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avisreadsandreads's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Child death, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Confinement, Colonisation, Self harm, Vomit, Dysphoria, and Torture
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
bobbi's review
challenging
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? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Racism
Moderate: Death, Child abuse, Torture, and Child death
ra22ouille's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-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
3.0
I loved the queerness of this works and think it was fine really well in a world building way and in how it was tied to the plot.
Overall mostly enjoyable but I didn't like the pacing. I thought the timing of all the plot points was a bit sloppy and it left me bored at points, especially the beginning.
Overall mostly enjoyable but I didn't like the pacing. I thought the timing of all the plot points was a bit sloppy and it left me bored at points, especially the beginning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Blood
Moderate: Violence
ofbooksandechos's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Medical content, and Child death
Moderate: Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Dysphoria, and Colonisation
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Self harm
content warnings provided by the author: Medical racism Ethnically motivated violence Former colonization/empire Descriptions of a refugee/migration crisis Mentions of genocide Discussions/handling of a plague Child death Disordered eating behavior Mostly mild self-harm (for magic reasons) Body dysmorphia from gender dysphoria (and related medical transitions) Discussions of trauma, including past (childhood) physical abuse (for magic reasons) Implied child neglect Body horror and medical gore, including graphic descriptions of corpsesskudiklier'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.
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
kentanapages's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A story of blood magic and empire, of healing and found family...
The Bruising of Qilwa follows they-Firuz as they struggle to make their way in the city-state of Qilwa, where they (and their brother and mother) have moved to escape persecution in their homeland, now Dilmun. We learn early on that Firuz is a blood adept of average talent, who never finished training but finds meaning in healing others. Firuz finds work with a Qilwani healer, Kofi, who runs the only clinic willing to open their doors to the Sassanian migrants that continue flooding in from Dilmun. Firuz struggles to find their place and take care of their family, and hopes for a friend and mentor in Kofi, while hiding as much of theirself and their past as possible.... but that may change when a new disease breaks out that seems to be rooted in blood magic and targeting refugees from Dilmun.
While Firuz becomes more and more desperate to find a cure for this deadly blood magic illness, we have subplots involving their family and personal struggles. He-Parviz, Firuz’s teen brother, was born a male trapped in a female body. He is also becoming increasingly desperate, but in his case it's to find a cure for his dysmorphia as puberty wreaks havoc on his body. In their homeland, in the past, it would have required a simple magical alignment by the elders practicing blood magic; but Firuz never finished training and was not incredibly talented in these arts to begin with. We also meet a young refugee, she-Afsoneh, who has her own strong blood magic talent. She's taken in by Firuz and becomes part of the family, but we learn that there is danger in an untrained blood mage with too much innate power.
What did it mean to belong to a people who had once subjugated another before becoming subjugated themselves?
Throughout all of this, there is the underlying question of empire and conquered, of the ruling and the ruled. Mirroring some of the history of the Persian empire and modern day Iran, we learn that the Qilwanis were once subjugated by the Sassanians; they eventually helped Dilmun overcome Sassanid, bargaining to become a free city-state afterwards. In the afterword, the author speaks more about this, reflecting on their own reality as a double-marginalized person in the United States, with their own rich cultural history involving an empire that flourished for many years, but also conquered in those years.
They ask, “It didn't matter that Persians had invented algebra or been the founders of modern medicine... What did such accomplishments mean when there were still subjugated people under our care?
But what did it also mean that while we had once been an empire, we were now a hated people?”
It’s quite remarkable that all of this is packed into 179 pages, but part of that is made possible by some jumps and changes in pacing. The pacing isn't perfect, and it feels like the result of a story that wants to be a novel being restrained as a novella. The story is organized into three sections, each representing a year. The first section, 'Year One', starts off strong, but doesn’t go as deep with the level of world-building I was hoping for. I found myself craving more here. We then jump ahead almost a full year to 'Year Two', and the reader is filled in on what has happened rather than getting to experience it. Again, I realize this is necessary to keep this as short fiction. I loved the pacing and world-building in Year Two, right up until the end of it. This was the meat of the story and was incredible. I did find the resolution and jump to “Year Three” a bit rushed, but that's again because this is such a wonderful magical world and I wanted more--more experiencing, less telling. This is wonderful for shorter fiction, and I think it's impressive that so much was accomplished in so few pages.... however I would LOVE to see this as the full novel I think it's asking to be ;) Please officially consider this an offer to be a beta reader if you ever go that route, Naseem! <3
Only because of the pacing, I rate this as 4.25. But on Goodreads I'm rounding this up to 5 (because I can, and ratings are silly and limiting anyway). I would definitely recommend this book to lovers of fantasy, especially if you, like me, love the underlying themes of empire, and if you appreciate queernorm worlds with lovingly represented diverse characters and normalized pronoun sharing.
The Bruising of Qilwa follows they-Firuz as they struggle to make their way in the city-state of Qilwa, where they (and their brother and mother) have moved to escape persecution in their homeland, now Dilmun. We learn early on that Firuz is a blood adept of average talent, who never finished training but finds meaning in healing others. Firuz finds work with a Qilwani healer, Kofi, who runs the only clinic willing to open their doors to the Sassanian migrants that continue flooding in from Dilmun. Firuz struggles to find their place and take care of their family, and hopes for a friend and mentor in Kofi, while hiding as much of theirself and their past as possible.... but that may change when a new disease breaks out that seems to be rooted in blood magic and targeting refugees from Dilmun.
While Firuz becomes more and more desperate to find a cure for this deadly blood magic illness, we have subplots involving their family and personal struggles. He-Parviz, Firuz’s teen brother, was born a male trapped in a female body. He is also becoming increasingly desperate, but in his case it's to find a cure for his dysmorphia as puberty wreaks havoc on his body. In their homeland, in the past, it would have required a simple magical alignment by the elders practicing blood magic; but Firuz never finished training and was not incredibly talented in these arts to begin with. We also meet a young refugee, she-Afsoneh, who has her own strong blood magic talent. She's taken in by Firuz and becomes part of the family, but we learn that there is danger in an untrained blood mage with too much innate power.
What did it mean to belong to a people who had once subjugated another before becoming subjugated themselves?
Throughout all of this, there is the underlying question of empire and conquered, of the ruling and the ruled. Mirroring some of the history of the Persian empire and modern day Iran, we learn that the Qilwanis were once subjugated by the Sassanians; they eventually helped Dilmun overcome Sassanid, bargaining to become a free city-state afterwards. In the afterword, the author speaks more about this, reflecting on their own reality as a double-marginalized person in the United States, with their own rich cultural history involving an empire that flourished for many years, but also conquered in those years.
They ask, “It didn't matter that Persians had invented algebra or been the founders of modern medicine... What did such accomplishments mean when there were still subjugated people under our care?
But what did it also mean that while we had once been an empire, we were now a hated people?”
It’s quite remarkable that all of this is packed into 179 pages, but part of that is made possible by some jumps and changes in pacing. The pacing isn't perfect, and it feels like the result of a story that wants to be a novel being restrained as a novella. The story is organized into three sections, each representing a year. The first section, 'Year One', starts off strong, but doesn’t go as deep with the level of world-building I was hoping for. I found myself craving more here. We then jump ahead almost a full year to 'Year Two', and the reader is filled in on what has happened rather than getting to experience it. Again, I realize this is necessary to keep this as short fiction. I loved the pacing and world-building in Year Two, right up until the end of it. This was the meat of the story and was incredible. I did find the resolution and jump to “Year Three” a bit rushed, but that's again because this is such a wonderful magical world and I wanted more--more experiencing, less telling. This is wonderful for shorter fiction, and I think it's impressive that so much was accomplished in so few pages.... however I would LOVE to see this as the full novel I think it's asking to be ;) Please officially consider this an offer to be a beta reader if you ever go that route, Naseem! <3
Only because of the pacing, I rate this as 4.25. But on Goodreads I'm rounding this up to 5 (because I can, and ratings are silly and limiting anyway). I would definitely recommend this book to lovers of fantasy, especially if you, like me, love the underlying themes of empire, and if you appreciate queernorm worlds with lovingly represented diverse characters and normalized pronoun sharing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Colonisation and Racism
amyejones's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? No
5.0
A masterful illustration of what it means to be a refugee in a country that is afraid of and distrusts you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Medical content and Gore
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.
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
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
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Child death, and Blood