Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

39 reviews

bazer63's review against another edition

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: Bullying, Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation

Minor: Physical abuse and Dysphoria

gcrkl's review against another edition

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

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

nessynoname's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• 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

This book has a lot of things going for it, but I found myself wanting it to give a little more. I really do think it could have used an extra hundred pages at least. 

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

challenging dark tense fast-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

A beautifully written novella about extremely current topics set in a very interesting magic world. I appreciate the inclusion of non-binary and trans character in a setting where others are fine with whatever you see yourself as but who/what you want to be perceived still very important to the identity of the characters themselves.
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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore and Racial slurs

twistmalchik's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Colonisation

Minor: Deadnaming and War

eni_iilorak's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Genocide, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Hate crime, Police brutality, and Fire/Fire injury

kimapede's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Self harm, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Racism, Vomit, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic

larbster90's review against another edition

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: Child death, Death, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Colonisation

chughes5's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Genocide, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

readerette's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious reflective 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

3.5

While the middle third was pretty repetitive, the overall story was engaging and I appreciated a nonbinary main character. It's already pretty short but it could have been shorter and still driven home its messages and had the same plot twist.

I enjoyed shifting the sibling conflict to the younger brother wanting the older sibling to use their magic to help him transition fully to his preferred gender from pettier types of sibling fights, but that also got pretty old after a while because it just made the little brother seem whiny and inconsiderate of the long hours Firuze put in at the clinic helping the sick and dying, which also paid for their house and food. The brother's transition is obviously important, but it was like he expected his sibling to do a dangerous magical practice off the cuff, which just seemed strange given how many times they talked about its risks and how Firuze's magic needed to stay hidden because revealing it could get them imprisoned or sent away. 

The audiobook was narrated well but because I'm not as familiar with Persian names I found myself wishing I were reading the physical or digital book so I could see spellings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing and Racism