This book was trying to have a conversation about colonization and research ethics that the writer didn't have the skill to pull off. The discussions about cultural history and the odd little antagonisms from the governer that didn't go anywhere felt forced against the backdrop of the medical mystery and the family drama--which, oddly, worked quite well. The way Firuz's preoccupation with the various public health issues prevented them from helping their brother's gender alignment transition, which led the foster sister with her much more powerful magic to get involved, which tied back in with her training and the use of blood magic that was at the heart of the public health issues in the first place, was all quite well constructed. But the discussion about colonization and history sat oddly on top of that, which is a pity, because in the author's afterword Jamnia makes it clear that this was her real interest in telling this story.

Also, I never fully understood how the blood bruising worked, or how the magical solution (blood serum transfusion + sympathetic magic?) was supposed to work. It was clear from the various details that Jamnia has some kind of medical training (also confirmed in the afterword), but it wasn't translated clearly enough into the story, so I got left kind of confused.

A better writer could have made a very fine story out of these component parts. It is too bad that Naseem Jamnia is not that writer.