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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, Gore, Medical content, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Child death
Moderate: Colonisation, Genocide, War, Self harm, and Dysphoria
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Animal death, and Death of parent
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The blood magic was fascinating and dark, and I feel like we receive just enough information about it for its role in the story to land the way its supposed to. The main character and the antagonist are both well-meaning, flawed people. The plot didn't go the way I expected, and it was much more compelling than what I was expecting!
And I loved reading the author's afterword at the end of the book. I generally try to judge books on their own merits, but I do think that authorial intent is relevant, and I always love a thoughtful reflection on why something was written. It made me appreciate the book even more.
The beginning was a bit rough. I didn't get into the book right away. But was I was engaged, I finished the rest of it in one day. I look forward to more from this author/this world!
Graphic: Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Death, Blood, Xenophobia, Racism, Child death, Gore, and Medical content
bea__reads's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Medical trauma, Body horror, and Medical content
Moderate: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, and Xenophobia
Minor: Dysphoria, Child death, and Torture
nessynoname's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The concepts are all fantastic: a medical-fantasy story set in a queernormative Persian inspired world, with themes of immigration, xenophobia, conquest and class struggle. It is clear that the author writes from such a informed place as a person with a medical background and both Persian and queer identity. I just wish they would take more time with their exposition and character building.
I feel like I still don't have a very firm grasp on the history/geopolitics of this region because it is all delivered in very quick little spurts throughout the narrative. The characters too, feel... alright, but I don't know that I would really say that I really came to know any of them deeply.
I picked this book up for its asexual representation, and this is definitely an instance of the "it's not a big deal" kind of representation, where main character Firuz has a moment of internal narration noticing their brother acting flirty and sheepish to another character and Firuz ponders the contrast to their own disinterest to romance and sex, and that's all that's made of it. This is perfectly fine and an important form of representation, though I am personally currently hungry for some books of characters exploring their ace identities more at length. For those who are maybe not ace/aro but who prefer books with no romantic themes this will do nicely.
This is a good book, and worth the time, it just needed a bit more to be a great book.
Graphic: Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Blood, Child death, and Gore
Moderate: Xenophobia, Classism, Colonisation, Death, and Vomit
Minor: Racism and Injury/Injury detail
eni_iilorak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
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
- 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
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
larbster90's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Dysphoria, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Colonisation, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Racism, and Terminal illness
trickphoenix's review
- 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
2.5
There were way too many plots going on for a novella, and I felt they didn't get enough time individually to develop. The medical mystery itself I found compelling and it kept me going through the rest, but the interpersonal drama was tense and frustrating without feeling particularly cathartic, and there was never quite enough context given to drive home any of the points about imperialism and changing cultural identity as oppressor vs oppressed, which is a shame since the author seemed to be so thoughtful and knowledgeable on those topics! There just wasn't enough pages to really explore them.
The writing itself was also sometimes confusing; I found myself going back to re-read a few lines to see if I missed some context connecting the thoughts, but didn't find any connection between the two lines at all.
I really liked the extremely diverse inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters, and the seamless inclusion of introductory pronouns and neo-pronouns. I also found the magic system very interesting, and I was excited for the setting. But ultimately I think the delivery wasn't quite there yet. I'd definitely be interested in reading more work from this author to see how they grow and improve though.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Hate crime, Murder, Child death, Violence, Gore, and Classism
Minor: Self harm, Physical abuse, and Torture
alatenightreader's review
2.75
However, the world building was confusing to me and left me with a lot of questions.
I also struggled to care about these characters. I was left not really knowing these characters, or even what motivated them.
Minor: Child death
silentquercus's review
- 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
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, Medical content, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Terminal illness
Minor: Genocide