I loved this book. I haven't been into fantasy as much lately but this one was so well done I was immediately sucked in and couldn't put it down. I loved the wit and sass of the main character. I loved the friendships and how strong they were. The cast of characters is so well done and unique. The twists in the book were well done. Can't wait for book two!

Actual rating: 3.75, rounded up to 4 stars

This is a hard one for me to rate. I love Chakraborty's writing style. She fills her books with lush descriptions of landscapes, people, creatures, food, and architecture. She's adept at writing banter between characters and letting the characters exist in a world alongside the plot. However, in this one I found the first-person narration to be too casual. The informality in the tone created a weird divide for me between the stakes and how the characters were reacting to the situation around them. I think the worst perpetrator of this was Raksh. He felt so out of place to me and tonally different.

At the end of the day, I wanted to love this one more than I did, but I couldn't get over the tone nor how it dragged out. The twist at the end was surprising, but wasn't one that I felt made sense in the context of how the rest of the book was written. There were moments where it could have been revealed earlier and might have flowed better.

Adventurous, exciting, and chaotic in the best ways, this is a story of lady pirates on the high seas that I never knew I needed. Chakraborty's worldbuilding is impeccable, the level of detail and captivating backstories were a real treat, and this was just an absolutely fun book to read. It reminded me a lot of the kinds of books I used to love as when I was younger, the kind that make you remember why you fell in love with reading.

What a fun romp!! The kind of book I've been missing, even if I didn't realize it til after I'd finished reading.

This story is full of wily characters who never run out of clever quips, and surprise you with their kindness and care. Aka the perfect group to go treasure-seeking across the seas! I love a good pirate book, and it was so fun to get a glimpse of other pirate communities (besides our main group, of course). Chakraborty knows how to write charming, delightful rascals, so it was always a delight to turn the page and see what new creature might appear next.

Such a vibrant group of characters is deserving of an equally imaginative story, and Chakraborty delivers! While it did take me a bit to get into the story, once the plot picked up, I was hooked. Each chapter drew me forward, and by the end, I was rushing to turn pages and learn what would happen next. I loved the in-between chapters that gave context, through legends and character's histories—even if they technically took me away from the main plot, I was always equally intrigued by whatever tangent I was briefly led down. I also love that this story was set up as a scribe writing down a story as it was told. I think it was a great way to get to know Amina through how she speaks, and get a glimpse of the mystery scribe's personality as well.

This wasn't quite a five star read for me, but I'm hopeful for the subsequent books in the series to knock my socks off! I can't wait to adventure with the Amina and her crew again.

https://bookandfilmglobe.com/fiction/the-adventures-of-amina-al-sirafi/



Shannon Chakraborty is famous for writing the sweeping Islam-infused science fantasy epic, The Daevabad Trilogy. However, her new book The Adventures Of Amina Al-Sirafi is speculative fiction rather than science fiction, exploring the Indian Ocean in the first millennium rather than exploring space in the third. She barely misses a beat, though, with a fantastically fun modern revisiting of the medieval explorers tales, in a novel for which they could have coined the word “swashbuckling”.

A few years after and a few miles south of the Crusades, circumstances force legendary pirate Amina Al-Sirafi out of retirement to find the grandchild of a rich old lady.

Amina is a retired pirate with tales told about her that are almost as tall as she is. Used to living in anonymity and enjoying her peace with her daughter, she finds herself set upon by a wealthy mother of a former friend who demands her services in recovering a kidnapped girl. Though she hesitates in accepting, Amina knows deep down that she still longs for adventure and agrees to take this one last job. But nothing is quite as it seems, and the more that Amina learns about this task, the more she finds that this conflict goes deeper and is more dangerous than she could have imagined.

I loved the Daevabad Trilogy by this author, so I jumped at the chance to read her new work. However, this one just wasn’t as enjoyable for me. Something I both enjoyed and disliked about it was that it was set up as Amina telling her story to a scribe. I enjoyed this in that it felt more like traditional Islamic histories that I’ve read, especially the shorter chapters when the scribe jumps in with some background information and tales. But I disliked how much it slowed down the primary plot and how it took away from any tension or suspense I might have felt at the difficult situations Amina encountered. This and the excessive details that were incorporated throughout led to the work feeling quite dense with minimal forward motion of the plot for much of the book.

I did enjoy how smoothly the author incorporated positive Islamic and gender representation in this work. It was well done and added much to the characters. But it seemed to be lacking when it came to Amina and her piracy. We’re told time and time again what a threatening and amazing pirate she is, but we rarely see that in action during the book. I enjoyed that Amina was a middle-aged protagonist, and that she was written to be complex with interesting flaws and motivations. But the villain did not receive the same treatment – he was painfully cliché and uninteresting and felt like the villain from an early 1990s treasure-hunting film that I can’t remember the name of. The remaining secondary characters were decent, but were buried under so much exposition that it was difficult to connect to them.

I’m massively disappointed that I couldn’t enjoy this one more. I’ll still continue the series because I loved the first trilogy so much, but I can’t recommend this book the same way I would the others. My thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was really fun! Different then what I usually read but I still enjoyed it. I loved that the characters are older than the usual band of teens. Characters didn’t seem inaccessible in their emotions or experiences because of their age. I really enjoyed all of the the characters.

No cliffhanger. Idea for the continuing storyline was set up, but this had a complete portion of that story.

The first half of this took me longer to get through, but then that 50% marker hit and everything picked up. I was not expecting this kind of twist, but I really enjoyed all the magic and creatures. So fun.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this digital ARC.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi is a promising start to a historical fantasy series that follows a notorious female captain and smuggler in the Middle East, now a middle-aged mother trying to protect her daughter. Infused with real historical details and featuring supernatural beings, an evil sorcerer, and magical artifacts, Amina is a great character who is brash and irreverent but also a mother doing her best to keep her daughter safe. This mini-trend of writing older women and mothers as main characters in fantasy novels is a welcome change, and the handling of the issue of gender identity is noteworthy. While the plot-driven storyline might not suit everyone's preferences, overall this is an entertaining adventure that fans of The Priory of the Orange Tree will enjoy.

As a mother I enjoyed this book, Amina has a fire in her belly that can’t be extinguished just redirected. I loved the crew and their family crazy family relationship. I will definitely be continuing with more of Shannon’s books.

I will talk about this on my podcast, Raise Your Words and if Shannon is ever available for a podcast episode I would love to interview her!! I absolutely adored Amina and seeing a Muslim pirate story.

This was such a fun adventure full of swashbuckling, strong women, and great humor! There was even some bread crumbs to follow for a touch of mystery in the plot. I am very excited for the next installments to come.
I thoroughly enjoyed the narration and Amina's voice. I loved her conflicts as a mother and wanting the best for her daughter and still being able to be a totally powerful, strong, and confident woman. Mothers are amazing. Women are amazing. I now need to read through Chakroborty's backlist while I wait.

A fascinating and fantastical swashbuckling adventure. This book is fun to read and full of exciting movement. It's a long read but definitely worth it, especially if you're looking for diversity in your fantasy adventure books.

“Amina; if you insist on going in alone, at least stop caressing your dagger.”

Okay, this book was FANTASTIC!! 5+ stars most definitely. I was so blown away by this book. Amina is a really well-rounded main character, and I absolutely LOVED seeing an older MC, especially one that's going on wild adventures. The side characters really made this book shine as well, and I felt really connected to everyone as we learned more about their backstory.

This book is on the longer side, but the pacing was excellent. I was never bored, always engaged, and ready to keep racing through this. Plus it set up the series very well for more books, while still producing a solid standalone novel. I listened to the audiobook, which I HIGHLY recommend. The narrator was so fantastic, and I think really added to the listening experience!!

Plus that ending omg Jamal 😍

🏳️‍🌈 Queer rep: gay side characters, trans side character

I loved Amina al-Sirafi, both the book and the character. This was my first Shannon Chakraborty book and I loved her writing! Amina's voice is so strong and there are so many memorable moments in this story! It was nice to have an older main character with a past to explore as well. If you love a good pirate story and morally gray female characters, I'd highly recommend The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi!

This was so dense and dry that I fell into a book rut. The premise was enticing but in its stead were slow pacing (for an already very linear plot), long monologues and immature flat characters.

I loved idea of a middle aged woman pirate captain but the MC was a shell of her former glory. A lot of West Asian mythologies went under appreciated because I was so exhausted drudging through the bloated writing.

I really wanted to like this but just wasn’t for me. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an arc.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi follows the adventures of a 40-year-old pirate who is pulled out of retirement to find the missing daughter of her former crewmember. Amina must assemble the crew that she has not seen for 10 years and survive monsters, magic, and the general brutality of life at sea. I love books with adventures that span many countries and I was excited to read this one!

I absolutely loved this book! The characters were wonderful, the setting interesting, the premise great, and the writing beautiful. It was also hilarious, I laughed out loud several times. I enjoyed this book all the way through and was excited to see how it concluded. It kept me guessing and I didn't see many of the twists coming. This book is quite long but it kept my interest for the entirety of the book. I was very excited when I saw that this is a series and I cannot wait to read the next one!

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in adventure, found family, and, of course, pirates! A solid 5 stars from me. Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

Such a fun adventure story! It was a fast-paced, fun, swashbuckling good time, and with such a wonderful setting a protagonist. The only thing keeping it from being a full five stars is simply that the faster pace kept me from feeling as attached to the characters as I would've liked, but I still plan to pick up the sequel, and will likely find myself growing to care more and more for the cast throughout the series.

If you're in the mood for pirates, sea adventures, magical artifacts, and one badass woman with her ragtag crew, this one's for you. How many books have you read where the main character is a middle aged mother? This book centers on how far someone is willing to go to protect those she loves and it is one of my favourite books of the year. I love that this book works very well as a standalone while leaving enough room for future books. That being said I look forward to more books set in this world. 😍

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @harpervoyagerus for the hardcopy. Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

There are some stories that really stick with you and The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi will be like that for me.

Shannon Chakraborty, also author of The Daevabad series, is becoming a fave fantasy author & I love the thick & ingenious fantasies she’s crafting.

Framed as a memoir in the act of being written by a scribe, Amina is a fantastic storyteller, recounting her story of magic, danger, fear, & courage with compelling & sometimes visceral detail & the occasional irreverent & dry remark about whatever bit of nonsense / magical terror she has seen.

This is an epic: at the beginning Amina accepts a job to rescue a rich woman’s granddaughter & realizes that there are larger implications of the whole situation than she had initially assumed.

A road trip, an across the realms & back story with a fantastic heroine that odes *should be* written about, a story about what is right & wrong & guilt & love: this one packs a punch.

& did I mention that Amina is “middle-aged” & a mother & still longs for the sea & her ship & can conduct a heck of a rescue when necessary?

“To be a woman is to have your story misremembered,” Amina says at the beginning of the book & those words stayed with me. I loved hearing Amina’s voice.

4.5⭐️. Out now!

Many CWs, including murder, violence, references to slavery, including witnessing a child being purchased by someone.

[ID: Jess’ white hand holds the book in front of a mural on the side of a building that says “this girl can” next to the image of a girl with multicolored hair.]

I will start by saying the audio version was well done and thank you Netgalley for advancing me the copy. I love this author’s previous series, but this book from the start was a struggle. Fantasy with strong Middle eastern women who write their own stories are a plus, but this storyline dragged for me. This could be due to the development of the characters and the slow build up of the adventure, but I was three quarters through it before my interest was piqued. I will strongly consider reading the next adventure as in the last series the middle book was the best.