Reviews

This was a fun take on the types of stories previously found in the Arabian nights. I really liked the focus on the Arabian Sea and the cultural aspects.

bookshelvesoverflowing's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

4.5

st_morwenna's review against another edition

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adventurous funny informative lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

3.75

ppizzini's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

lilifane's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

In her youth, Amina al-Sirafi was a famous pirate. But her priorities shifted when she had a daughter. She gave up piracy and settled down. As a middle-aged woman, she is kind of forced to go on one last adventure to rescue a late crew member's daughter and protect her own.
I absolutely loved the first half of the book. It was mostly Amina trying to get her old crew back together for this last job. I loved how every crew member was introduced; I loved the banter between them and the constant reminders that they are not as young anymore. It's so refreshing to have older characters as protagonists in adventurous fantasy stories but making fun of their little issues that come with age made it even better.
The second half was more action packed and got pretty wild. It was hard to keep up, to be honest, but I still liked it a lot. The atmosphere and writing were amazing and I had a generally great time reading and listening to the audio book (which is fantastic btw, it literally brings the characters to life). Around 99% of the book, I was sure I'd give it 4–4.5 stars. Because although I had a lot of fun, there was something missing—some emotional impact and something that tied everything together. Well, the last 1% made it a 5 star. :)

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