A review by bamboobones_rory
The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

This novella had a lot of potential with the great characters and themes, but it tries to do to much in a short space, and so the world building details and plot become rushed- rattling off the background info for the reader, then switching to a slow scene slice-of-life description. I was excited about the plot and it's cool to see a non-binary MC in a Persian inspired fantasy world, but overall the book fell flat by trying to do way too much in a short number of pages. It seems like it should be a full length novel or multiple books for the level of worldbuilding, or else the plot itself could be a short story. This seems like the kinda of jam-packing a story that new authors who are excited about their world do.  I think Naseem Jamnia is an author to keep an eye on for future books.