Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

13 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

prosenheim's review

adventurous inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Child abuse, Gore, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Violence, Blood, and Physical abuse

Minor: Self harm

trickphoenix's review

mysterious 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

2.5

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. All of the plot threads were conceptually very interesting to me, but I found the execution was lacking. 

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.

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Content Warnings

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

lovealwaysadi's review

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Dysphoria, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Xenophobia, Genocide, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Physical abuse and Violence

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

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

perditorian's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Blood

Moderate: Gore, Child abuse, Dysphoria, and Physical abuse

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

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

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