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hfjarmer 's review for:
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
by S.A. Chakraborty
2.5 Stars
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi left me with mixed emotions, making it an unremarkable start to my reading year. Let's delve into the positives first, which contribute to my decision to give it a 3-star rating. Amina, our FMC, breaks away from the typical fantasy mold by being in her 40s and retired, a renowned pirate of the Indian Ocean pulled back into action to resolve a "kidnapping" case with the promise of abundant gold in return for the safe return of Dunya, the granddaughter of a wealthy woman and the daughter of one of Amina's late crew members. It's refreshing that she's not a youthful heroine, and her physical imperfections add depth to her character. Amina's substantial build becomes a formidable asset, portraying her as deadly yet not conventionally delicate or flowery like many other fantasy FMCs.
The narrative is rich with cultural elements, deviating from the usual medieval England-based fantasies, a choice I found both invigorating and captivating. Chakraborty integrates Amina's Muslim faith and rich cultural background, emphasizing that her character, though not a "perfect Muslim," is a vital part of that world.
However, my enthusiasm waned around the 50% mark due to several shortcomings. While the initial setup was intriguing, the plot lost its coherence, leaving me confused and questioning the unfolding events. The secondary characters lacked depth, and the overall story felt lackluster. Amina's relationship with Raksh seemed underdeveloped, and his character's purpose ultimately remained unclear to me. The inclusion of magical systems later in the narrative felt messy and detracted from the core quest of finding Dunya and retrieving the sought-after artifact. The repetitive pattern of pursuing Dunya, losing her, and then finding her again became tiresome, tempting me to abandon the book around the 65% mark.
A final disappointment was the seemingly random attempt to incorporate a "queer" element into the story. While the ending of it just felt a little too random for me to really appreciate this aspect of the story. Like Chakraborty just happened to stick something in there about Dunya being trans/non-binary. Ultimately it just felt like queer-baiting.
I don’t feel like I will remember anything that happened in this book two weeks from now.
Overall, I think Chakraborty’s work is simply not for me, as I had a similar experience attempting to read the City of Brass series - enjoying the culture and unique setting and disliking much else.
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi left me with mixed emotions, making it an unremarkable start to my reading year. Let's delve into the positives first, which contribute to my decision to give it a 3-star rating. Amina, our FMC, breaks away from the typical fantasy mold by being in her 40s and retired, a renowned pirate of the Indian Ocean pulled back into action to resolve a "kidnapping" case with the promise of abundant gold in return for the safe return of Dunya, the granddaughter of a wealthy woman and the daughter of one of Amina's late crew members. It's refreshing that she's not a youthful heroine, and her physical imperfections add depth to her character. Amina's substantial build becomes a formidable asset, portraying her as deadly yet not conventionally delicate or flowery like many other fantasy FMCs.
The narrative is rich with cultural elements, deviating from the usual medieval England-based fantasies, a choice I found both invigorating and captivating. Chakraborty integrates Amina's Muslim faith and rich cultural background, emphasizing that her character, though not a "perfect Muslim," is a vital part of that world.
However, my enthusiasm waned around the 50% mark due to several shortcomings. While the initial setup was intriguing, the plot lost its coherence, leaving me confused and questioning the unfolding events. The secondary characters lacked depth, and the overall story felt lackluster. Amina's relationship with Raksh seemed underdeveloped, and his character's purpose ultimately remained unclear to me. The inclusion of magical systems later in the narrative felt messy and detracted from the core quest of finding Dunya and retrieving the sought-after artifact. The repetitive pattern of pursuing Dunya, losing her, and then finding her again became tiresome, tempting me to abandon the book around the 65% mark.
A final disappointment was the seemingly random attempt to incorporate a "queer" element into the story. While the ending of
Spoiler
finding out the scribe the whole time was (formerly known as) Dunya,I don’t feel like I will remember anything that happened in this book two weeks from now.
Overall, I think Chakraborty’s work is simply not for me, as I had a similar experience attempting to read the City of Brass series - enjoying the culture and unique setting and disliking much else.