The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Amina al-Sirafi, #1)

4.5 stars. This book was so fun! I loved the writing, loved the characters, and the story was so brutally entertaining, and at times super trippy. The pacing did feel odd at times, and while the ending was super intense, I wasn’t feeling the intensity. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

[b:The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi|61294937|The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Amina al-Sirafi, #1)|Shannon Chakraborty|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1663869260l/61294937._SX50_.jpg|68668927] by [a:Shannon Chakraborty|22491259|Shannon Chakraborty|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]

S.A. Chakraborty has been nominated for many awards including: Hugo, Locus, World Fantasy and Crawford. She is also the New York Times bestselling author behind The Daevabad Trilogy which exhibits a great repertoire for writing Middle Eastern and Islamic Folklore which she uses again in her newest book:

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi is the first book in the Amina Al-Sirafi trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty. With a colourful background from her pirate days, from backstabbing rogues to a literal demon, Amina decides to retire and care for her daughter Marjana. A retirement that only lasts 10 years before a family member of her ex-crew mate offers her a job she cannot refuse, one last job that would secure her family’s future forever. For this infamous pirate the stakes are higher than ever, will Amina Al-Sirafi complete the job or will the price of such glory claim her soul.

“Let’s talk about the night I accidentally married a demon.”

This book actually steps out of my usual genre of fae Romantacy books and into the world of pirates on mythical adventures. The cast is strong and varied, with the reassembly of a crew being my favourite series of events. We learn characters' back stories and skills when they reunite with the crew but also their development when everyone was estranged for 10 years. The main character Amina being a middle aged mother having lived her glory days already offers a new perspective moving away from the YA genre as well.

“Oh, fuck off, you fish-brained wizard.”

The perspective of the book starts with Amina recollecting one of her biggest and most dangerous adventures to a scribe: Samal. Where it then fades in and out of her reliving the adventure in present time. It feels like you literally have been sucked into the story as Amina reignited her passion for adventure. She also has an internal conflict, she wants to go back to sailing the seas but she is guilt ridden for abandoning her daughter for this first quest let alone any following ones.

“Men… useless, the vast lot of them, celestial and mortal.”

My repertoire for sources of Middle Eastern or Islamic stories is literally a Sinbad anime and Disney’s Aladdin.But I really enjoyed Chakraborty’s descriptions of myths for this world and the various fantasy creatures and beings she used inspired by the culture. Every new being or object introduced was described in a way that was easy to picture but also let your imagination build upon it. I’m really looking forward to the release of the rest of the trilogy.

⭐⭐⭐⭐