Reviews with content warning for Body horror - The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

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!

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ttnnllrr's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative 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

5.0

Set in the twelfth century within the area surrounding the Indian Ocean, our main character Amina Al-Sirafi is a retired pirate captain settled down and hiding away with her 10 year old daughter, Marjana.

When the mother of one of Amina’s late crew members finds her and asks for her help to rescue her granddaughter from a power hungry merchant obsessed with the occult, Amina gives in to working one last job before retiring for good.

In order to pull off this final assignment, Amina rounds up her old crew and her old ship. However, along the journey she finds information that leaves the group unsettled, the task ahead found the be a bit more daunting than what was initially conveyed.

Discovering too little too late just how dangerous this last journey truly is, Amina must now stay afloat in a sea of fantastical opponents in order to rescue her former crew member’s daughter and stay alive with the aim of getting home safe to Marjana.

I loved this book very much. I am a big fan of pirates, historical fiction, and fantasy, and this book had all three, so it’s safe to say I am absolutely obsessed. I really appreciated the idea to centre on a group of middle aged adventurers, showing us the unique challenges they faced, such as grappling with abandoning their children and families, and the maturity they brought to the story. I loved the relationships between the characters, the four original crew especially, but even Amina’s relationship with her monstrous husband was very well written.

I am currently impatiently waiting the publishing of the second book in the trilogy, though it is over a year away, and I am now debating reading Chakraborty’s Daevabad Trilogy in the mean time because clearly she is a beast of an author.

A note for some people who may not enjoy this book as much as I did: it is written in the form of a story being scribed by a third party but in the point of view of Amina Al-Sirafi. It is, for the most part, very straightforward but at times the scribe chooses to narrate using other sources in order to bring the reader more context. I can understand that for some that may break immersion, but I really enjoyed it, along with the little breaks in narration for the scribe to argue with Amina as she tells the story.

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yrc's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.0

Once in a while I don't know what kind of story I'm looking forward to before I actually start to read/listen to it. This is a prime example of exactly that.

I enjoyed the humor in this book greatly, the epic and larger than life adventures against both wicked men and sea monsters alike. I also felt that the swashbuckling tone was sourly needed as a scratch to my itch. Life can't be taken seriously every second of each day.

Amina is a wonderous character and actually goes through the hardships of being separated from family, limitations of age and biases towards women, which was a refreshing character arc often not seen enough in fantasy.

The rest of the crew was terrific as well, especially Dalila and Mahjed. The historical touches were fun to encounter and the narrators did a magnificent job with this text. 4 starts and recommended if you are looking for a fun book, that doesn't shy away from dark situations but does it with style and purpose.

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julian7's review against another edition

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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. 🤭

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kristenreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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

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kirtreads's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This book was really fun! The story was interesting, but I think that the characters are the star of the show. Each character has a really unique voice and feel like a fully fleshed out person. They each brought something fun to the story and I never felt annoyed with a character. I honestly would just be okay with a book that is just the characters hanging out on a boat and doing nothing else.

I listened to the audiobook and I really loved how each of the characters were narrated. The voices all were really distinct and really communicated the characters personality. It was such a fun story to listen to.

The book did take a little bit of time to get going and it did sometimes feel like the story was slower paced than I wanted. I also wanted a little more of her crew, which I am hoping that I will get in a sequel. It also felt weirdly episodic and chunked out instead of one smooth story, but I don't mind that.

I thought that the book presented the idea of struggling to be a mother in this chaotic lifestyle but that sometimes felt like it was on the side for a lot of the plot. We had Almina constantly mentioning getting back to her daughter but then

when she decides that she does actually want to travel and balance a life on the sea with being a part it feels rushed and there is almost no consideration for it. I know why the author did it, but I wanted a little more from that theme if you are going to lay it out as the main premise of the novel.

Overall, had a great time with this book, it was super fun and the narrator work was great.

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keelirae113's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

5.0

The story has a slow start, but once I got past the world building I was hooked! A fantastic read for anyone who has ever been told there is a “respectable” life they need to fit themselves into. You aren’t too much and anyone who thinks you are can go find less.

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cleo_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

4.5 stars. Completely enjoyed this immersive fantasy about a retired pirate captain / smuggler who brings her crew back together for one last job. Set in the world surrounding the Indian Ocean in the 12th C, but with magic.

I love fantasy adventures with middle aged protagonists and Amina is delightful. This is a rollicking pirate fantasy that is also a meditation on motherhood and sacrifice, regrets and middle age.

There’s no romance and unlike 98% of the fiction I read, the protagonist is cis and straight. There are queer supporting characters though and found family. Be warned, there’s a fair bit of violence and descriptions of atrocities. And some body horror.

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