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rubeusbeaky 's review for:
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
by S.A. Chakraborty
I will admit, I had to wade into this book, it was start and stop for the first 50 pages. I appreciated the gimmick of writing in the style of a classic odyssey, and going through the layers of scribe to protagonist, to give that feeling of hearing a tale at a tavern, or around a fire, and wondering which parts were true.. After the first 50 pages is when the adventure and intrigue really gets going, and Amina's band of friends and frienemies were all fun and engaging. Colorful tricksters and ambitious adventurers going through midlife crises, and ending up on a high seas "road trip" - do you need a bigger selling point?!
Still, for all its love of history and myths, the book could be awfully dry and predictable at times. It was really great to have such a diverse group of characters, but they were going through a paint-by-numbers pirate tale, each and every plot point could be synced up to a moment in Pirates of the Caribbean. Break the crew out of jail, steal the fastest boat right out from under port authority, head to an island where some paranormal baddies are combing through treasure for a specific piece, get marooned by said baddies, get beaten up by a kraken, go parlay with an even bigger group of pirates to try and organize a righteous fight against the baddies... Yup, I watched those movies, too. Again, very very happy that this version of events includes some queer shipmates, PoC's, and badass ladies. But I did feel a little underwhelmed by Amina's "adventures". Particularly, when Amina herself doesn't live up to her reputation, she gets incapacitated A LOT of the time and needs to be rescued by her friends.
But I will say that even though the plot played it a little too safe, the themes were big and moving and necessary. This book tackled A LOT: Classism, ageism, xenophobia, religious prejudice, sexism, LGBTQA rights, and how humanity wrecks itself with "righteous" wars. The pirates are inclusive, and the open seas are the only safe space where different people can comingle for a common cause. Their life is the embodiment of Freedom. This book is a love story to anyone who ever desired and aspired to be more than society's expectations of them.
A slow start, and a little more cozy than adventurous, but witty and whip-smart and universal. I am so happy this book exists, and I intend to share it like a good fireside tale.
Still, for all its love of history and myths, the book could be awfully dry and predictable at times. It was really great to have such a diverse group of characters, but they were going through a paint-by-numbers pirate tale, each and every plot point could be synced up to a moment in Pirates of the Caribbean. Break the crew out of jail, steal the fastest boat right out from under port authority, head to an island where some paranormal baddies are combing through treasure for a specific piece, get marooned by said baddies, get beaten up by a kraken, go parlay with an even bigger group of pirates to try and organize a righteous fight against the baddies... Yup, I watched those movies, too. Again, very very happy that this version of events includes some queer shipmates, PoC's, and badass ladies. But I did feel a little underwhelmed by Amina's "adventures". Particularly, when Amina herself doesn't live up to her reputation, she gets incapacitated A LOT of the time and needs to be rescued by her friends.
But I will say that even though the plot played it a little too safe, the themes were big and moving and necessary. This book tackled A LOT: Classism, ageism, xenophobia, religious prejudice, sexism, LGBTQA rights, and how humanity wrecks itself with "righteous" wars. The pirates are inclusive, and the open seas are the only safe space where different people can comingle for a common cause. Their life is the embodiment of Freedom. This book is a love story to anyone who ever desired and aspired to be more than society's expectations of them.
A slow start, and a little more cozy than adventurous, but witty and whip-smart and universal. I am so happy this book exists, and I intend to share it like a good fireside tale.