A review by christinefitz
The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

dark mysterious sad tense
  • 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

I loved the queernormative world; there's such a diversity of gender and sexuality representation and while a character does struggle with dysphoria, queerphobia isn't the primary theme which is nice to see. There is, however, a lot of violence and dead people and dead animals and blood and xenophobia. So it's not exactly a conflict-free cozy fantasy. The primary focus is on the restricted use of blood magic, which opens the door for a bit of a mystery. I loved the mystery, but wasn't a huge fan of the blood magic device. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings