Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

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

46 reviews

mesulkin's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Death, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Blood, Sexual content, Racism, and Gore

tacochelle's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.0

A little long, and the villain is very obvious, almost cartoonishly villainous. But none of that stopped me from enjoying the story. It's an exciting pirate adventure set in an alternate universe from ours, where the history is slightly different, and magic does exist. I got attached to the main crew fast, and by the latter half of the book, I could not put it down, I just had to finish it in that sitting and know what happens to them.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Misogyny, Murder, Torture, and Transphobia

Minor: Religious bigotry, Slavery, Trafficking, and Alcoholism

e_claire's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Rape, and Gore

toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Overall an enjoyable book! There were some parts that felt a little incongruous and the ending wasn't as satisfying as it could have been, but the characters were really interesting as was the worldbuilding!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cursing, Gore, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Body horror, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual content, Slavery, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

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

---

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

rhi_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, and Torture

walkie_check's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pregnancy, Genocide, Xenophobia, Cursing, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Deadnaming, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, and Death of parent

arantzazureads's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing 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’ll have to write more later, but suffice it to say this was the best book I’ve read in a long-ass time. Funny and witty and smart and fascinating, this reading experience felt like I was on an empowering D&D adventure. I loved that the colonizer was the bad guy and the research that went into the culture and lore and history and geography. It all felt so vividly real and rich without being purple prose or world building info dumps. I loved loved loved it. I hope we get more Amina! Maybe with Marjana in tow…! And OMG JAMAL!!!!! Seriously. New favorite author unlocked. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Violence, Classism, and Grief

Minor: Xenophobia, Gore, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, and Death of parent

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring reflective 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

Chakraborty conjures a truly epic tale of adventure, weaving a tale that feels both fresh and wistfully nostalgic. Amina Al-Sirafi is a pirate worthy of legend, she and her crew are an utter delight to follow through this mystical tale of thievery, seafairing, magic artifacts, and good old-fashioned swashbuckling. For all the grandiosity, this story’s greatest strength is its emotional heart. The fears and hopes and loves of Amina Al-Sirafi are so palpable, you cannot help but empathize with her and want to see her succeed. What a wonderful read!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Grief

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Confinement

Minor: Dysphoria and Deadnaming

sunnydale's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative inspiring 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

4.0

what a delightful read. the world was so rich, i immediately wanted to learn more about the historical context, and fortunately the author provided a bibliography! the audiobook is very well-produced, with two voice actors, sound effects in the "present-day" chapters, and adjustments made to address listeners instead of readers. 

i love that the protagonist's faith is central to her character, and we're also able to see how it's developed throughout her life. her faith is sometimes messy, sometimes self-contradicting, but she also never doubts her core beliefs, and she's a more authentic character because of it.

irrelevant to the quality of the book, i noticed that "midnight" is the author's favorite adjective for anything dark. "midnight beach," "midnight ocean," "midnight fabric," etc. it felt like a scavenger hunt trying to find the word in each chapter, lol.

i would recommend this to fans of fantasy, especially those who are looking for non-western fantasy settings. i definitely recommend the audiobook, although you might want a print or ebook copy for the helpful bibliography.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Torture, Blood, Cursing, Murder, Alcohol, and Violence

Minor: Cannibalism, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Islamophobia, Sexual violence, Slavery, Transphobia, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Death, and Death of parent

Violence and sexual content are at a PG-13 rating. There is a lot of swearing. The cat is fine.