Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi

Pirate Amina al-Sirafi finds her and her crew on 'one last adventure' whether she wants it or not, and winds up quickly in over her head.

I preface this review with that I generally do not like pirate stories. If I did, this would be a solid 5/5, no notes sort of deal. But since I don't, it had a higher bar to clear, and clear it did. The narrative structure is interesting at the start, the characters are almost immediately compelling, and it was enough to keep me turning the pages despite being ready to dismiss it. I'd say the book really hits its stride about 40% in at which point I couldn't really put it down.

Extra bonus points for LGBTQ+ representation.

This was a great, captivating read. Truly an adventure book. I don't think there are many fantasy novels set in this region and it was an additional treat to read about places we mostly know from wars and crises, like Aden and Mogadishu, when they were in their prime. The characters are great and have interesting backstories. The main villain was perhaps a bit too one-sidedly evil. The others had more nuance. And I could have done with one or two fewer action scenes. But those are small criticisms. It was very enjoyable to read this book and I recommend it. I hope we'll see Amina and her crew again.

It warms up slowly, but then it barrels along. This was fun. There aren't enough middle-aged women doing cool shit books, so that was a pleasure. Great rep. Wonderful to read a book that makes me miss evenings at the masjid. And the small twist for Dunya was also welcome and done well, imo. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.