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taratearex's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Reread 2024
I really enjoy this little novella! Despite being a novella, it's dense with worldbuilding and strong characters, the world feels fully realized, yet leaves so many questions that it could have easily been a full length novel delving deeper. The writing is also dense, at times a bit hard to follow or doesn't quite flow, but still quite enjoyable and I look forward to more from this author. I absolutely loved the queer normative world and nonbinary and trans main characters, would love for a this to be a series of novellas in this universe.
The audiobook is excellent, read by one of my favorite narrators Fajer Al-Kaisi. My first read was the audiobook alone and given the dense worldbuilding, I preferred having the physical book this time, but I still listened to the audiobook because I just love the narration.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide, Gore, Racism, and Xenophobia
zydecovivo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Bullying, Genocide, Hate crime, Violence, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
flyinglark's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
I enjoyed how Firuz was a relatively "normal" protagonist, a thirty-year-old provider for their family who fled from their home country and does not rock the boat. Jamnia also highlights the nuances of immigration and being prideful of one's culture, as they mention, "[w]hat does it mean to be oppressed when you were once an oppressor."
I look forward to future work from this author, especially future works in this world.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Racism, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Genocide, Physical abuse, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
alwaysairie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
It is basically a murder mystery with magic and disease as a focus. The story is nothing revolutionary and the resolution is quite predictable. This said it wasn't something displeasing! In fact, it gave a lot of space to be with Firuz which was a great character to follow throughout the story.
It will also serve as a good representation for queer folks of Persian background, I'm very happy that this story exists for them
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, and Vomit
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Genocide, Self harm, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and War
Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
bea__reads's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Genocide, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation
Minor: Child death, Torture, and Dysphoria
rhi_'s review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Colonisation
toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: Racial slurs, Self harm, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War
nessynoname's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The concepts are all fantastic: a medical-fantasy story set in a queernormative Persian inspired world, with themes of immigration, xenophobia, conquest and class struggle. It is clear that the author writes from such a informed place as a person with a medical background and both Persian and queer identity. I just wish they would take more time with their exposition and character building.
I feel like I still don't have a very firm grasp on the history/geopolitics of this region because it is all delivered in very quick little spurts throughout the narrative. The characters too, feel... alright, but I don't know that I would really say that I really came to know any of them deeply.
I picked this book up for its asexual representation, and this is definitely an instance of the "it's not a big deal" kind of representation, where main character Firuz has a moment of internal narration noticing their brother acting flirty and sheepish to another character and Firuz ponders the contrast to their own disinterest to romance and sex, and that's all that's made of it. This is perfectly fine and an important form of representation, though I am personally currently hungry for some books of characters exploring their ace identities more at length. For those who are maybe not ace/aro but who prefer books with no romantic themes this will do nicely.
This is a good book, and worth the time, it just needed a bit more to be a great book.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Death, Xenophobia, Vomit, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Racism and Injury/Injury detail
trips's review against another edition
- 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
The other themes of the book, facing oppression as someone who's people were previously oppressor's, is not quite expanded as much as I wish it had been. Honestly I think this novella needed to be fully fleshed out into a full novel. The author has good ideas, just would have liked more of it to really understand the world and feel more invested in the character motivations.
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore and Racial slurs