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thereadingskeleton's review
mysterious
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
Rep: all-QBIPOC cast, nonbinary aroace MC, trans m SC, tons of other queer SCs (including sapphic, achillean, and nonbinary characters)
The Bruising of Qilwa introduces a queernormative Persian-inspired fantasy world with the story of Firuz-e Jafari, a nonbinary (and aroace!) refugee and practitioner of misunderstood blood magic. Having fled their homeland to escape the attempted genocide of blood magic users, Firuz and their family settle in the Free Democratic City-State of Qilwa. Firuz obtains a job at a free healing clinic and begins mentoring an orphaned refugee with powerful but untrained blood magic. With the city barely recovered from its last plague, Firuz is horrified to discover a deadly new disease sweeping through Qilwa—a disease with clear ties to blood magic. To protect themself, their family, and their new home, Firuz must both discover the source of the disease AND navigate the city’s complicated sociopolitical landscape.
Look, I know my own taste by now. I know that novellas rarely do it for me. But I keep picking them up in the hopes that the next one will be an exception. And you know what? I did actually enjoy this one!
Although it does fall victim to my usual complaints about novellas (primarily that I would rather have a fully fleshed-out novel so that the plot, pacing, and characters get the time and attention they deserve), I enjoyed spending time with the characters, learning about the world, and trailing along after Firuz while they gathered clues and figured out the mystery of the new disease.
The mystery part of the story seemed fairly obvious to me (for context, though, I don’t think I’ve been surprised by a twist in fifteen years), but I like what the author was going for in terms of spurring discussions about morality and cycles of prejudice. The author has mentioned plans for more stories set in this world, and I’m excited for that. I’d love to learn more about the magic system and spend some time in the areas surrounding Qilwa.
As a final note, I saw this compared to The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg, and I agree that they have similar vibes. If you enjoyed that one, this one is worth giving a shot.
The Bruising of Qilwa introduces a queernormative Persian-inspired fantasy world with the story of Firuz-e Jafari, a nonbinary (and aroace!) refugee and practitioner of misunderstood blood magic. Having fled their homeland to escape the attempted genocide of blood magic users, Firuz and their family settle in the Free Democratic City-State of Qilwa. Firuz obtains a job at a free healing clinic and begins mentoring an orphaned refugee with powerful but untrained blood magic. With the city barely recovered from its last plague, Firuz is horrified to discover a deadly new disease sweeping through Qilwa—a disease with clear ties to blood magic. To protect themself, their family, and their new home, Firuz must both discover the source of the disease AND navigate the city’s complicated sociopolitical landscape.
Look, I know my own taste by now. I know that novellas rarely do it for me. But I keep picking them up in the hopes that the next one will be an exception. And you know what? I did actually enjoy this one!
Although it does fall victim to my usual complaints about novellas (primarily that I would rather have a fully fleshed-out novel so that the plot, pacing, and characters get the time and attention they deserve), I enjoyed spending time with the characters, learning about the world, and trailing along after Firuz while they gathered clues and figured out the mystery of the new disease.
The mystery part of the story seemed fairly obvious to me (for context, though, I don’t think I’ve been surprised by a twist in fifteen years), but I like what the author was going for in terms of spurring discussions about morality and cycles of prejudice. The author has mentioned plans for more stories set in this world, and I’m excited for that. I’d love to learn more about the magic system and spend some time in the areas surrounding Qilwa.
As a final note, I saw this compared to The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg, and I agree that they have similar vibes. If you enjoyed that one, this one is worth giving a shot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Body horror, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death
Moderate: Self harm, Colonisation, and Dysphoria
Minor: Genocide
tinybluepixel's review
adventurous
mysterious
- 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? Yes
3.5
I was provided with an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you very much!
3.5 ....... 3.75 stars? This was good, but gosh, do I wish this was a full-blown novel instead of a novella.
Firuz arrives as a refugee/immigrant in Qilwa, a city that in the past has been ravaged by plague, and starts working at a free clinic run by a healer named Kofi. As they work there, a new disease emerges, which Firuz calls the blood-bruising.
Ultimately, the story felt too big for it's low page count. There is the underlying mystery of the blood-bruising, the immigration politics and analogies to the real-world occupation of Iran, the oppression of different peoples who then also become oppressed by something else, the feeling of being a stranger to one's own body, gender identities in general, body dysmorphia, transitioning, chosen family and its makings, a whole magic system, and the interconnection of all those issues with the magic system. It actually all feels organic and well-developed, but the page count is far too low for the potential of this exploration. Add to that the obscene amount of medical scenes (maybe I'm just way too stupid for the whole balancing-of-the-humors and blood-clotting aspects of medicine), but it ends up being fragmented, even a bit shallow, because nothing can be handled in the depth it deserves.
Not to say that this little book doesn't raise important questions - because it does. It definitely makes you think. However, I think it just needed a little bit more room to breathe.
3.5 ....... 3.75 stars? This was good, but gosh, do I wish this was a full-blown novel instead of a novella.
Firuz arrives as a refugee/immigrant in Qilwa, a city that in the past has been ravaged by plague, and starts working at a free clinic run by a healer named Kofi. As they work there, a new disease emerges, which Firuz calls the blood-bruising.
Ultimately, the story felt too big for it's low page count. There is the underlying mystery of the blood-bruising, the immigration politics and analogies to the real-world occupation of Iran, the oppression of different peoples who then also become oppressed by something else, the feeling of being a stranger to one's own body, gender identities in general, body dysmorphia, transitioning, chosen family and its makings, a whole magic system, and the interconnection of all those issues with the magic system. It actually all feels organic and well-developed, but the page count is far too low for the potential of this exploration. Add to that the obscene amount of medical scenes (maybe I'm just way too stupid for the whole balancing-of-the-humors and blood-clotting aspects of medicine), but it ends up being fragmented, even a bit shallow, because nothing can be handled in the depth it deserves.
Not to say that this little book doesn't raise important questions - because it does. It definitely makes you think. However, I think it just needed a little bit more room to breathe.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, Medical content, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Self harm, Chronic illness, Violence, and Xenophobia
foreverinastory's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Thank you to Tachyon Publishing and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my owb.
This was freaking fantastic!! Loved it so much. I hope Naseem continues to write fantasy and maybe something similar to this but a full length novel. I will wait 😌
The Bruising of Qilwa follows a nonbinary refugee as they leave their home in order to find a safe haven for their family. When they arrive in Qilwa, they find a job as a healer in a free clinic, working for Kofi. As they settle in to their new life, Firuz finds an orphan, Afsoneh, who is also a powerful blood mage and takes her under their wing. Firuz promises to teach her what they know, but only in maximum secrecy. In addition, Firuz and Kofi find new signs of a disease cycling through Qilwa. Rumors of blood magic abound and Firuz is terrified for their family and the consequences of the disease.
This novella was amazing!! I loved it with my whole heart. The way Persian culture influenced this book was beautiful. I loved that the whole cast is QPOC, we need more books and novellas like this one. Also, who doesn't love blood magic!? Sign me the heck up!
The other thing about this world that I think needs to be adapted in every other book stat is the way people introduced themselves. Pronouns were always included. Firuz introduced themselves as "they-Firuz" and I just love seeing pronouns normalized in fantasy. I need more books like this.
I loved the scientific aspects to this! It was so well done and while there is still some magic involved, it never felt like the science was completely unfounded. Which is something important to me as a scientist myself. I really loved seeing Firuz explore their magic and how they investigated the new disease.
This felt like a complete story. I wouldn't mind if it had been longer, mainly because I want more time in this world. The ending made sense and though the pace definitely picked up near the end, it didn't feel rushed. All in all, this is a must read!
The author has a rep breakdown and their own CWs here: https://www.naseemwrites.com/the-brui...
Rep: Refugee BIPOC nonbinary aroace MC with c-PTSD, BIPOC trans male side character, queer BIPOC female side character with c-PTSD, QBIPOC supporting cast, nonbinary side characters that use neopronouns, WLW side pairing, muslim inspired religious characters, chronically-ill side characters.
CWs: medical content, medical trauma, racism, xenophobia, mental illness (c-PTSD), blood, vomit, violence, death, child death, plague. Moderate: dysphoria, colonisation, genocide mentioned, disordered eating, self harm (pricking fingers/hand for blood), past mentions of child abuse, body horror, descriptions of corpses, trauma.
This was freaking fantastic!! Loved it so much. I hope Naseem continues to write fantasy and maybe something similar to this but a full length novel. I will wait 😌
The Bruising of Qilwa follows a nonbinary refugee as they leave their home in order to find a safe haven for their family. When they arrive in Qilwa, they find a job as a healer in a free clinic, working for Kofi. As they settle in to their new life, Firuz finds an orphan, Afsoneh, who is also a powerful blood mage and takes her under their wing. Firuz promises to teach her what they know, but only in maximum secrecy. In addition, Firuz and Kofi find new signs of a disease cycling through Qilwa. Rumors of blood magic abound and Firuz is terrified for their family and the consequences of the disease.
This novella was amazing!! I loved it with my whole heart. The way Persian culture influenced this book was beautiful. I loved that the whole cast is QPOC, we need more books and novellas like this one. Also, who doesn't love blood magic!? Sign me the heck up!
The other thing about this world that I think needs to be adapted in every other book stat is the way people introduced themselves. Pronouns were always included. Firuz introduced themselves as "they-Firuz" and I just love seeing pronouns normalized in fantasy. I need more books like this.
I loved the scientific aspects to this! It was so well done and while there is still some magic involved, it never felt like the science was completely unfounded. Which is something important to me as a scientist myself. I really loved seeing Firuz explore their magic and how they investigated the new disease.
This felt like a complete story. I wouldn't mind if it had been longer, mainly because I want more time in this world. The ending made sense and though the pace definitely picked up near the end, it didn't feel rushed. All in all, this is a must read!
The author has a rep breakdown and their own CWs here: https://www.naseemwrites.com/the-brui...
Rep: Refugee BIPOC nonbinary aroace MC with c-PTSD, BIPOC trans male side character, queer BIPOC female side character with c-PTSD, QBIPOC supporting cast, nonbinary side characters that use neopronouns, WLW side pairing, muslim inspired religious characters, chronically-ill side characters.
CWs: medical content, medical trauma, racism, xenophobia, mental illness (c-PTSD), blood, vomit, violence, death, child death, plague. Moderate: dysphoria, colonisation, genocide mentioned, disordered eating, self harm (pricking fingers/hand for blood), past mentions of child abuse, body horror, descriptions of corpses, trauma.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Medical trauma, Violence, Racism, Mental illness, Blood, Medical content, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Death
Moderate: Colonisation, Genocide, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Self harm, and Body horror
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