Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

48 reviews

letsgolesbians's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

wow, i did not know how much i needed to step into a queernornative world. it was a much needed comfort.

confession: i do not world build in my head when i read books. i rarely imagine the characters. which is one of the reasons i rarely read adult fantasy and i am not really the person to listen to when it comes to adult fantasy—i can’t tell you if the magic system or world or conflict made sense because it usually doesn’t make sense to me anyway. i can talk to you for hours about the magic systems in disney movies but that’s about it.

what i can tell you is that i loved the nuance in this book—the protagonist and antagonist are not hero and villain, the problem has been caused by an attempt at healing, and the problem is solved in a way that does not make the protagonist a winner.

in the author’s note, they say they didn’t initially intend to examine the question “what does it mean to be oppressed when you were once an oppressor?” but found themself writing about it as they deepened the story. i think the question, which firuz (the mc) asks themself several times throughout the book, strengthened the story and the character development. jamnia relates it to their being persian and persian history, and about unlearning things they originally never questioned about empire.

this is a quick read and i recommend it for fellow queer folks who want or need to step into a queernormative world.


photo review here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C5GmLQLr6VQ/?igsh=NzBmMjdhZWRiYQ==

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Medical content, and Colonisation

Moderate: Genocide

toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

Really well executed book that engages both magic and empire in a way I haven't often seen done! I'm always excited for magic-as-science and this definitely fit the bill. Also really liked how gender and transition was handled with this, where it was relevant to the characters and the story but not necessarily the point. 

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Content Warnings

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

gabe_escobedo's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Good book. A little confusing at times, with regards to the in world empires and conquests, but I enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Blood, Colonisation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

shelvesofivy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Grief, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

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

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

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