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rosierosereads 's review for:
The Spear Cuts Through Water
by Simon Jimenez
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“… so instead you look about this Inverted Theater with a lost expression, your awe for your surroundings mixed with a deep longing, and unanswerable confusion, as you try to divine for what reason you might have been summoned here.
‘There is always a reason.’”
The Spear Cuts Through Water is a book of speculative fiction/fantasy truly unlike anything I’ve ever read before, the closest comparison I can draw being to N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy. The book is a wonder in creative writing, bouncing between first, second, and third POV narration and weaving together minor characters and stories in unpredictable ways. On multiple occasions, I was pulled from the story in sheer wonder of how Jimenez achieved 520 pages in this style. The writing was incredibly detailed and often times gut wrenchingly beautiful.
However, that detailed writing also led to the darker aspects of the plot of this book being inescapable and at some points nauseating for me. The gore, the cannabilism, the violence, the human despair and desecration. It was all a bit much and I almost DNFed the book. I persevered because I’d seen multiple reviewers say this was their favorite fantasy book ever and unfortunately that just wasn’t the case for me. The graphic nature paired with the “you’ll figure the writing out after the first 100 pages” paired with the fact that I actually didn’t feel invested in the main storyline that much led me to feel overall meh about this.
As someone who’s never really set a book down solely because of content warnings before I definitely say please! read the content warnings before diving into this one.
3.5 ⭐️ Rounded Up.
‘There is always a reason.’”
The Spear Cuts Through Water is a book of speculative fiction/fantasy truly unlike anything I’ve ever read before, the closest comparison I can draw being to N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy. The book is a wonder in creative writing, bouncing between first, second, and third POV narration and weaving together minor characters and stories in unpredictable ways. On multiple occasions, I was pulled from the story in sheer wonder of how Jimenez achieved 520 pages in this style. The writing was incredibly detailed and often times gut wrenchingly beautiful.
However, that detailed writing also led to the darker aspects of the plot of this book being inescapable and at some points nauseating for me. The gore, the cannabilism, the violence, the human despair and desecration. It was all a bit much and I almost DNFed the book. I persevered because I’d seen multiple reviewers say this was their favorite fantasy book ever and unfortunately that just wasn’t the case for me. The graphic nature paired with the “you’ll figure the writing out after the first 100 pages” paired with the fact that I actually didn’t feel invested in the main storyline that much led me to feel overall meh about this.
As someone who’s never really set a book down solely because of content warnings before I definitely say please! read the content warnings before diving into this one.
3.5 ⭐️ Rounded Up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Excrement, Cannibalism, Murder, War
Moderate: Suicide, Torture, Vomit