I picked up a copy of Naseem Jamnia‘s The Bruising of Qilwa from the local library. Though the entire time I was reading it, I thought it was titled The Burning of Qilwa. For someone who reads a lot, sometimes it’s like I can’t read at all.
Firuz-e Jafari is fortunate enough to have immigrated to the Free Democratic City-State of Qilwa, fleeing the slaughter of other traditional Sassanian blood magic practitioners in their homeland. Despite the status of refugees in their new home, Firuz has a good job at a free healing clinic in Qilwa, working with Kofi, a kindly new employer, and mentoring Afsoneh, a troubled orphan refugee with powerful magic.
But Firuz and Kofi have discovered a terrible new disease which leaves mysterious bruises on its victims. The illness is spreading quickly through Qilwa, and there are dangerous accusations of ineptly performed blood magic. In order to survive, Firuz must break a deadly cycle of prejudice, untangle sociopolitical constraints, and find a fresh start for their both their blood and found family.
I was kind of meh on this one. I very much appreciated the asexual trans main character and the easy other LGBT representation in the rest of the book/world (as well as some of the important themes it challenges). However, I was also kind of bored throughout the whole thing. The blurb says the main character “must break a deadly cycle of prejudice, untangle sociopolitical constraints, and find a fresh start for both their blood and found family.” But they don’t really do any of that. They just kind of stand in frozen indecision until all of that happens around them. So…meh.
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