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“I loved this gorgeous book about blood magic, chosen family and refugees in a hostile city. Naseem Jamnia has created a rich, complex world in a very short space, and I am so into it. I’ve read a lot of books lately about empires and rulers and warfare, and it’s so refreshing to read a book that’s about healers. People in this book are trans, nonbinary, asexual and aromantic, and it's never a big deal but does matter to their characters, which I just adore.”
—Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky

[STARRED REVIEW] “This debut fantasy novella featuring a nonbinary protagonist sets its intriguing medical mystery within a Persian-inspired world. The city-state of Qilwa has provided a reluctant welcome for Firuz-e Jafari and their refugee family. As a healer practicing forbidden magic, Firuz fears discovery but still offers a helping hand at one of the city’s few remaining free clinics, where they find a friend and mentor in the healer Kofi. But the plague that is ravaging Qilwa increases tensions about migrants flooding the city and creates reams of new rules and regulations for the clinic. When a strange, new disease starts killing people and results in bodies that are preserved while decomposing, Firuz has a medical mystery on their hands that will lead to the greatest dilemma that a healer can face—how much harm is acceptable in the race for a cure? VERDICT The delicately interwoven complexity of the story, along with the loving portrait of Firuz and their found family, makes Jamnia’s fantasy puzzler a delight to read. Highly recommended, especially for fans of Katherine Addison’s The Witness for the Dead.”
—Library Journal

[STARRED REVIEW] “Naseem Jamnia’s brilliant and insightful novella, The Bruising of Qilwa, explores questions of identity and belonging in a nuanced medical mystery. . . . Jamnia has built an intricate, multi-layered world full of magic and queerness.”
—Shelf Awareness

“A fascinating medical mystery in a rich, complex world I didn’t want to leave.”
—S. A. Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass

“Naseem Jamnia is a bold, visionary writer and The Bruising of Qilwa makes for a superb introduction to their nuanced and evocative Persian-inspired fantasy.”
—David Anthony Durham, author of the Acacia Trilogy

“A stunning fantasy novel that confronts questions of belonging: to a culture, to a family, and to yourself . . . Jamnia’s queer-normative world is a welcome break from fantasy trends and tropes: people introduce themselves with pronouns without fanfare, and homophobia and transphobia as forms of oppression do not factor in. Cracking the door to a fresh fantasy world, The Bruising of Qilwa makes an unforgettable first impression.”
—Foreword

“I adored this city, with its vibrant history and super-fresh magic system, but I loved these astonishing complex vivid characters even more.”
—Sam J. Miller, author of Boys, Beasts & Men

“With prose that reads like lush poetry, The Bruising of Qilwa builds an intricate world full of history, magic, and life.”
—Z. R. Ellor, author of Silk Fire

“An incredible experience. I didn’t know world-building in a fantasy story could feel so seamless. That scenes around medical magic could make sense to me and increase my enjoyment of the story is still blowing my mind. The queerness in this book is so natural—no explanations, no phobias, just queer people living their lives.”
—Women Write About Comics

“Read if you like: blood magic, an overall science-based magic system, multicultural setting, healing, plants, sibling dynamics, a celebration of queerness, mentor figures, personal stakes, community, mystery, medicine/medical science, competent characters.”
—A. R. Frederiksen, author of The Deathsea Dyer

“The Bruising of Qilwa transports you to a lushly-described, beautifully imagined world where magic and medicine meet. “
—Neon Yang, author of the Tensorate series

“A tense exploration of weighty themes that can be easily mapped onto present-day issues, but grounded in lovable, sympathetic characters—many of them queer—and fun fantasy elements that are easy to understand but deep in their implications.”
—Autostraddle

“The Bruising of Qilwa is a book with enormous heart, gently and skillfully tackling topics ranging from immigration to racism to colonial history.”
—Every Book a Doorway

“A quick, engaging read with real heart and a thoughtful subtext to its immersive setting.”
—Christopher East

“An incredibly timely story, told by a deft hand that manages to weave a fascinating magic system together with all-too-real issues into something truly, wonderfully, not seen before. Equal parts slice of life, fantasy tale, medical drama and mystery blend into a book not soon to be forgotten, one that should be on everyone’s tbr!”
—Alice Scott, Barnes & Noble

5/5 stars. “This novella has a bit of everything: medical fantasy, slice-of-life, and a mystery, all presented in some of the tightest, most layered writing I’ve had the joy and privilege of reading.”
—Jo Writes Fantasy

“The characters were complex. The story and the emotions were complex. The way the book ended was perfection. It was messy. It was heartbreaking. It was exactly what I wanted and needed.”
—MI Book Reviews

National marketing plan to include prepublication endorsements from leading authors, review, and media outlets, and general publications for both fantasy and LGBTQIA+ audiences

Author tour to include Bluestockings Bookstore (New York); the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (New York); Boskone (Boston); the World Science Fiction convention (Chicago); Wiscon (Madison, Wisconsin); Sundance Bookstore (Reno, NV); the Portland Book Festival; and Writers with Drinks (San Francisco)

Online features to include Instagram tour, blog tour, Reddit AMA, and author and publisher social media campaign