Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

23 reviews

silentquercus's review

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, Medical content, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Terminal illness

Minor: Genocide

historic_wince's review against another edition

challenging reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Vomit, Torture, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Genocide, Religious bigotry, and Physical abuse

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

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

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

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

booksthatburn's review against another edition

It feels like it’s taking forever to get anywhere. It’s so short that I made it over halfway through but I’m not enjoying it and I keep reading other things instead of making any progress.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria

Moderate: Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, and Death

Minor: Child abuse, Genocide, Excrement, Self harm, and Death of parent

unsuccessfulbookclub's review

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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

4.5

It feels like an NK Jemisin book - deeply social, intellectual, exciting, unclear morality of al characters, extremely queer. 

In it, the main character tries to exist in a world that does not want them because of their heritage and ability to perform a specific type of magic. I loved the world in this and the reflection on being an oppressed group who has also oppressed others. If you read this, make sure to read the authors note!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Dysphoria, Death, Colonisation, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Genocide, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Xenophobia

anxiousnachos's review

4.0

I thought this was a really fab little novella! I read it it one sitting. I thought the world was so interesting, I loved the way it explored oppression, how do you come to terms with being oppressed when your people once were the oppressors. I think it has a lot of parallels to the idea queer white people should really sit with more, that yes they are oppressed because of their queerness but also the oppressor due to their whiteness. I thought the novella explored this well. I also really liked the way Firuz’s character played out, their responsibility torn between family and community, their student and self, the guilt they felt, they were so well-characterised in such a short novel. And of course, the medical blood magic!! Dark, gory, excellent. 

I also very much appreciated the way queerness, especially transness, was woven into the magic of the story. The way transitioning was handled in the magic system, the style of introducing yourself, I loved this. 

I definitely think it could have worked really well as a longer novel, it is such a richly built world with very detailed political, historical and magical systems but I think Jamina did well to fit in a lot of content about the world and history and politics in such a short book. Would love to read more work in this world! 

Content warnings: Blood and gore, medical content, mass death/plague, body horror, colonisation, assault, poverty, self harm (for magic), refugee crisis, genocide, racism (particularly medical racism), body dysphoria, physical child abuse (past), death, graphic descriptions of corpses

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Genocide, Racism, Dysphoria, Medical content, Death, Body horror, Colonisation, Child abuse, Child death, and Blood

ryanlee's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Death and Physical abuse

Minor: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Murder, Xenophobia, and Genocide