You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
hagwife 's review for:
The Spear Cuts Through Water
by Simon Jimenez
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
What a wonderfully complex story about family, history, place, and belonging; one of my favourite reads this year!
I don't think that I could write a summary that would do it justice without spoiling anything, so I won't. What really made this stand out for me is the narration and plotting. Jimenez builds a delightful frame story that twists in on and intersects with itself in unexpected ways. In addition, he uses first, second, and third-person points of view to create narrative layers that happen as simultaneously as one can in a written narrative, creating extraordinary depth. This is the kind of depth to characters and world-building for which many fantasy authors use multiple POVs (as in, multiple characters, not multiple types) and interludes and I had no idea how static that style of narration could feel until reading this.
It's definitely a more challenging read, between the narrative choices and the fact that while there are breaks, there aren't chapters. It is definitely violent at times, though I think the cruelest moments are ones that happen "off-screen" that we hear about later. None of it feels gratuitous and the world itself is one of extremes, so it is not misplaced.
I don't think that I could write a summary that would do it justice without spoiling anything, so I won't. What really made this stand out for me is the narration and plotting. Jimenez builds a delightful frame story that twists in on and intersects with itself in unexpected ways. In addition, he uses first, second, and third-person points of view to create narrative layers that happen as simultaneously as one can in a written narrative, creating extraordinary depth. This is the kind of depth to characters and world-building for which many fantasy authors use multiple POVs (as in, multiple characters, not multiple types) and interludes and I had no idea how static that style of narration could feel until reading this.
It's definitely a more challenging read, between the narrative choices and the fact that while there are breaks, there aren't chapters. It is definitely violent at times, though I think the cruelest moments are ones that happen "off-screen" that we hear about later. None of it feels gratuitous and the world itself is one of extremes, so it is not misplaced.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence