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A review by ribbenkast
The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty
adventurous
funny
informative
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
What a ride! I got stuck in the "one more chapter" loop until it was six in the morning and suddenly I had finished it.
The first 120 pages or so are admitedly a bit slow, but necessary set up. It took me a bit to get through them but I read the last 350 pages in one sitting.
There is so much love put into this world and the characters. Every character has been so well developed, even the villains are truly complex multifaceted characters. I know the bar is on the floor sometimes, but reading about a mother (Amina) who did not lose herself in motherhood and who has her own complex motivations and is still a good mom is a breath of fresh air.
Chakraborty sines when writing dialogue, which made me literally kick my feet and laugh out loud sometimes. The story is beautifully weaved together and everything falls into place in the end.
It has strong themes of found family, parenthood, colonisation, class struggle. You can tell the author is passionate about the history she's portraying and it was handled with a lot of care in my opinion. The book literary ends with suggested readings and a bibliography.
But the best part: she did all this, and on top of that this book was just full of whimsy fun.
The first 120 pages or so are admitedly a bit slow, but necessary set up. It took me a bit to get through them but I read the last 350 pages in one sitting.
There is so much love put into this world and the characters. Every character has been so well developed, even the villains are truly complex multifaceted characters. I know the bar is on the floor sometimes, but reading about a mother (Amina) who did not lose herself in motherhood and who has her own complex motivations and is still a good mom is a breath of fresh air.
Chakraborty sines when writing dialogue, which made me literally kick my feet and laugh out loud sometimes. The story is beautifully weaved together and everything falls into place in the end.
It has strong themes of found family, parenthood, colonisation, class struggle. You can tell the author is passionate about the history she's portraying and it was handled with a lot of care in my opinion. The book literary ends with suggested readings and a bibliography.
But the best part: she did all this, and on top of that this book was just full of whimsy fun.