Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

36 reviews

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

I don't really know what to make of this book. I liked having a nonbinary character, and the queernorm world in general. The world building was really good and I was invested in the characters and the plot. But the ending felt a bit.....I'm not sure how to describe it. I didn't hate it or anything but I don't feel like a lot was particularly resolved. It felt sudden in some ways. I dunno. I liked the book for the most part and think it was well-written, but I also don't think I'd actively recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Medical content, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Body horror

Moderate: Genocide and War

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Vomit

fareehareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Originally intended to be a short story exercise of medical fiction, the story of Fairuz and company transformed into something more. We follow a small family of Sassanian refugees fleeing the city of Dilmun where Sassanian blood magic practitioners are being persecuted (the queendom of Dilmun was an allegory for the Muslim conquest in Iran). Fairuz, their trans younger brother Parvaiz, mother, and recently adopted orphan named Afsoneh, try to find peace in the city of Qilwa which notoriously hates Sassanians. Fairuz meets a healer named Kofi who runs a clinic that helps people despite their refugee status or financial situation, and just when things seem to be going well, they discover a magical ailment infecting Qilwa called blood-bruising. Corpses begin to come in the local mortuary in odd states and Fairuz uses all of their medical and magical knowledge to figure out the cause & find a cure. 
For such a short piece of fiction, the world building in this book was immediately easy to pick up and felt quite grounded. The idea of environmental magic, blood magic, and structuralists had basic rules to function and limitations that wouldn't make any magic user all powerful.
The mentor and student relationship between Afsoneh, an untrained blood adept (magic user) and Fairuz an inexperienced teacher was so heartwarming. The difficulties Fairuz faced simply through lack of access and fear of something going terribly wrong were frustrating and so real. I felt for each of these characters so heavily. This book is heartwarming, raw, emotional, and at some points downright gruesome. If you don't like medical procedures or tons of blood, skip this one! But if you want to explore an extremely unique magic system and learn a bit about the refugee experience through fiction, this is the one for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Blood, and Self harm

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Violence

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

pvbobrien's review

dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Dysphoria, Gore, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Colonisation, and Grief

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

naldorah's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Medical content, and Body horror

jjjreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Vomit, Dysphoria, Genocide, Hate crime, Bullying, Child death, Grief, War, Xenophobia, Gore, Death, Blood, Body horror, Self harm, Violence, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Outing, Police brutality, and Racism

lbelow's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.75

This is a short read, but packed with so much complexity and nuance! It's the story of a refugee struggling to provide for their family and their people, but it's also the story of the daughter of immigrants who doesn't know her parents' native tongue and feels like she has something to prove, the story of a trans boy who struggles to make friends and who just wants to feel at home in his own body, the story of a man fighting against the dictates of a government paralyzed with the fear of being re-colonized by the refugees begging at their door—a man who will do anything to show that these refugees are people too and they deserve respect and fair medical treatment. A fantastic world, multi-faceted characters, an intriguing plot—this novella has it all! I can't wait to see what Mx. Jamnia writes next! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Child death, and Blood

clarabooksit's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Death, Blood, and Racism

Minor: Dysphoria, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and War

goldendreams's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Child death and Classism

Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit