This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023 and it did not disappoint. Adventurous, imaginative, funny, with a wonderful narrative tone and characters I fell in love with. Chakraborty always does a wonderful job of incorporating history and mythology in her works, while also creating a world of her own.

4.5 Stars

THE 411...

☆☆ “𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚗: 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍. 𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍.” ☆☆╮

When I first heard we were getting a story with a middle aged single mother who was a renowned fearless Pirate...I smiled, nodded and paired it with a fist pump! We get a healthy balance of plot + character growth in this seafaring adventure full of excitement and world building. Admittedly the first 40% is a bit slow + that's because our girl is in retirement! After several husbands, backstabbing rogues and an actual demon...she's spending time with her child and mother on some remote island far away from all of the enemies she's accumulated over the years as a Pirate in the Indian Ocean. When the mother of a former crew member finds her and pleads her case for aid in finding her kidnapped grandchild, Amina sets out to get the old gang back together again on her ship. Dalila, Majed, Tinbu, the Scribe and another character (I won't mention their name as it is spoilery) make a phenomenal supporting cast. The queer representation felt organic and I personally would love a Tinbu novella *fingers crossed*

We follow Amina as she recruits her crew members back and it's been 10 years, they're all feeling a little worse for wear. That being said, they also share one thing in common and that's that they miss the high seas/high stakes adventures that comes with Amina at the helm. This job also comes with a promised hefty pay-off, one that  can truly secure their retirement. In this world there are stories of Djinn and Gods/Goddesses and before venturing out on this last journey, that's all they were to Amina...Just stories. The life of a Pirate has enough challenges but things get all the more interesting when those stories filled with magical beings become your reality. 

WRITING & FINAL THOUGHTS...

Slow to start while the troops are being rallied, This is one you just have to trust that you're in for a good time. I thoroughly enjoyed Amina seeking out each of her crew members out from their hidey holes (haha!) because it provided the opportunity for their backstory. This led to each crew member being well fleshed out and easily imagined with personalities that are quite distinct from one another. Amina is at the very start telling her tale to a scribe and with that come challenges to decisions she made that probably weren't the best. That is where the humor shines and we get GRADE A SNARK! Amina dishes it out and I ate it up! In fact I've heard that the audiobook narration really delivers on those one liners our girl Amina was quipping. I will absolutely be doing a tandem read with the audiobook when it's time for a re-read. Also, as a Fantasy reader I love jumping into a freshly made up magic system and setting like the rest of us. However, I have found that I enjoy a Fantasy ten times more when it draws inspiration from History or recreates it as best possible. In the preface, Chakraborty states that she tried to stay true to the history of the 12th century Islamic societies of the northwestern Indian Ocean but it's still Fiction. I loved seeing the representation of various religious beliefs in her characters, religion as a whole is an important theme in this story. Amina is a Muslim woman trying to get back on track with her religion and acknowledges where she falls short. Her crew members have their own differing religious beliefs and we see Amina try and respectfully understand theirs as they respect her own. It truly was beautiful to see this found family not only co-exist with one another but also honor each other's beliefs. I am eagerly anticipating another adventure with Amina and her crew!

“For this scribe has read a great many of these accounts and taken away another lesson: that to be a woman is to have your story misremembered. Discarded. Twisted.”

Amina is a pirate - but she's an adventurer at heart. She loves seeing new places and discovering new lands and people. But after her latest husband lands her with child - she retires and chooses a softer life with her and her mother. But when an offer she can't refuse (read: blackmail) comes along - she rounds up the old crew (all middle aged now!) and goes on to try to rescue this teenager from the Franks but the stakes suddenly get much higher when the truth comes out. The Franks are after the Moon of Saba - a pearl that can rewrite the world.

If someone told me a few weeks ago that I would be in love with a book that focuses on a mother MC as a PIRATE - I would be shocked. This book alone showed me just how few books have Mom's as actual MCs! It was so new to me - and I adored seeing how Amina's push and pull between her love for her daughter fought with her love for the sea and adventuring. Her crew is incredibly diverse in terms of sexuality, age, ethnicity and religion and specialities. This book really reads like an older version of One Piece and I loved it!

The chapters are broken up with short texts on information on the cast's past or myths - a great tie into the story that flowed so well. This book is so funny - you can really see the MC's age and the "I'm too old for this foolishness" come through at moments. There are unexpected twists and magic, epic battles in the past intertwined with the struggles of getting older and beautifully rich details of the world throughout. I simply cannot wait for book 2! I need to see more of this boat cat too!

rep// Muslim mc, Yemeni, Omani, Somali, Iraqi, Hindu characters, gay rep, trans rep, Christian and Jewish rep

cw// violence, death, grief, colonization, slavery, transphobia, torture, kidnapping, body horror

Thank you to the publisher for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a wild ride for me! I have never started out hating a book so much, to then fall completely in love with it, to THEN end on an absolutely mediocre note.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi has a lot going for it. A pirate fantasy told about a mother, years after she has left behind adventure, along with a diverse crew, magic, and creatures of myths and legends. I so wanted to love it, and through most of the book was in love with it. I struggled in the beginning, finding the first chapter to not be about out main character. What an odd way to start a book? Then once you get with Amina, the book still takes 10% to even start. Once the adventures do get going, I was so hooked. The characters were amazing and the world so magical. Near the end I started to struggle again. Between long chapters and a loss of focus from the plot, I found myself losing interest and no longer caring what happened.

Overall, I would totally recommend this book. I think a lot of the problems I had were personal for me. AND while I didn't love the book as much as I wanted to, I still think it had a lot of good going for it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Books for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m convinced SA Chakraborty can do no wrong. I loved her Daevabad series, and was so excited to read about a 40-something female pirate. It absolutely did not disappoint. It was full of adventure and action and magic and danger and heart. Amina is strong in a multitude of ways, her fierceness in combat parallels her fierceness as a mother, one not detracting from the other in any way.
I loved this one and cannot wait for the rest of the series! Highly recommend.

4.25 - A fantastical pirate quest filled with whacky and lovable characters, rich settings, and heart-pounding adventure! Shannon Chakraborty has expertly crafted a historical world that is believable yet filled to the brim with magic. After excelling at political fantasy in The Daevabad Trilogy, she successfully wrote one of the most epic pirate adventures I’ve read in years. I can’t wait to follow Amina as she tracks down more magical artifacts in future adventures!

I’ve never been big into pirates but SAV has changed that for me! The characters and the plot are perfection as usual. If you’re a fan of City of Brass, you’ll love this. I’m also a sucker for a good heist. Throw a demon into the mix and you’ve got me hooked for life. Can’t wait for the next book in this series!

Pirates and poisoners and monsters — oh, my!

Man alive am I obsessed with this book. It’s a wonderful combination of magic, myth, and history, all told in a daring and fresh fashion. Amina has settled down from her life at sea. Yes, she misses it, but she loves being a mom more. And she’s created a life for herself that will keep her daughter safe — as much as the ocean might call. The scuttlebutt about her says she’s “a giant. Dark, with her teeth filled into gold-capped fangs and a scar covering much of her right arm, scorched there by naft.” But as much fun as the old legends about her are, she’s retired. But when a rich woman offers Amina more money than she could possibly imagine for saving her granddaughter, Amina has to reclaim her spot at the helm of her ship and get her old motley crew on board.

Shannon Chakraborty takes an interesting approach to our heroine. Amina isn’t in her prime. She’s not young, she’s not beautiful. She has a bum knee, and her eyesight is starting to fail her. The rest of her crew fares similarly. They’d be considered past their prime, but they believe (as I do) that their best is yet to come. And what a cast of characters this book has; on top of the pirates, we have poisoners and snarky scribes and demonic not-quite-ex-husbands. There are sea monsters and magically inclined super sailors. And, of course, an artifact that, if in the wrong hands, could bring about the end of the world. No big deal.

The cast of characters already has strong bonds, and I know they’ll only continue to grow as this series progresses. But it really is Amina who shines. I love that she’s a middle-aged mother whose most outlandish exploits are behind her. She’s fierce and loyal and experienced. She’s not a naive, fresh-faced 19-year-old heroine thrust unassumingly into a fantasy world. She’s been around the block, and she’s survived. She’s a veteran. And she’s done and seen things she wishes she could forget. Amina’s religious conviction is wonderfully inserted into this book and feels intimate but never preachy.

This story is playful and strong and matters. It’s witty and feminist. Chakraborty made me feel like I was along for the ride — the highs and lows and crazies — the whole time. I was on that ship, too, with the wind in my hair and my eyes on the horizon. She has given us a carefully researched tale that’s epic in proportion but is still personal and heartfelt. There’s swashbuckling galore, but there’s reflection and growth, too.

And, of course, there are pirates.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I am properly obsessed with this book. I have been excited about this for months and months and months, reading every snippet of information Shannon posted online about it. Still, I also made myself nervous that it was so built up that how could it possibly meet my expectations now? Well, it did and it was perfect.

First off, the plot. Who doesn't love a good pirate adventure? Readers are immediately aware of what to expect from this plot and I really appreciated the firm, focused direction this book had while still not being predictable. That is a tricky balance. Even at the halfway point of the book, we know the *goal* of the story but a friend asked if I had any predictions for the second half of the book: nope, none. I had no clue how we would be getting from point A to point B by the end. And that made it FUN. And then once the magical, mystical components start getting thrown in we are just here to enjoy the journey.

Then, the FREAKING CHARACTERS. I adored them, I want to be a pirate on their crew, and I want to live in Shannon's head and learn what kind of witchcraft she has that made these characters SO MUCH. The main cast was all so distinct and fleshed out that in every scene, regardless of if there was a written description or not, I could PICTURE their faces, reactions, and thoughts. They all felt real in a way that is not common in any other books I have read. Even one of the characters, who did something that negatively affected the crew and Amina, all I could think is "oh my god that is SO perfectly THEM, of course they did that."

Finally, the representation. As I said, I have followed this book's journey. I loved hearing about Shannon's hopes and dreams to maintain a factual representation of the time period and, especially, from the non-white European perspective and felt that was seamlessly done that was able to build up the context of the story while never overpowering it. Similarly, acknowledging that a pirate sailing in the Indian Ocean is going to encounter so many different groups and religions and the inherent diversity that would be a ship's crew. It is the details like these that really communicate what love and passion were put into creating this story/book.

This will be a top read for me this year and I cannot recommend it enough.

This was a great new start for Chakraborty’s next venture. I had a really great time with the main character and look forward to what happens next in this story. There was a complex cast within this well-written world. I love how this author can always teach me something while being simultaneously entertaining.

4.5/5 ☆

I'm uncomfortable with the concept of Muslim fantasy and I've never been interested in a story about pirates
before. This book changed the latter. I'm now craving stories like this, filled danger, treasure hunts, former(and still kind of)morally grey characters who don't fit the box and beautiful landscapes.

The amount of details in this plot, the rich history that rippled across every word and the setting, the diverse cast and the story itself was just so clever and well-crafted.

From Dalila to Majed, every character was developed perfectly but my favourite was Amina. A pirate, more specifically a pirate who is also a Muslim mother in her forties? Yes, please. I don't think I've read a fantasy book centred around a middle-aged character and it was so enlivening.

I really admired that Amina's struggle was not brushed off. Despite swearing off a life she considered sinful, she still struggled when she saw glimpses of her former life. And I also have to mention that the way she came to learn the balance between motherhood with her dreams was incredible.

What warmed my heart the most was the Muslim rep. Constant praises of God? And that too by a character who is not perfect. Amina was, undoubtedly, a flawed but a realistic character. Her idea of religion is in many ways different from mine but intriguing and in no way was it offensive–in fact, it just portrayed a different side of Muslims that we rarely see. She was a character who acted in a way that was against her religion but still(and adamantly, sometimes) held onto parts of it and repented for it.

I highly recommend this one-of-a-kind fantasy book with(as the title suggests) marvellous adventures, treacherous husbands, magic, poison, banter that made me laugh, and ofc, great Muslim rep.

I loved this story! It refreshing to see an older cast of characters, dealing with aging and motherhood and love, etc. all while kicking butt. This is a tale to sip in doses to make last for as long as you can.

What a ride. The Adventures Of Amina al-Sirafi reads like an epic from history, like The Odyssey. It truly does take the reader on such an expansive journey; a journey that will stick with me for a long while, I'm sure.

The Adventures Of Amina al-Sirafi follows Amina, a legendary pirate captain trying to enjoy retirement with her daughter. One day, a rich woman comes to Amina with a job offer, which Amina initially refuses but comes to accept when a million dollars are on the table. Figuring it will be a quick trip, the captain gathers her old crew together and sets out on her journey. She quickly realizes, though, that things are not as they seem, and the mission will be harder than it seems.

I thought this was an exciting book with fascinating characters. In fact, I think the characters are the best part of the book. They really come to life. I found myself falling in love with these characters so quickly. Dalila was probably my favorite side character. She's so funny and smart and so emotionally complex. I hope we get more about her past in the future books. Oh, and how could I forget Raksh? Everyone in the book paints him to be a villain, but I loved him. He was definitely a highlight in this book, even if he was extremely selfish and cowardly. Considering his nature, though, it makes sense.

Amina is also amazing. I can hardly believe that this is the first book in a trilogy, and we get to see her do more amazing things in the future. I can just tell that she's going to become like one of those great characters in fiction. I can't wait to see what the future brings.

The setting is also one of the best parts of this book. Chakraborty creates such a vivid, lush world. It was like I was there. At points, the descriptions did become a little much and did slow down the pace, but I think the descriptions did more good than bad.

Basically, I really enjoyed this book. It was such a fun adventure fantasy with the potential to be utterly fantastic in the future. I'm kind of mad that I read this as an arc because that means I have to wait at least a year for the next book.

Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher for an advanced e-book copy in exchange for an honest review.

THIS BOOK WAS EVERYTHING! Bad-ass pirate and her incredible crew that had the sort of chemistry that comes along very seldom in a book - chef's freaking kiss. The adventure and the magic and the lore was also just amazing. cannot recommend this book enough

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My friend recently told me that someone else described this to her as "the perfect pirate fantasy novel." And it truly is. I loved absolutely everything about this book. Amina al-Sirafi is an incredibly relatable protagonist, especially as I enter my 30s. She's a retired pirate and smuggler--a profession that ran in her family--who's forced (err, enticed) into reassembling her old crew and going in search of a kidnapped child, a foreign sorcerer warlord, a powerful artifact, a large monetary reward, and protection for herself and her daughter. Throughout the book Amina struggles with dueling desires--on the one hand, her quiet, safe and settled life with her family, and on the other, adventures and exploration at sea. This is ideal for her estranged husband, who happens to be a demon that feeds on ambition. Amina's relationship with him brings a lot of the comic relief to this book, as do her crewmates, who are all epically loveable characters. I cannot wait for the next installments of this series!

A rollicking pirate adventure with zippy, fun writing and a new perspective on the genre. Amina is a heroine I can't wait to see again!

Amina al-Sirafi should be content. After a storied and scandalous career as one of the Indian Ocean’s most notorious pirates, she’s survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural.

But when she’s tracked down by the obscenely wealthy mother of a former crewman, she’s offered a job no bandit could refuse: retrieve her comrade’s kidnapped daughter for a kingly sum. The chance to have one last adventure with her crew, do right by an old friend, and win a fortune that will secure her family’s future forever? It seems like such an obvious choice that it must be God’s will.

Yet the deeper Amina dives, the more it becomes alarmingly clear there’s more to this job, and the girl’s disappearance, than she was led to believe. For there’s always risk in wanting to become a legend, to seize one last chance at glory, to savor just a bit more power…and the price might be your very soul.

I was really excited for this upcoming novel, after starting the City of Brass trilogy that Chakraborty had previously written. The beginning did put me off, with the info dumping and hardly any action. After that, each chapter teetered on captivating my interest to plateauing out. Along with the fact it turned out to be a heist journey, which blanched my interest. I enjoyed everything else including the characters.

Rating: Loved It, 4.5 stars



The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi was one of my most highly anticipated releases of 2023, and it did not disappoint! This book follows a retired pirate/smuggler, Amina al-Sirafi as she is pulled back into her old life by the family members of one of her former crew members. She is promised riches beyond her wildest dreams in exchange for bringing back this woman's granddaughter who has been kidnapped by a foreign captain; however, it soon becomes obvious that there are many more dangers than Amina anticipated, and she has found herself deep in the middle of an incredibly dangerous and magical situation.

I think that my absolute favorite part about this book was Amina and her crew. Amina is an incredibly smart, witty, and sarcastic character, which is one of my favorite combinations to follow. I especially love that she is middle-aged, with all the complaints that go along with that, as well as a mother who is trying to balance doing what she loves while being with and providing for the daughter that she loves. Definitely not a character that we see often in adult, epic fantasy, but definitely one that I'd like to see more.

"I wanted to have adventures, to be a hero, to have my tales told in courtyards and street fairs, where perhaps kids who'd gorwn up like me, with more imagination than means, might be inspired to dream. Where women who were told there was only one sort of respectful life for them could listen to the tales of another who'd broken away--and thrived when she'd done so."

Amina's character and her narrative snark is part of what made this whole journey worth it in my opinion. The story is set up as a scribe taking down, exactly what Amina shares about her adventures, in her own words. So we have what is quickly becoming one of my favorite setups where someone is telling their story, but we get some of their narration, looking back on the situation as an older and wiser human.

"I crawled onto the beach to find the rest of my crew. Literally none of them had fled into the cave as I had commanded. Terrible pirates, they were. No sense of self-preservation."

While Amina is the star of this book, she is not the only character to shine. I loved the side characters we get in her crew. All their interactions really come together to make it feel like they really have known each other and travelled together for ages. I appreciate the sense of found family, and even came to really love the villain of the crew.

This is very reminiscent of Daevabad where it feels like historical fiction in our own world, with some liberal elements of magic and the supernatural woven in. Chakraborty has a fantastic way of doing this, and it all feels like a very rich reading experience. I also appreciate the slight nod she gave to Daevabad about 3/4 of the way through. It made me so happy!

I think that my only real complaint was the pacing in the first half of this book. I understand why it was slower to start as we started off, but I just felt like the pacing was rather uneven. It took me about a month to read the first 30%. Then once I got into the groove of things, I finished it in a few days. I think that part of that was that I was feeling like everything was really dark and heavy for Amina for a while. While it didn't necessarily let up for her, I feel like there was enough comic relief and magical happenings that happened later in the book that it felt less oppressive and more like a fun-time.

Overall, this was a really great time. It is exactly what I was hoping for in a high-seas adventure tale, and I am so excited to see where we go in what was set up for future books. I am curious and hopeful that this will end up being longer than a trilogy, possibly a quartet or quintet, but time will tell. I will certainly be joining Amina for her future adventures, and this has cemented Shannon Chakraborty as one of my favorite authors.

Thank you to Harper Voyager and Netgalley for an advance copy of The Adventures of Aminal al-Sirafi in exchange for an honest review.

This is an ADVENTURE of a book, and at every turn of a page there is action and a demand for attention! The reader becomes enthralled in the adventures of Amina, and her sea pirate’s heart.

I LOVED how the author made our leading lady older, and not only older, but someone with a child. As someone in my thirties with a child of my own, it was easy to identify with Amina on so many levels. This is something that is very rare in ANY book that I have ever read in my life.

THE CHARACTER BUILDING IS AMAZING. I grew to care for each character that is mentioned in the book, and a yearning to learn and know more about each one of the people in Amina’s life.

The only thing I wished it had more of was romance. In saying that, I also appreciate that it focused on Amina not needing a partner, and being able to go on adventures on her own. I appreciate that completely. Yet, my romance loving self definitely wished for it at times!

The author has a way with words and weaving tales that will grip your heart and your mind for the entirety of the book. Not only that, but I will be thinking of Amina Al Safari for years to come. As she has a permanent home in my bookish heart.

Also, there is a precious cat on the ship. Need I say more?

I received this book as an e-arc from Netgalley, all opinions are my own.