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maryhungerford's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death
Minor: Sexual harassment
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Rape and Slavery
relin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Classism, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Cursing, Violence, and Body horror
Moderate: Abandonment and Medical content
Minor: Trafficking and Slavery
Religious differencesthemis_biblos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
"This man could manifest as a beam of celestial light, and he chose to use that power to spy on a naked woman?" - "Are you surprised?"
Graphic: Violence and Death
catherinedsharp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Violence, Gore, Confinement, Islamophobia, Death, and Grief
meant2breading's review against another edition
- 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
- A fierce pirate captain who is sailing the 12th century Indian Ocean and is respected by her crew?! And is a single mom?! Heck yes.
- Amina Al-Sirafi is an absolute badass. She is one of my favorite book characters of all time.
- Despite the book having dark twists throughout, there was great comic relief. I am here for the dark, magical twists though.
- When I say comic relief, this book had me laughing out loud multiple times. Very few books can do that!
- Diverse characters, many who are seriously awesome!
- The main characters are middle aged adults. It’s a nice change from reading many younger main characters and seeing their world through their eyes. Found this to also feel more relatable.
- I sincerely LOVED the centrality of friendship in this book.
- With this in mind, the side characters/her crew were incredibly enjoyable to read about and I was highly invested in their journeys too!
- The way the author weaved elements of the history at that time into the world she built. Amazing!
- To get the full pirate experience, I streamed Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack music as I read and it was immersive, really felt part of the adventure.
- Yes, ok, the pacing in this book is slightly off. All of the other aspects of this story more than made up for that for me. Plot + characters = spectacular! I loved it all, beginning to end!!
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol and Gore
bzliz's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
brittanylee0302's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Kidnapping, and Torture
Minor: War, Blood, and Rape
julierambaeck's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death and Murder
gold_star_reader's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Death, and Cursing
Moderate: War, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Abandonment