Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

12 reviews

bazer63's review

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

The central mystery was engaging and I enjoyed the references to real medicine and old medical theories in a fantasy setting, but the magic system felt a bit un fleshed out for how much focus it got, and the characters needed a few more moments of characterisation to better explore their dynamics. The worldbuilding more broadly was fun and I liked the attention paid to the textiles to set the scene.

The finale was weird thematically and the fact the finale's conflict drew attention to the historical conflict between the two ethnic groups could have been better forshadowed as for the most of the book the protagonist is part of an oppressed class and right at the end it's brought up that the protagonist's ethnic group used to oppress the Qilwa, which should have been tied more into the story if it was such an important part of the finale.

All in all a good book that could have used a couple dozen more pages to really flesh out the characters and world and make it great. Additonally, the author's thoughts at the end are worth considering and I'm open to the idea that someone of a different background could connect to the themes more than I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Medical content

Moderate: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, and Bullying

Minor: Dysphoria and Physical abuse

eni_iilorak's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Dysphoria, Medical content, Racism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Bullying

Minor: Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, and Police brutality

kimapede's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Medical trauma, Self harm, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Moderate: Child abuse, Genocide, Confinement, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, and Vomit

chughes5's review

dark 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Bullying, Dysphoria, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Body horror, Racism, and War

buttermellow's review

informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Medical content, Blood, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Bullying, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit

caseythereader's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Death, Gore, Self harm, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, and Dysphoria

idun_aurora's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

A short but impactful read! I do enjoy a fantasy mystery. Great setting, great characters, just beautiful and emotional. The depiction of sibling relationships is touching and genuine, so much so I could almost hear my own baby sisters whining about eggplant in the food at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical trauma, Dysphoria, Bullying, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Abandonment, Grief, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, and Xenophobia

decaying's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Blood, Colonisation, Medical content, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Bullying and Dysphoria

Minor: War and Genocide

theirgracegrace's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

A powerful and heart-wrenching debut from Naseem Jamnia. Firuz is trying to raise their family of refugees from a nearby country under military occupation in the free city of Qilwa. However, to make ends meet, they have to hide their blood magic abilities while working in the one free hospital in the city. As they do, they discover a mysterious plot is rising, and only blood magic could be to blame. An incredible story from a queer-normative world that really speaks to the southwest Asian immigrant experience. The twist is one I did not see coming in the slightest, and the ending gave me hope for the characters' broken world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Genocide, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Self harm, Torture, Body horror, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Racism, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Medical content, War, Bullying, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Police brutality, Classism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Vomit and Transphobia

opossumble's review

emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Colonisation, Racism, Violence, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Hate crime, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Physical abuse