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boba_nbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
Spice Rating: 🫑 / 5 🌶️
Author of the Daevabad Trilogy, S.A. Chakraborty, brings us back to this beautiful and dangerous world through the story of a middle-aged, human, ex-pirate: Amina al-Sirafi.
The name "Amina al-Sirafi" strikes fear into the hearts of many due to her scandalous pirating career. Now, she's settled at home with her mother and daughter. She should be content. But when the wealthy mother of a former crewman shows up at her door begging Amina into finding her granddaughter, she thinks it's a sign from God to have one last adventure with her friends before she officially retires. Little does she know that this task will lead her and her crew into mysteries and legends Amina could've only dreamed of.
S.A. Chakraborty took elements of a classic pirate story--a diverse and fun-loving crew, a quest for treasure, fearsome creatures--and added her own twist to it. The Daevabad Trilogy has to be one of my favorite fantasy series, so diving back into this world was so much fun.
Author of the Daevabad Trilogy, S.A. Chakraborty, brings us back to this beautiful and dangerous world through the story of a middle-aged, human, ex-pirate: Amina al-Sirafi.
The name "Amina al-Sirafi" strikes fear into the hearts of many due to her scandalous pirating career. Now, she's settled at home with her mother and daughter. She should be content. But when the wealthy mother of a former crewman shows up at her door begging Amina into finding her granddaughter, she thinks it's a sign from God to have one last adventure with her friends before she officially retires. Little does she know that this task will lead her and her crew into mysteries and legends Amina could've only dreamed of.
S.A. Chakraborty took elements of a classic pirate story--a diverse and fun-loving crew, a quest for treasure, fearsome creatures--and added her own twist to it. The Daevabad Trilogy has to be one of my favorite fantasy series, so diving back into this world was so much fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Torture, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, and Transphobia
schnaucl's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.5
I really enjoyed this book, which is the promising start to a new series.
It was refreshing to read a book that wasn't set in the West and where Christianity wasn't the religion of most of the characters.
I really liked all the characters, and it was nice having an older female lead character, and a mother at that. The secondary characters were also really interesting and I'm looking forward to hopefully learning even more about them.
It was refreshing to read a book that wasn't set in the West and where Christianity wasn't the religion of most of the characters.
I really liked all the characters, and it was nice having an older female lead character, and a mother at that. The secondary characters were also really interesting and I'm looking forward to hopefully learning even more about them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol
qiaokelibar's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
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? It's complicated
5.0
This is now in my top 5 favorite books of all time. The prose was engaging in a way I could only hope to emulate. The characters, from the heroine to even the smallest side character, were all so interesting and well fleshed-out. There were little mysteries peppered throughout that kept me guessing until the end - and the ending itself? Amazing!! The reveal of the scribe's identity had me doing cartwheels of joy (Lie: I'm literally laying in bed). I need everyone in my life to run to their nearest bookstore and buy themselves a copy ASAP. I can't wait until the next installment!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Murder and Classism
Minor: Racism, Sexism, and Alcohol
booksemmahasread's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Slavery, Xenophobia, Grief, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Alcohol
chanlo1994's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
4.5
As a white person, it's so refreshing to have story based in Middle Eastern/Indian Ocean culture. I had to forget everything I knew about the typical (western based) mythology so I could truly learn about these mythologies while I listened. These narrators were fantastic and I truly enjoyed listening to them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Confinement, Slavery, Transphobia, Islamophobia, and Pandemic/Epidemic
celery's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
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
adventurous
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
4.5
This was an incredibly fun read. The humor and wit of Amina and The supporting cast had me laughing the majority of the story. The incredibly unique narration of the book also boosted my enjoyment.
The way that Chakraborty wrote into the story breaks in the narration as if Amina was being interrupted while telling you the adventure was pure gold . I also highly recommend listening to the audiobook because the voice for the characters was perfect. I really would like to reread this when the next book comes out. I wish I had tandem read the audio and physical together, as just listening to the audio, I feel like I missed out on worldbuilding and story plots. At the end of the day, highly recommend this books!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Torture, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Slavery, and Transphobia
julian7's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
This was a great book! I loved the characters, especially Dalila, Raksh, Jamal, and ofc Amina. I really loved the island of the peris because it was so weird in a fantastic way. It reminded me of the Abarat series a bit. I loved the bit about the spooky cave as well, because for some reason mysterious doors always scratch a very specific itch in my brain. I also enjoyed the humor and political commentary. Franco was an interesting villain and it was so funny how Amina couldn’t pronounce his name.
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. đź¤
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. đź¤
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Torture, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Slavery, Transphobia, and War
kelsokake's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
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
My first official five star read of 2024. I loved everything about this and now feel like I need to get my hands on literally everything that Chakraborty has ever written.
She’s successfully done something that many other offers struggle with. She’s managed to provide enough world-building and backstory to make you feel like the story you’re reading is an entire world that belongs to more than just the characters we see on the page without it feeling like a giant info dump. The characters feel real, they feel like they have actual motivations and drives, like they’ve lived actual lives and not like they just popped into existence at the beginning of the story we’re reading.
The writing in this is so engaging. Less than 50 pages in and I was already feeling so enamored by this story and the people in it. Amina and Salima feel like real
She’s successfully done something that many other offers struggle with. She’s managed to provide enough world-building and backstory to make you feel like the story you’re reading is an entire world that belongs to more than just the characters we see on the page without it feeling like a giant info dump. The characters feel real, they feel like they have actual motivations and drives, like they’ve lived actual lives and not like they just popped into existence at the beginning of the story we’re reading.
The writing in this is so engaging. Less than 50 pages in and I was already feeling so enamored by this story and the people in it. Amina and Salima feel like real
people with real motivations.
Also, how often do you get to read a fantasy story where the main character is an older woman with a daughter and not an 18 year old? The hype around this book is entirely warranted. Honestly, I feel like it deserves the level of hype that Fourth Wing got.
The characters, omg the characters. Amina may be one of my favorite main characters that’s ever existed, she’s flawed, tries her best to be a good person, and is so freaking funny. “A little madness goes a long way in convincing men that you might stab them if they step out of line.”
I could go on and on about this book forever. If you weren’t planning on it or you were on the fence about reading it, do it! If it’s on your tbr, make it the next book you read. I loved this so much and can’t wait to read what’s next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia
thecandiegirl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content