Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty

92 reviews

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Re-read for book club and loved it just as much the second time. Retired lady pirate gets the crew back together for one last job — shenanigans and legends ensue.  Perfection. No notes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Rape, Slavery, and Abandonment

faduma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

rosesforreading's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry

kbairbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I was so lucky to have received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley!

Somewhere in this book something was described as a nautical mystery and I found that to be very on point for this book. Although I might replace the word mystery with adventure. The world building and characters were so rich, the twists and turns so exciting, the character relationships so well thought out, I enjoyed the danger, the emotional connection, and the magical elements. This book took pirates and made them even better! What a wild ride! I really enjoyed this read, as always, because Shannon is a freaking gem, and an amazing storyteller. I’ve loved everything she has written and she is an auto but author for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content

elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Torture and Alcohol

Minor: Misogyny and Religious bigotry

mjwhitlock18's review against another edition

adventurous

5.0

A foul-mouthed, middle-aged legendary pirate captain comes out of her retirement for one last perilous sea voyage to save a deceased friend’s daughter and potentially cement her family’s future, and ends up on quest to defeat a power-hungry murderous villain. I loved every second of this (I will read anything S. A. Chakraborty writes). Amina is a fantastic narrator with a sarcastic sense of humor, the mouth of a sailor (fitting), and complexity that makes her so interesting. She’s far from perfect (she accidentally married a demon), but she’s a badass mother who’d been told there was only one sort of respectful life for a woman, and she resoundly said fuck that. Amina’s friends and crew mates are also wonderfully grumbly and loyal, and along with the top tier prose and world building, this book exceeded my expectations. If you love a band of misfits, a useless ship cat, sweeping adventure with a hint of the fantastical, and a whole lot of found family - this is for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Torture, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexism, Slavery, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry

bettysbookishworld's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• 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

5.0

I would like to thank NetGalley and Harper Voyager UK for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

If you like epic historical adventures full of pirates and magic, set in a fantasy world inspired by Middle East, this book is a right choice for you! It's one of the best written, engaging books with  well-rounded characters I've read in long time.

We follow Amina, a retired  pirate that got  persuaded to go to one more adventure of her life. And it was a great journey full of dangers and unexpected turns of events! I love Amina as a main character. She's a very strong, experienced warrior with a legendary past and I loved her sarcastic nature so much. It was such breathe of fresh air to have a trully mature and complex character. 

I couldn't put the book down as so many unexpected events were happening and the high stakes kept me going. The writing style got me transported into the magical world the author created. However, the first half was slower than the rest and even though I enjoyed it, it took me a while to actually connect to the story. After that though, I loved every second spent with Amina and her crew! I rooted for everyone and they had amazing dynamic between each other. You could feel and see that they had a past full of memories together which was so wholesome. I can't wait to read other Amina's adventures when they'll come out in the future and now I'm very much curious to try the Daevabad trilogy as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Genocide

Minor: Death, Slavery, Grief, and Alcohol

jamie_reads_stuff's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

I ADORED this pirate tale. This was such a fun book and I really really enjoyed the characters, plot, and storytelling. It was way funnier than I expected to be, and I’m excited for the sequel to come out!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Vomit, and Murder

sarahyjackson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I am absolutely undone by how incandescently wonderful this book was: the prose, the characters, the setting, the narrative. I loved it dearly and cannot wait to take to the high seas with Amina again, soon!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Transphobia and Xenophobia

bethanycrowepowell's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

A rollicking woman-led Sinbad type adventure on glittering, lethal seas.

Amina al-Sarafi left her beloved ship for many good reasons. She’s pulled out of retirement not because those reasons are gone, but because one of her biggest regrets has come knocking. The chance at fabulous wealth (which was missing from her sudden flight to the hinterlands) doesn’t hurt. Amina’s swagger and cynicism captured my heart, while her regrets and maturity made this feel more weighty as a fabulous adventure.

Chakraborty’s skill at turning the screws of stakes and evoking marvelous but dangerous worlds clinch this as a new favorite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Torture, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual violence, Slavery, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, and Dysphoria

Everything "phobia" in these content warnings are not presented in a positive light. The graphic violence/gore are mainly in the last third of the book when dealing with a horrifying villain, but I was glad to be skimming text instead of listening by audio to that part!