Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

11 reviews

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

Oh this book is GOOD! The way it explores its characters and its central themes, the way Naseem Jamnia creates and develops an entire world in so few pages... yes yes yes.

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!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Death, Blood, Xenophobia, Racism, Child death, Gore, and Medical content

larbster90's review

adventurous hopeful sad fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

kayladaila's review

dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Terminal illness, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Medical content

Moderate: Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Dysphoria, and Gore

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Genocide

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

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

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

katieo156's review

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

2.75

Interesting premise that would have been great if fleshed out more. With such a short page count it was impossible to effectively build the world, history, and magic system without leaving gaps. I'll definitely keep an eye out for what the author writes next and hope it's a bit longer! I really liked the blend of magic and science and the diversity of the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Murder, and Blood

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

displacedcactus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

This was an interesting book but I think it tried to do/be too many things in too few pages, so that no particular element of the story felt as strong as it could have been. I'd definitely read another book by this author as I think they have a lot of promise and some great ideas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia

Minor: Child death, Vomit, and Death of parent

Specific gross stuff:

putrification, pus, bloated dead bodies, autopsy

This book is generally pretty gory and it's worth paying attention to the fact that it deals with a healer blood mage during a plague. I'm moderately squeamish and certain scenes were difficult for me to read! Also, this is a fictional world, so the racism and xenophobia are against fictional groups, but they closely mirror real-world opinions about immigrants and ethnic minorities.

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