Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

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

7 reviews

bzliz'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? Yes

4.5

It took me altogether far too long to finish this book. It was first hampered by my borrowed copy being uncomfortable to hold. Those book of the month books are satisfyingly uniform on a shelf but annoying for my wrists when I want to read them. I switched to a digital copy and then had to contend with the slog as Amina pulls her crew together, which is the main reason I can’t give this five stars. Each small victory was interesting but it took so long I felt myself getting impatient to get to the meat of the story. It picked up for me after Amina’s second meeting with Salima and then I was fully bought in. 

Having a main character who is an older woman, highly competent, and a parent who still has their own dreams and goals was such a nice reprieve from young, inexperienced narrators who are always five steps behind the Big Bad but somehow manage to prevail. Amina is a beautifully written character and her supporting cast is equally captivating. They are devoted to her yet not subservient like she’s their only reason for breathing. The villains and the morally ambiguous characters are just as developed and I’m thankful they received the same treatment rather than being caricatures of evil. 

I was not ready for the trippy turn around the 70% mark but I loved it. It cemented for me how perfectly this would work if adapted to a TV series. It gave the much needed push to boost Amina to become someone worthy of the tales told about her. It’s also such an interesting juxtaposition of fantasy elements intermingled with historical bureaucracy and religious and political machinations. 

Most of the characters ascribe to a faith and it is frequently discussed and referenced. In my opinion, it is never preachy or pushing any kind of agenda on anyone, it is merely as simple as believing. If any religious aspects of a book make you uncomfortable, this is not the book for you. Likewise, there is talk of genocidal crusades, horrific murders and threats of sexual violence. Skip this if you’re sensitive to those topics. For anyone else, I do recommend giving this a try. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual violence, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Slavery, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Classism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Transphobia, Dysphoria, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, and Sexism

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Such a fun book, with a huge and diverse cast of characters. I didn’t even mind the storytelling inside the storytelling format (usually highly annoyed by that), but that was because it was minimal and not as distracting as usual. Great book for all ages. Reminds me a bit of The Princess Bride - full of adventure and driven by the love for one person, plus the salvation of an entire species!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Transphobia, Bullying, Classism, Violence, War, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Rape, and Torture

marioosa517's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Genocide, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Violence, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Moderate: Pedophilia, Body horror, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Genocide, Colonisation, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Biphobia, Death of parent, Infertility, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Rape, Drug use, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Transphobia, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

futureofmydays's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Islamophobia, and Sexism

Moderate: Genocide, Grief, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Classism, Homophobia, Torture, and Trafficking

Minor: Vomit

blacksphinx's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Classism, Police brutality, Violence, Gore, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Transphobia, Sexual content, Alcohol, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Torture, and Vomit

Minor: Cannibalism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Islamophobia, and Homophobia

blackcatkai's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

CW: blood, violence, sexual content (not graphic, fade to black), grief, death, gore, religious bigotry, casual ableism, alcohol use, sexism, war mentioned, some body shaming, a moment with some light trans/homophobia

omg I loved this so so much. it was so much fun, tons of action, great characters with wonderful interactions with each other. exciting and heartwarming, there's even a character who's figuring out their own gender identity and I can't wait to see where we go with him and the rest of the crew in future books of the series.

oh, also a bedraggled ship cat I would die for. may payasam have more scenes going forward. all hail payasam!! 🐈🐾

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, and Sexism

Minor: Transphobia, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Sexual content, War, Homophobia, and Ableism

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

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

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