By Robyn Rossit
Shannon Chakraborty has been on my list of authors I need to check out, as an avid fantasy reader, for quite some time. When I got the opportunity to review her latest, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, to say I was excited would be an understatement. Amina al-Sirafi, after an exciting career as one of the most notorious pirates of the Indian Sea, has retired to live a peaceful life with her young daughter and family. However, when she is tracked down and blackmailed out her out of retirement to track down a wealthy woman’s kidnapped granddaughter, she can’t refuse the money that would give Amina’s family extra financial comfort. However, very quickly she discovers there is a lot more to the girl’s disappearance than a simple kidnapping.
My imagination was immediately captured by the narration style. The story is told as if Amina is telling her life story to a chronicler, which is one of my favourite ways of storytelling. The setting was also so vivid, and I felt like I was truly out to sea with Amina and her crew.
The characters were so interesting. Of course, I immediately loved Amina—a fierce, older female character. She is unapologetic about her life choices and does things on her own terms. The side characters were all fascinating as well. Amina’s crew is diverse both in ethnic backgrounds and faiths. The way they all got along and respected each other was beautiful. Dalila, the Mistress of Potions, was certainly a favourite and constantly had me chuckling with her explosive reputation. Needless to say, the found family trope was very much present, and I loved every moment of it.
There were some very interesting themes present in the story. One of the most important ones was self-discovery and defying societal and gender norms. Chakraborty explores this serious topic in a lighthearted and easy-to-digest way. Amina is a mother, but also an adventurer who does not care about what people expect of her. She is not willing to confine herself to what society expects.
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi was action-packed, very much unputdownable, and an instant favourite. It was the historical fantasy with pirates that I didn’t know I needed in my life. I absolutely cannot wait to see where her story goes next, but in the meantime, I will be eagerly picking up Shannon Chakraborty’s backlist.
Thank you, HarperCollins Canada, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.