Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

8 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

gcrkl's review

adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Self harm

Moderate: Hate crime, Grief, Dysphoria, Colonisation, Death, Racism, Gore, and Religious bigotry

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

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

gardens_and_dragons's review

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

2.5 rounded up because it’s a debut that had a lot of promise. 

I did like the magic system, which was based on blood magic. I also enjoyed the way that pronouns and transitioning was normalized in their world, as well as asexuality, in a queernormative society. The second half of the book picks up on the actual plot and finding out more about the mysterious Illness plaguing the city. 

There are definitely some things that could have been helped by an editor. It felt like a lot of the action happens off screen and between sections/chapters in the beginning part of the book. For example: We are constantly being told how Firuz knows a character but not shown their relationship developing on the page first. We skip over them practicing at the clinic on the early days, earning money and moving their family away from the slums, etc. 

Also, the explanation of the complex sociopolitical history of this world came in very late into the story, so some world building felt rushed or missing until hindsight. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Xenophobia

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

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

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