Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

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

29 reviews

violerwolf's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

4.25

First book to help me get out of my major reading slump. I think it’s so fun and I’m excited for the next books in the series. A lot of folks seem to dislike the last quarter of the book, but I really enjoyed it. If you’re looking for pure piracy, the ending might be a bit disappointing, but if you’re interested in

quests and divine intervention

, I think you’ll find the ending quite satisfying. 
I do think the prose and framing narrative could use some work, and this book focuses more heavily on plot than character development, but I thought it was a fun read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Trafficking, Classism, Torture, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Death, Slavery, Cursing, and Alcoholism

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Body horror, and Death of parent

Most of the more troubling topics are part of the worldbuilding or characters’ pasts, not explicit parts of the story.

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

cameronreads's review against another edition

4.0

There is a lot to like about this book. If you like pirate stories, you’ll love this; if you’re looking for an adventure with a middle-aged protagonist, you’ll love this; if you want a story with a rich magic and vibrant setting, you’ll love this.  Chakraborty has the most wonderful way of writing setting. It really made this book for me. You can tell the amount of careful research that went into this book, but also the care that went into bringing the research to life. It feels so vibrant and magical.  

I really liked Amina as a protagonist. It felt like such a rich perspective to follow a middle-aged mother who very much feels like her adventures are over into this magical adventure. However it was very clear that she was the centre of this book, and whilst I liked the moments of the other characters we get and the established found family they formed years ago, I wanted a bit more out of the side characters. 

For some reason it took me a while to get into this book. I think it’s partially due to the first person perceptive - whilst the writing in this book is truly wonderful, I do tend not o struggle with first person regardless, especially when there’s only one POV. It makes the story feel very linear to me, which is fine but struggles to hold my personal short attention span. It also definitely picked up nearer the end - the beginning feels more historical, and it slowly morphs into a fantasy nearer the end, which I personally prefer more, so that might be another reason. 

Still, I really enjoyed this book, and it will become a go-to recommendation for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Body horror, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Alcoholism

Minor: Addiction, Deadnaming, Death of parent, and Rape

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

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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

brynalexa's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

5.0

Amazingly perfect from the protagonist to the villain to the clever twist. So happy to see some nods to the Daevabad trilogy as well! Cannot wait for the second book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Kidnapping, Murder, Death of parent, Gore, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Body horror, Classism, Sexism, Slavery, Alcohol, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Grief, Misogyny, and War

Minor: Torture, Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Violence, Classism, and Grief

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

ienbdri's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

It started off so strong but then it kinda morphed into your average fantasy novel. I loved the narration and following a hero that isn't 16, but the story just fell flat at some point. It was clearly preparing stuff for the next volumes but lost sight of the main adventure on the way. I literally forgot why they were traveling in the first place?

The magic birds just deciding her fate? A place between worlds without an explanation that really wasn't necessary for the story? Random magic without any system? Naaaaah.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Cursing, Gore, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent, Transphobia, Death, Sexism, and Slavery

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.

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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.

anni_swanilda'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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent and Drug use

bel017's review against another edition

adventurous

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Excellent world building, fabulous characters, a theatrical plot. Exactly what I needed to read right now. There's magic and faraway lands mixed with real historical places, and thoughtful contemplation of being a working mother.

I adore Amina's pragmatic voice. I relate so much to that mentality of getting on with the job in front of you, even though you'd really rather have a lie down. Her competence, humor and practically, and the way she accepts magical forces as just another idiotic thing she has to deal with was a delight.

I loved Amina's pull between motherhood and her own desires, though I would have liked to have seen that more resolved. And the plot points put in to make this the first book of a series felt forced; this is a complete tale, why does everything have to be a series now?

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, Slavery, Body horror, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping