Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

103 reviews

rhi_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Murder, Violence, War, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent, Dysphoria, Child death, and Torture

Minor: Alcoholism, Classism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Homophobia, and Confinement

matticatti's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

Beautiful world and prose. Some frank descriptions of the suffering humans inflict on one another. 

kaiju battle from absolute left field.

Loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cannibalism

lumidouce's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

It is difficult to rate this book, because I genuinely adored everything about it, except for one glaring issue: the ableism. At least for Keema, it is presented as a bad thing (in the end, at least; not as much in the beginning), but I cannot say the same for other characters,

namely the tortoise and the Third Terror.

The positives: I loved the concept of the Inverted Theater. The writing style is excellent, and I personally was not confused by the POV switches. The romance between Keema and Jun felt very natural and not at all forced, unlike a lot of fantasy novels I've read lately. The fantasy world-building was immersive and wonderful, and I felt like I was able to connect to the characters and the world they were in.

The negatives: the ableism. Some characters are described in ableist ways and are treated poorly by the cast due to their differences.

The tortoise is constantly referred to as "defective," and the Third Terror was shunned by everyone and infantilized. I did not feel that either of them got the ending they deserved or were treated very well in the end.

There are a lot of sexual scenes or comments that felt unnecessary and out-of-place. There is quite a bit of graphic content, including blood, gore, and cannibalism, which I normally do not mind, but some of the descriptions of cannibalism were even too much for me.

Overall, I loved the book, and would give it 4.5 stars if not for the ableism. But I believe it was done out of ignorance and not malice, so I don't feel right giving it 1 star, either. For now, I will leave it unrated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, and Gore

Moderate: Ableism and Sexual content

booklifeisthelife's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. It was dark, gritty but also lyrical. It had me on the edge of my seat. The way it was written was great and different but also challenging and confusing which is why there it's a 4 and not a 5. But the story is engaging, the characters interesting. There was a lot of twists and turns I did not see coming. Unpredictable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: War, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, and Torture

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Rape, and Child death

ktkeps's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Grief, Cannibalism, and Animal death

brinipor's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

WOWOWOWOW! This is one of the best books I've read in a minute! It's not for everyone, but it was for me! Normally, I don't like dense, slow-paced books, but this one had so much happening that I was having a grand old time. If you are into frame stories, messy characters, and don't mind second-person narration and hearing from all perspectives, I'd give this a try.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Cannibalism, Gore, Violence, and Ableism

Moderate: Kidnapping, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail

jesslinnea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Murder, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Gore, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Cannibalism

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Confinement, Sexual content, Torture, and War

Gore is not a main component of this book, so the detail is usually minimal. However violence and death/murder are very commonplace.

wormsnacks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-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

4.75

Extraordinarily written, the writer pulls no punches and weaves the story beautifully, my only issue is that while I understand the writer's dedication to leaving in lots of graphic or difficult scenes, I felt that towards the middle of the book it became a little too bogged down in the gore for me to easily recommend it without so warnings

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, War, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Incest, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

selenatothemax's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Violence, War, Torture, Ableism, Gore, Blood, Death, Grief, Incest, Murder, and Forced institutionalization

cozyscones's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, War, Death, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Cannibalism, Murder, Violence, Gore, and Animal death

Moderate: Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Torture

Minor: Misogyny