RoXXie
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi ♦ Shannon Chakraborty | Review
I must honestly say that I had never heard of author Shannon Chakraborty before reading this book. Her well-known book series The Daevabad Trilogy also completely passed me by. But meanwhile it was allowed to move into my shelf. The reason for this is The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi which I got in an Exclusive Edition by FairyLoot.
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi ♦ Shannon Chakraborty
Opinion
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty is an adventurous and entertaining high-seas journey with courageous lady pirates, demon husbands, poisoners, some magic, sea monsters, and a cast of endearing characters. The author conjured up such a breathtaking historical and mythical setting, that it didn’t take me long to be drawn into the story.
I loved how strong, but also with flaws the main character Amina al-Sirafi came around. She sure was a pirate and definitely a good one once. It could feel her struggles to go on another adventures but leaving her little girl behind. I enjoyed how she reunited with her most trusted inner circle of her crew and stormed out onto the wide-open sea to save another young woman from her biggest mistake.
While reading, I often had the feeling I’m actually living in this adventure on the broad seas, I could feel salty wind in my hair. The dark fantasy elements, such as demons and sea monsters, in a somewhat medieval Indian Ocean setting combined with diverse characters and multiple religious backgrounds made me devour the book. I could never tell what the next twist and uncovered mystery would bring and to where this group of adventurers would set sail to.
As much as I enjoyed the plot in its whole, I had a bot of a hard time with the last quarter of the book. The weird magic and discovered sea monsters seemed a bit forced to get a bit more tension in the action. Especially the weird feathered creatures were too much for me. I think a different explanation of how Amina could have survived would have irritated me less.
Conclusion
But the overall package of The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi was terrific, and the book was able to carry me away and inspire me. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for the next volume because I am sure Amina and her crew still have some fantastic adventures ahead of them.
This review was first published at The Art of Reading.
