Reviews tagging 'Torture'

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

50 reviews

futureofmydays's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Islamophobia, and Sexism

Moderate: Genocide, Grief, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Classism, Homophobia, Torture, and Trafficking

Minor: Vomit

blacksphinx's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Classism, Police brutality, Violence, Gore, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Transphobia, Sexual content, Alcohol, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Torture, and Vomit

Minor: Cannibalism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Islamophobia, and Homophobia

tamara_joy's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body horror and Death

Minor: Dysphoria, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Blood

annie_tonk's review

adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Slavery, Torture, and Kidnapping

Minor: Cursing

jasminn_perez's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I loved how story book this felt. It was like I was reading myself a bedtime story and I love love love that. I loved Amina and I loved Raksh he was so funny. Amina is THE girl boss. the only reason I didn't give it five stars was because I didn't feel 100% connected to it. like my book club cried but I didn't. also I cannot believe that they didn't get their money. that shit blew my mind like that was the whole reason they took the job in the first place HUUH. trans representation slayed so good. I would looove to have this one on my shelf it just feels so classic and amazing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, and Gore

Minor: Transphobia and Torture

meganpbell's review against another edition

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

4.5

This swashbuckling, Middle Eastern mythology inspired historical fantasy follows a middle-aged single mom and former pirate captain as she’s coerced out of retirement for one more adventure. I loved the rep here—the older (and funny and caring and badass) main character, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian rep, and fantastic queer rep too! The length and the emphasis on plot over character development took this from a 5 star to a 4.5 star for me, but highly recommended if you’re in the mood for an adventure on the high seas!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Body horror, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Murder, Slavery, Transphobia, and Sexual content

rhi_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, and Torture

palmkd's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is definitely a new favorite for me. Amina retired from her life on the seas 10 years ago to live a quiet and peaceful life with her daughter. Obviously things did not go as planned or we wouldn't be setting off on this adventure!

Join Amina as her scribe tells her riveting story full of pirates, religion, multiple ex-husbands, demons (and/or other supernatural beings of creative names), adventure, spells, magical creatures, potion masters and previously untold legends.

The audio is masterfully done, really awesome job by Lameece Issaq and Amin El Gamal.

The first in a new trilogy, this is not one to miss!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping and Torture

gen_wolfhailstorm's review

adventurous funny inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 The Details:
Narrated by Lameece Issaq and Amin El Gamal
Unabridged


Buddy read with Ellie (Bibbidi bobbidi books).

Blended reading (physical + audio).

I really enjoyed my time journeying through the adventures (quite epic in proportions) of Amina.

What a strong character she was, and one that was beautifully mirrored by her fierce love for her daughter and family. I love that she even made mention that even though she had put aside her sailing days after having her child, it didn't stop her from being a nakhudha. I thought that was a strong and inspiring way of thinking - you can wear many hats as you go through different life stages.

This was an exciting and fun read. During the portions where I listened to the audiobook, i found the narrator to be an excellent carrier of tone and inflection and brought even more life to the story.

I was really intrigued by the origins of Amina's child and how her heritage could shape her as she ages. I hope we get more of this in a sequel.

There had been some good little twists that built up the air of being on edge and lack of trust, which I thought was handled really well and applied an uncomfortable amounr of tension to the scene. During these times, I enjoyed Amina's inner reflections on how she would have handled the situation 10 years ago (rash, hasty, full on violence) compared with now (always having her family and their safety in her mind).

I thought all the characters were exceptionally written and the banter added to the believability of their arcs. I would love to see even more magic explored in sequential plots.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Murder, Hate crime, and Genocide

cameronreads's review

4.0

There is a lot to like about this book. If you like pirate stories, you’ll love this; if you’re looking for an adventure with a middle-aged protagonist, you’ll love this; if you want a story with a rich magic and vibrant setting, you’ll love this.  Chakraborty has the most wonderful way of writing setting. It really made this book for me. You can tell the amount of careful research that went into this book, but also the care that went into bringing the research to life. It feels so vibrant and magical.  

I really liked Amina as a protagonist. It felt like such a rich perspective to follow a middle-aged mother who very much feels like her adventures are over into this magical adventure. However it was very clear that she was the centre of this book, and whilst I liked the moments of the other characters we get and the established found family they formed years ago, I wanted a bit more out of the side characters. 

For some reason it took me a while to get into this book. I think it’s partially due to the first person perceptive - whilst the writing in this book is truly wonderful, I do tend not o struggle with first person regardless, especially when there’s only one POV. It makes the story feel very linear to me, which is fine but struggles to hold my personal short attention span. It also definitely picked up nearer the end - the beginning feels more historical, and it slowly morphs into a fantasy nearer the end, which I personally prefer more, so that might be another reason. 

Still, I really enjoyed this book, and it will become a go-to recommendation for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Body horror, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Alcoholism

Minor: Addiction, Deadnaming, Death of parent, and Rape