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maur_damar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Body horror and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
celery's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
chrisb913's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Torture, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Slavery, and Transphobia
ttnnllrr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
When the mother of one of Amina’s late crew members finds her and asks for her help to rescue her granddaughter from a power hungry merchant obsessed with the occult, Amina gives in to working one last job before retiring for good.
In order to pull off this final assignment, Amina rounds up her old crew and her old ship. However, along the journey she finds information that leaves the group unsettled, the task ahead found the be a bit more daunting than what was initially conveyed.
Discovering too little too late just how dangerous this last journey truly is, Amina must now stay afloat in a sea of fantastical opponents in order to rescue her former crew member’s daughter and stay alive with the aim of getting home safe to Marjana.
I loved this book very much. I am a big fan of pirates, historical fiction, and fantasy, and this book had all three, so it’s safe to say I am absolutely obsessed. I really appreciated the idea to centre on a group of middle aged adventurers, showing us the unique challenges they faced, such as grappling with abandoning their children and families, and the maturity they brought to the story. I loved the relationships between the characters, the four original crew especially, but even Amina’s relationship with her monstrous husband was very well written.
I am currently impatiently waiting the publishing of the second book in the trilogy, though it is over a year away, and I am now debating reading Chakraborty’s Daevabad Trilogy in the mean time because clearly she is a beast of an author.
A note for some people who may not enjoy this book as much as I did: it is written in the form of a story being scribed by a third party but in the point of view of Amina Al-Sirafi. It is, for the most part, very straightforward but at times the scribe chooses to narrate using other sources in order to bring the reader more context. I can understand that for some that may break immersion, but I really enjoyed it, along with the little breaks in narration for the scribe to argue with Amina as she tells the story.
Moderate: Body horror
yrc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed the humor in this book greatly, the epic and larger than life adventures against both wicked men and sea monsters alike. I also felt that the swashbuckling tone was sourly needed as a scratch to my itch. Life can't be taken seriously every second of each day.
Amina is a wonderous character and actually goes through the hardships of being separated from family, limitations of age and biases towards women, which was a refreshing character arc often not seen enough in fantasy.
The rest of the crew was terrific as well, especially Dalila and Mahjed. The historical touches were fun to encounter and the narrators did a magnificent job with this text. 4 starts and recommended if you are looking for a fun book, that doesn't shy away from dark situations but does it with style and purpose.
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Religious bigotry
julian7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I only have two complaints about the book. First, I wish we had gotten more of the side characters! I feel like there was so much focus on them in the first part of the story, when Amina was “getting the band back together,” only for them to disappear into the background once Raksh showed up. I enjoyed Raksh, don’t get me wrong, but I would have loved to learn more about the other characters, like Tinbu and Majed, who seemed so interesting.
My other complaint is that the first third of the book went by very slowly, and the last two thirds felt much more fast-paced and a little too busy. A medium pacing throughout the whole book would have felt more cohesive.
I’ll probably read the sequels, and I hope we get to learn more about the side characters and Raksh returns eventually. 🤭
Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Torture, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Slavery, Transphobia, and War
kristenreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror
kirtreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I listened to the audiobook and I really loved how each of the characters were narrated. The voices all were really distinct and really communicated the characters personality. It was such a fun story to listen to.
The book did take a little bit of time to get going and it did sometimes feel like the story was slower paced than I wanted. I also wanted a little more of her crew, which I am hoping that I will get in a sequel. It also felt weirdly episodic and chunked out instead of one smooth story, but I don't mind that.
I thought that the book presented the idea of struggling to be a mother in this chaotic lifestyle but that sometimes felt like it was on the side for a lot of the plot. We had Almina constantly mentioning getting back to her daughter but then
Overall, had a great time with this book, it was super fun and the narrator work was great.
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Sexual content and Religious bigotry
keelirae113's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Islamophobia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
Minor: Drug use, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Cultural appropriation
cleo_reads's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
I love fantasy adventures with middle aged protagonists and Amina is delightful. This is a rollicking pirate fantasy that is also a meditation on motherhood and sacrifice, regrets and middle age.
There’s no romance and unlike 98% of the fiction I read, the protagonist is cis and straight. There are queer supporting characters though and found family. Be warned, there’s a fair bit of violence and descriptions of atrocities. And some body horror.
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, and Death
Moderate: Gore and Violence
Minor: Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury