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A review by yuripiano
The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
3.25
This book scratched such an itch I didn't know I had, which was just to read a book that felt like the kinds of things I would have grown up reading. It's a story with adventure, mystical creatures, and a crazy journey featuring strong characters, high stakes, and even higher sails. This sort of maritime mischief is what I was sort of hoping for from Tress of the Emerald Sea - that said, although they both just happen to involve pirates, strong female characters, and devilish binding contracts, they're definitely two different takes on a pirate story for me personally. Thankfully, I would say that the structure, pacing, and general vibe of this one resonated a lot better with me.
I think part of why I liked it so much is that while a lot of it is familiar and feel-good, there's a lot that's fresh, interesting, and otherwise inspired. I'm a sucker for the-gang-gets-back-together-again-to-pull-one-last-job, and it's great seeing the characters as real people with actual families and lives and that they're old.
Well. Like. Older than the typical anime protagonist where life ends after high school or whatever - it's a narrative that I've grown more and more disgruntled with, and the fact that Amina is a mother on top of all of this?
It goes against the grain on a lot of expectations, which is also why I really found it fascinating with how much culture is put into it. The interwoven folk tales, the language, the food, the customs, the clothing, and if you were lucky enough to listen to the honestly fantastic audio book, the language is so refreshing and interesting, especially with how Amina fits into it (or doesn't, as is one of the driving themes throughout the book). There's a mix of reverence for tradition, faith, and family juxtaposed with individuality, progressiveness, and staying true to oneself. I really loved Amina's character, and Raksh was also a fun foil that had a surprising amount of depth.
Sadly, I can't say the same for all of the characters - while I said Amina wasn't like the typical anime protagonist, the same couldn't be said for the other characters in my opinion.Falco felt cartoonishly evil, and the trio of Tinbu, Majed, and especially Dalila felt rather trope-y to me. Maybe I just have an irrational dislike for Dalila because of how much she just felt like she was there solely to be crazy-old-mad-scientist-lady that didn't really see any growth through the story to me. But, the way that the others at the end of the story just.. are like "yeah, sign me up for another 4 adventures of all of this and ehhhhh it's fine I'll talk to my wife about it, I'm sure she'll be fine with me leaving again" and stuff. That said, part of those complaints can be sorta written off by the fact that this is told in the form of Amina's retelling - they're imperfect, and they're from her point of view, so... it doesn't really make sense for her to characterize Falco as anything other than a 100% crazy irredeemable Disney villain and to maybe not devote as much characterization to her friends compared to Raksh given her relationship with him? This still doesn't explain away Dalila, but I'll stop ragging on her.
Overall, I really liked the book - it was fun and while it had points of familiarity, it featured a world and culture that I don't often get to see represented with so much detail and care put in, and that really set it apart for me.
Edit now that I've sat with it for a while: I think I discounted how much some of the things in this book rather annoyed me by virtue of it being something I just finished. It felt very YA in a lot of places, and it's hard to rate the book as though it's not. The overly cartoonish villain, lack of real consequences, and each character filling a certain niche without really feeling fleshed out (outside of like, Raksh, who was also extremely YA in character) was a bit much. I'd still say overall I liked this book, especially in comparison to some other books I've reviewed here, but I think maybe not quite as much as I had on my initial review of it. The beginning was strong, and the world had potential, but it didn't quite come together for me.
I think part of why I liked it so much is that while a lot of it is familiar and feel-good, there's a lot that's fresh, interesting, and otherwise inspired. I'm a sucker for the-gang-gets-back-together-again-to-pull-one-last-job, and it's great seeing the characters as real people with actual families and lives and that they're old.
Well. Like. Older than the typical anime protagonist where life ends after high school or whatever - it's a narrative that I've grown more and more disgruntled with, and the fact that Amina is a mother on top of all of this?
It goes against the grain on a lot of expectations, which is also why I really found it fascinating with how much culture is put into it. The interwoven folk tales, the language, the food, the customs, the clothing, and if you were lucky enough to listen to the honestly fantastic audio book, the language is so refreshing and interesting, especially with how Amina fits into it (or doesn't, as is one of the driving themes throughout the book). There's a mix of reverence for tradition, faith, and family juxtaposed with individuality, progressiveness, and staying true to oneself. I really loved Amina's character, and Raksh was also a fun foil that had a surprising amount of depth.
Sadly, I can't say the same for all of the characters - while I said Amina wasn't like the typical anime protagonist, the same couldn't be said for the other characters in my opinion.
Overall, I really liked the book - it was fun and while it had points of familiarity, it featured a world and culture that I don't often get to see represented with so much detail and care put in, and that really set it apart for me.
Edit now that I've sat with it for a while: I think I discounted how much some of the things in this book rather annoyed me by virtue of it being something I just finished. It felt very YA in a lot of places, and it's hard to rate the book as though it's not. The overly cartoonish villain, lack of real consequences, and each character filling a certain niche without really feeling fleshed out (outside of like, Raksh, who was also extremely YA in character) was a bit much. I'd still say overall I liked this book, especially in comparison to some other books I've reviewed here, but I think maybe not quite as much as I had on my initial review of it. The beginning was strong, and the world had potential, but it didn't quite come together for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol and Sexual content