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

adventurous funny 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? Yes

5.0

In her youth, Amina al-Sirafi was a famous pirate. But her priorities shifted when she had a daughter. She gave up piracy and settled down. As a middle-aged woman, she is kind of forced to go on one last adventure to rescue a late crew member's daughter and protect her own. 
I absolutely loved the first half of the book. It was mostly Amina trying to get her old crew back together for this last job. I loved how every crew member was introduced; I loved the banter between them and the constant reminders that they are not as young anymore. It's so refreshing to have older characters as protagonists in adventurous fantasy stories but making fun of their little issues that come with age made it even better. 
The second half was more action packed and got pretty wild. It was hard to keep up, to be honest, but I still liked it a lot. The atmosphere and writing were amazing and I had a generally great time reading and listening to the audio book (which is fantastic btw, it literally brings the characters to life). Around 99% of the book, I was sure I'd give it 4–4.5 stars. Because although I had a lot of fun, there was something missing—some emotional impact and something that tied everything together. Well, the last 1% made it a 5 star. :)