A review by zydecovivo
The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-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? No

4.0

I started seeing this book on tons of list for it's asexual and nonbinary representation, so I decided to read it. 
 
The story follows Firuz, a refugee who seeks to become a healer due to their magical abilities. However, Firuz must hide their main magical talents, which is blood healing. Firuz and their family's struggle to get by in a society that hates and fears refugees. There are also mystery illnesses spreading among the patients that Firuz is desperate to find the cause of. 
 
I will admit that it took me a lot of reading to get into this story. While the world seems interesting, I found it difficult to read due to the blatant xenophobia the characters face. And the climatic mystery does not really appear until the final section of the story. This was a very short novel, but I wonder if it would have benefitted from being expanded since I already found the novella length difficult. I did not really understand the magical systems or history that I felt was required to empathize with both our protagonists and antagonists. However, after reading the author's description of the story, attempting to imagine a place where the colonizer is displaced and colonized, I feel better about the story as a whole. Firuz is explicitly nonbinary and asexual, with supporting characters that are also queer and this is one of the few LGBTQ stories I've read that is not a romance. It was a good start and I would be interested in reading similar stories. 
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