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celery's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Transphobia, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Body horror, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Animal death, Slavery, Confinement, Death of parent, Vomit, Blood, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Torture, Classism, and Cursing
chrisb913's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
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
This was an incredibly fun read. The humor and wit of Amina and The supporting cast had me laughing the majority of the story. The incredibly unique narration of the book also boosted my enjoyment.
The way that Chakraborty wrote into the story breaks in the narration as if Amina was being interrupted while telling you the adventure was pure gold . I also highly recommend listening to the audiobook because the voice for the characters was perfect. I really would like to reread this when the next book comes out. I wish I had tandem read the audio and physical together, as just listening to the audio, I feel like I missed out on worldbuilding and story plots. At the end of the day, highly recommend this books!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Body horror, Torture, and Alcohol
Minor: Slavery, Transphobia, and Rape
kesreads13'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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Torture and Colonisation
Minor: Sexism, Transphobia, Blood, Trafficking, Islamophobia, and Slavery
julian7's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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
4.0
This was a great book! I loved the characters, especially Dalila, Raksh, Jamal, and ofc Amina. I really loved the island of the peris because it was so weird in a fantastic way. It reminded me of the Abarat series a bit. I loved the bit about the spooky cave as well, because for some reason mysterious doors always scratch a very specific itch in my brain. I also enjoyed the humor and political commentary. Franco was an interesting villain and it was so funny how Amina couldn’t pronounce his name.
I only have two complaints about the book. First, I wish we had gotten more of the side characters! I feel like there was so much focus on them in the first part of the story, when Amina was “getting the band back together,” only for them to disappear into the background once Raksh showed up. I enjoyed Raksh, don’t get me wrong, but I would have loved to learn more about the other characters, like Tinbu and Majed, who seemed so interesting.
My other complaint is that the first third of the book went by very slowly, and the last two thirds felt much more fast-paced and a little too busy. A medium pacing throughout the whole book would have felt more cohesive.
I’ll probably read the sequels, and I hope we get to learn more about the side characters and Raksh returns eventually. 🤭
I only have two complaints about the book. First, I wish we had gotten more of the side characters! I feel like there was so much focus on them in the first part of the story, when Amina was “getting the band back together,” only for them to disappear into the background once Raksh showed up. I enjoyed Raksh, don’t get me wrong, but I would have loved to learn more about the other characters, like Tinbu and Majed, who seemed so interesting.
My other complaint is that the first third of the book went by very slowly, and the last two thirds felt much more fast-paced and a little too busy. A medium pacing throughout the whole book would have felt more cohesive.
I’ll probably read the sequels, and I hope we get to learn more about the side characters and Raksh returns eventually. 🤭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Torture, and Body horror
Minor: Rape, Slavery, Transphobia, and War
singingshooter's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.5
Loved the audio book! Feels like this book was made for it
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Slavery, Transphobia, Hate crime, and Kidnapping
dogearedbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Blood
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Transphobia
eidiya's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
Minor: Transphobia
twiller's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Y’all, this is a weird one! Not bad by any means (I rly enjoyed a lot of it, actually!) but certainly strange. The first half of the book is this “season 1 of a longform adventure anime”-esque collecting-the-squad montage and easily the best part of the book. Anima is a striking but relatable main character with oodles of flair and the supporting cast introductions are banger after banger. I’m completely obsessed with the first like, 300 pages. The later parts are… bizarre. Continuing the anime comparison, the last 100 pages or so feel like when an anime’s last arc is too long to put in one episode but the creators wanna make one BIG IMPACT finale so they just do the entire last volume of the manga in a big season-ending movie. It’s not bad! It just throws a LOT at the reader in very quick successions and very little of it is fleshed out enough to rly leave an impression. I’m intrigued by the ideas presented towards the end, but they never rly grow beyond those ideas. It makes complete sense to me that this is the first part of the trilogy, there’s plenty to expand on here, but I’ve read series-beginning books that have a more complete stand-alone plot than this. As it is, it never rly feels like this book ever “ends”. It just kinda… stops. I prolly will check out the sequels bc, as I said, I’m interested in the concepts presented here, plus I’ve heard Chakraborty’s other series (which I have not read) has a similarly rusty start but leads to an incredible payoff. We shall see!
Last thought: As a history nerd and SPECIFICALLY a historical fiction lover that will tear my hair out if I have to look at another fucking Austen-wannabe Victorian romance, I am soooo happy that Chakraborty’s works and Islamic/MENA/South Asian historical fiction stories as a whole are getting some traction (finally some good fucking food). That being said, I’ve seen some ppl say that they’re bummed that the Muslim fantasy novel with a mostly brown cast getting press is written by a white American lady n… yeah that kinda sucks. I don’t think it’s any fault of Chakraborty’s herself (she is Muslim herself and it’s obvious from her extensive source list and author’s note that she tried incredibly hard to do this story justice), but once again the publishing industry reveals its deeeeeeeeep biases. I genuinely recommend this book even through all of its flaws, but I also recommend checking out some lesser known works by global Muslim authors. Idk I doubt that’s a particularly hot take but yeah anyway um!!! This review is rambly but i don’t care I have to go study for an exam bye!!!
Last thought: As a history nerd and SPECIFICALLY a historical fiction lover that will tear my hair out if I have to look at another fucking Austen-wannabe Victorian romance, I am soooo happy that Chakraborty’s works and Islamic/MENA/South Asian historical fiction stories as a whole are getting some traction (finally some good fucking food). That being said, I’ve seen some ppl say that they’re bummed that the Muslim fantasy novel with a mostly brown cast getting press is written by a white American lady n… yeah that kinda sucks. I don’t think it’s any fault of Chakraborty’s herself (she is Muslim herself and it’s obvious from her extensive source list and author’s note that she tried incredibly hard to do this story justice), but once again the publishing industry reveals its deeeeeeeeep biases. I genuinely recommend this book even through all of its flaws, but I also recommend checking out some lesser known works by global Muslim authors. Idk I doubt that’s a particularly hot take but yeah anyway um!!! This review is rambly but i don’t care I have to go study for an exam bye!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Transphobia and Homophobia
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.
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.
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!
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