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marybo01's review against another edition
4.5
This story about Spanish colonisers in the Americas was surprisingly complex and layered about the types of hardships they both caused and endured. Told from the perspective of a slave, Mustafa’s detailed and honest account of the horrors that took place were hard to read yet I could not put the book down. I did feel the pacing fell in a few places in the book and I lost momentum reading. But other than that I really enjoyed it.
buzzybuzzybeefudge's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Colonisation, Racism, Violence, Animal death, Islamophobia, and Death
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Cannibalism
rageofachilles's review against another edition
4.0
Premise: Cabasa de Vaca mentions a Moor survivor of the Navarez campaign in La Florida. Here, Lalami offers his versions of events to counter the account given by Vaca.
The result is an intriguing tale of oppression, power, stupidity, and love. What really makes this novel works is the author’s insistence that Mustafa’s origins are as important the story of the campaign. The events of the campaign would not make sense with Mistafa’s backstory—as we see the events through his eyes.
The result is an intriguing tale of oppression, power, stupidity, and love. What really makes this novel works is the author’s insistence that Mustafa’s origins are as important the story of the campaign. The events of the campaign would not make sense with Mistafa’s backstory—as we see the events through his eyes.
lukewarm_ravens's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
Read for a class. Phenomenal.
mg_in_md_'s review against another edition
5.0
This review is based on the FirstReads copy I was lucky enough to win. Based on the ill-fated 1527 expedition of Spanish explorer Pánfilo de Narvaez, the book is told from the perspective of an educated Moroccan Muslim slave who is one of only four crew members to survive a year after arriving in the New World. Mustafa ibn Muhammad ibn Abdussalam al-Zamori recounts his life and travels from the city of Azemmur to the Land of the Indians. Mustafa, who is called Estebanico by the Spaniards, survives a shipwreck, disease, fighting with hostile tribes, starvation, storms, and enslavement, and travels for 8 years from Florida to Mexico where he and his fellow survivors are reunited with Spanish colonists they struggle to relate to. He experiences love and loss, and continually seeks a way to secure his freedom to return to his beloved Azemmur and the family he left behind. The writing evokes the oral storytelling tradition while presenting an alternative perspective to history, with each chapter focusing on a particular event in Mustafa's life. The book was incredibly well-researched and felt as if it was a real memoir written by an early explorer. It would have been helpful to have either a map or a legend of some sort to equate the place names used to locations today. I appreciated the author's note, which included many of the sources she used and plan to check out the full bibliography on her website since this book rekindled my interest in this period of history. Thanks again to the FirstReads program for another phenomenal offering!
ahobbitsreadinglist's review against another edition
challenging
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
4.0
dcliz's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting concept, but I didn't enjoy this novel, especially the first third. I found the narrator's backstory bogged down the plot, and the parts about the conquistadors' encounters with Florida's Native Americans were really difficult to read (and not because this was new or shocking information to me).
Ultimately, the book is about a storyteller, and that storyteller isn't very good at his chosen vocation!
Ultimately, the book is about a storyteller, and that storyteller isn't very good at his chosen vocation!
filiparferreira's review
4.0
Este livro tem vários atrativos, ganhou vários prémios e por isso me interessou. Depois é baseado em factos reais: uma expedição aventurosa (como o Terror que li há uns meses) e estive quase sempre de Google maps aberto a ver se percebia por onde andavam. Depois tem o lado 'romantico' ou 'exótico' de ser narrado por uma personagem improvável, o escravo mouro de um capitão castelhano. Curiosamente, tive alguma dificuldade em 'entrar' no livro mas depois entusiasmei-me. 4,5 estrelas