimics the slightly wandering nature of oral storytelling, that initially takes a lot of effort to follow, but ultimately pays off by keeping the reader engaged.
I really enjoyed all the characters, even if I didn’t form a deep emotional connection to all of them. The main antagonists, the Three Terrors, absolutely lived up their names. The warriors, Keema and Jun, are initially strangers that grow to trust one another with their lives in a beautiful way. One critique I will say is that much of the characterization is more telling rather than showing, which sometimes made certain character decisions or reactions sudden to me. At the same time, I still loved how the characters developed over the course of the story.
The core critique I have for this book is with the world building. The world of Spear is sprawling with magic, political strife, majestic creatures, all spanning a large geography. There are times through the book where we get more context on why this world exists as it does, and some backstory to make sense of what’s seen, but I did struggle to really grasp the why behind a lot of these choices. Part of me wonders if this is just an element of the oral storytelling style, where myths are not necessarily explained in detail, even though you wish they were. It did cause multiple moments of confusion for me where the twists in conflict felt almost random, albeit exciting. The final 20% of the book had most of these instances for me, but the thrilling ending made me look past these confusing elements. I do wish more time was taken for some deeper world building, but I also think the story was amazing anyway.
All that being said, I’m so glad I read this book. I truly don’t know if I’d recommend it widely because it’s so unique, but if anything peaked your interest, I say you should give it a shot. I would 100% check the trigger warnings for this book before diving in. Ritualistic cannibalism is a theme, so yeah! So are pretty gory scenes. As someone who is very squeamish, I definitely had to skim through some parts.
4.75 stars
<i>Initial Thoughts: One of the most confusing, insane, electric, and moving books I've ever read. Probably the best experience I had reading a book? I'm still a little in shock so I'm sure there's more pointed critiques I could outline but until then! I had the time of my life.</i>
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Gore, and Cannibalism
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Cannibalism, Animal death, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, and Violence
ksparo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
5.0
One of the most beautiful books I’ve read. Stunning.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Blood
Minor: Death, Vomit, Excrement, and Cannibalism
avacadosocks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Ableism, Sexual content, Blood, Gore, and Child abuse
immovabletype's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, War, Death of parent, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcoholism, Child death, Classism, Death, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Cannibalism, Cursing, and Excrement
Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Trafficking
sissizc's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Cannibalism