Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

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

110 reviews

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Slavery, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Toxic relationship, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

twistykris's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

A fantastic pirate book that was so much fun! I started this book before going on a trip, and couldn't bring the physical book with me, so I got the audiobook on Libro for my flights- I have to say I enjoyed both the physical book and listening to the audiobook. The narrator did such a great job of really making you feel like you were listening to Amina tell a story (including moments where she spoke "away" from the mic, as if she were talking to the scribe). 

I loved so many of the characters, even a certain demon ex-husband 😈
Amina felt relatable to me, even if she's a mother in her 40s (and I am not a mother and in my early 30s). The way she spoke about the importance of her blood family and her crew was really sweet, and I really was rooting for her throughout the book.

This was my first Chakraborty novel, so I have not read The Daevabad trilogy, but I will definitely put them on my TBR now, especially knowing there are connections to the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Slavery and Religious bigotry

cozyscones's review

adventurous dark funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Deadnaming, Slavery, Torture, Religious bigotry, and War

e_liz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Slavery, Transphobia, Grief, and War

anniehayez's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

I have heard people say that it took them a while to get into this book but I was hooked by the prelude. This was epic and intimate. The characters were funny and well fleshed out. I loved the concept of it being scribed as a story to the “author”. This book also has a ton of unique representation with an over arching theme of acceptance. I would absolutely recommend this to everyone. My only complaint is some of the first half of the book was paced weirdly and I wished the time jumps were less jarring. Otherwise a really great story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual assault, and Slavery

discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

4.5

I loved this!!! What a vivid and gripping display of storytelling. The characters were so strong, and the plot was exciting! 

I selfishly wished that Raksh would find out about his daughter and be redeemed in the end. Even though he was a scoundrel, I still found his character strangely endearing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Slavery, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Re-read for book club and loved it just as much the second time. Retired lady pirate gets the crew back together for one last job — shenanigans and legends ensue.  Perfection. No notes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Rape, Slavery, and Abandonment

aileron's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror and Alcohol

Minor: Misogyny, Sexual violence, Slavery, Transphobia, and Kidnapping

shaipanda's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.5

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 
This was an incredibly exciting and action filled book. I haven't been reading as much this year so I rushed to finish this before the archive date. As a result, there are still some parts of the book I have to come back to in order to call it fully finished. However, I did overall really enjoy this! I think if I'd read it at a more reasonable pace I probably would have enjoyed it slightly more but overall I really enjoyed the characters, the storyline, and the potential for more stories in this world. I also really loved the minor plot twist at the very end I found that to be really fun :)
I was personally not expecting anywhere near the amount of fantasy that ended up being in this book as I originally thought it was mostly just a pirate book, but I wasn't mad about discovering that just not what I originally expected. 
Overall would definitely recommend! 4.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Rape, Slavery, Transphobia, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

blewballoon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this adventure a lot! I loved having an older and more experienced fantasy protagonist, I loved the diverse cast of characters, and I had fun being immersed in cultures and locations that aren't as familiar to me as typical fantasy settings. I think this book delivered solidly on its premise and my expectations were definitely met. I am not sure why, but despite all that, I had a slow time reading this. I found myself having to force a little to pick it up, and it wasn't until I felt like I was nearing the end that I began to read with more momentum. I am not sure why this was, since the book is fairly action packed throughout. It may be that I got lost a little in the unfamiliar terms and creatures? I'm not sure. This is more of a personal issue that I have with some romance books as well, but I found

Amina's horniness and ogling of the males around her to be off-putting. I was mildly disgusted that she had sex with her "demon" husband again towards the end of the book after everything we know he has done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Genocide, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Vomit, and War