„I slung the bow over my shoulder and climbed the mast, clutching the worn rope ladder as my heart skipped in fear – I have always hated heights. Pulling myself into the crow’s nest, I stood, bracing my feet.“

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

*spoiler free review*

Easiest. 5 stars. Ever. This was pure enjoyment! I love me a good pirate story and somehow Shannon Chakraborty managed to put all the elements I love together in this book, which is – thank God – the first one in a new series (The Amina-al-Sirafi Series). This book was a blast from the first to the very last page and I often found myself not able to put it down.

In „The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi“ we follow … well … the adventures of Amina al-Sirafi 😂. Can’t say the title is not accurate.
Amina is a middle-aged woman from the middle east with a past as a smuggler bordering on pirate. It is her past, because one thing changed the former course of her life: Her beloved daughter, the reason for her retirement. Little does Amina know, that her daughter will also be the reason to question that retirement again, as well as a debt she still has to pay. This will lead her to unexpected adventures, that will demand all the strength, cunning and willpower she has.

As you see, I try to keep everything veeery vague here, because I really think that giving spoilers for this book will absolutely ruin the reading experience. This book lives off its twists and turns and unexpected happenings. And it does that in such an entertaining way, that I was staying up late not just one night to read „just one more chapter“ after the other.

The characters were what really tied this all together for me. Amina, loving, intelligent mischievous and damn strong (in a world where this was everything else but easy to achieve). Dalila, the poisonous woman with the dark past. Tinbu, the loyal friend and the keeper of her ship. Majed, the one that knew her her whole life, once more family than friend and now a person that seems to hate her more than her enemies. Everyone so unique and different, yet loveable as mcuh as the other.
I tell you, the banter between the characters was so deliciously funny and witty. And yet there were also so many heartwarming moments. Most of the time I felt like I was with them, knew them, liked them myself as much as they liked each other (or as most of them liked each other). I actually miss them already and can’t wait do dive again into the world (please Shannon Chakraborty, write fast 😉).

Sometimes in books where the characters are really strong, the plot falls flat in comparison. Well, not here! The plot was engangingly unexpected. You never knew what would happen next and that is something I really enjoy. I almost never could predict where the book would lead me and what adventure waited next. We follow Amina through her home and over the Indian Ocean, through a world we can easily imagine as well as a world of wonder, magic and mythology. It reminded me a whole lot of „1001 nights“, the oriental tales of djinns and riches and people striving for them. The book is written in the style of a told recount of Aminas Adventures by her, which adds so much to that atmosphere. Pirates, old tales, promises, magic, mythology, middle eastern and eastern setting: this ticked all my boxes!
The writing style is easy flowing and capturing, yet at the same time seems so believable, that I could picture Amina sitting before me and telling me her story (or just plainly feeling like being in the story myself). Shannon Chakraborty is not just great at characters, character development and world-building, but also at really transporting that through her use of language.

I will stop now, before this turns into a fanpage for Shannon Chakraborty, but wow, I just love this book and will love to keep reading the following ones in this series!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ easy 5 stars! Favourite read!

This is for you if…

… you like fast-paced adventure and pirate stories

… you long for strong female and overall interesting characters

… you enjoy a good sense of humour and like the banter in long developed friendships

… you enjoy some magic and mythology in your plot lines

… if you are into the stories of „1001 night“ or films like „1000 years of longing“

Trigger Warning: Physical Violence; Strong Language