Stunning photo by @bookish_euphoria!
Hey fairy friends!
Welcome to our fifth and final day of The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi readalong! Grab a snack (or a few!) and let’s dive in and see what trouble Amina gets herself in today!
Today we’re reading from Chapter 29 to the end of the book.
Grab a snack, get comfy and let’s read!
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty, from chapter 29 to the end of the book. Please only read on if you’ve finished The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi!
-!SPOILERS!-
Amina manages to rope in some help from Magnun and his crew and she is going to NEED IT! I am scared, excited, nervous and hopeful all at the same time.
I’m getting all emotional at Amina being reunited with her crew.
The reunion is short lived though, Amina is pushing them toward the cave to save them from Falco’s weird beasts.
Amina thinks she gets a lucky escape when the marid seems fed up and heads toward the sea, but the movement of it throws her into the river. Dazed and tired, it looks, again, like Amina might meet her end. Just as she starts going under, spinning into a wave, arms grab hold of her and Majed helps her out. When she’s out though, Raksh tells her they’re too late. The eclipse has begun.
Amina is adamant she still needs to try, again she tells her crew not to follow. Raksh tells her he cannot follow either. What lies beyond is a prison for beings like him. So Amina is going alone.
There’s some kind of illusion inside the cave, she sees Asif. It’s all replaying again, but slightly different this time. Amina tells the illusion of Asif that she cannot stay with him this time, but swears to save his child.
Eventually, she finds Falco and Dunya. She’s too late. The Moon of Saba has been summoned and moonlight is shining out of Falco’s eyes. Amina still won’t give up yet though, that’s our captain!
Dunya tells Amina not to go near him though, Dunya somehow reversed the incantation. Clever! That means when Falco saw his reflection, he didn’t gain control of al-Dabaran, but the other way around. Al-Dabaran doesn’t seem so keen for their plan of talking though…
Al-Dabaran disappears, he’s gone. Falco isn’t though, and Amina takes the first opportunity to drive her blade through his heart.
When Amina returns to the ship, she’s greeted with her crew AND… Payasam!
Even now, after all that has happened, Raksh still wants to make Amina a legend. This new adventure, the transgressions, was his plan. Raksh tricked them. I think he’s smarter than I ever gave him credit for.
It gets Amina thinking about whether she can be a nakhuda AND a mother. She doesn’t really have a choice though. She must find four more transgressions, and she will always be a mother.
Amina though, is done with Raksh, after bedding him once more, that is. Dropped out to see on a raft, he’s gone… For now anyway, I don’t think this will be the last we see of the demon.
With her crew behind her. Amina heads to Salima with a letter written by Dunya. Salima asks if she threatens Amina, will she give up Dunya’s location, but Amina says she’s likely long gone… I’m not sure I believe that.
There’s another stop to make. An emotional one. Amina is reuniting with little Marjana.
We end with an emotional chapter. A chapter about Amina, but also about a scribe named Dunya, who was reborn on the sea, cropped hair, clothes picked out with care by Majed and a name that fits much better, Jamal.
Jamal asks Amina if they’ll tell them all the story of how she received her scar. With that, another story of Amina’s adventures begins.
Am I weeping at that ending? Yes. 100%. I never put two and two together that Jamal had been with them for a considerable amount of the journey, just hidden in the wrong identity, but that addition to the story was a beautiful one and I am so emotional and happy that Jamal gets to be who they wish to be.
Did you realise who Jamal was?
What do you think is next for Amina and the Marawati’s crew?
What did you think of the book overall?
As always, thank you so much for jumping on board (I’m gonna be making sea puns forever now) another FairyLoot readalong. I hope you had as much fun as I did and I’ll see you very soon for the next one!
Love,
Shannon
I didn’t predict that it was Jamal all along, but I did correctly call that Dunya would transition and join Amina’s crew rather than returning to her grandmother’s.
It sounds like they’ve got some logistics to work out with seeing families while hunting Transgressions, but once they’re done figuring that out I think they’ll use Jamal’s family knowledge to start tracking down the four Amina needs.
I loved this book! So much adventure and fun with an amazing cast. Definitely helped break me out of a reading slump. Can’t wait for the next one!
I loved this book! I jumped in to this book hoping i would like it, but I was still surprised at how much. I didn’t realize who Jamal was, but happy with how it turned out. And I’m both excited and nervous for the next adventure. They have some artifacts they need to retrieve, and it can’t go perfectly fine, but i can’t wait to get to come back to this world.
Thank you for a fun readalong!
I did not expect Jamal to be Dunya at all !! And I’m so happy that this book had queer representation, I didn’t expect it at all either.
It was the first time for a long time that I didn’t feel nervous while reading a book but just so so excited to see what was to come !
When I started this book, I just wanted to try and enjoy myself but I never thought I would love it that much. It’s a new favorite for me and I can’t wait to see what others adventures Amina and her crew will embark on.
It was so good, I will not be able to stop thinking about it for the foreseeable future.
Daily Q&A:
Q:
1.) Did you realise who Jamal was?
2.) What do you think is next for Amina and the Marawati’s crew?
3.) What did you think of the book overall?
A:
1.) No.
2.) ??♀️
3.) The 1st ½ had me struggling to stay awake to read the day’s worth of chapters. Eventually, I decided I liked Dalila, then Raksh. Then Payasam (reminding me of my own cat). Tinbu & Majed are alright, too, but I feel they didn’t get a enough spotlight to be as well liked as the others. There were interesting mythical creatures & some funny moments. I was not a fan of any of the al-Hilli family, & unfortunately, it seems like that will be a large part of the next book(s).
– i didn’t! but i’m so happy for him
– i’m not really sure what’ll happen next, but i’m definitely really excited for book two
– i think we definitely need more fun and adventurous books with “older” characters like this! i loved it sm (:
This ending was lovely! My whole heart melted when Jamal came out onto the deck. So so glad Amina kept them safe from his grandmother. I love that this whole book, while Amina’s story, was also Jamal’s start on the Marawati.I cannot wait to see more adventures with this crew.
They have to go after the next transgression, who even knows what that might be. I am intrigued to see how Khayzur will continue to play into the narrative. Leaving that feather was sly but also really upset Payasam which is suspicious since Payasam liked Raksh. Always trust animals when it comes to untrustworthy magical beings.
There is such potential for this series, the transgressions, Raksh eventually finding out about his daughter and all the possible trouble the crew will get into. Loved the bonus Dalila chapter at the end!! Thanks for a fun read-a-long~
Did you realise who Jamal was? — After all I red in the story I would not really have guessed it, but also I wasn’t really surprised. It was more that “aha” moment. And I liked it.
What do you think is next for Amina and the Marawati’s crew? — I understand that she needed to get rid off Raksh, but also wonder if it would have been better to tell him the truth. After all, that’s what she expected him to do. I am pretty sure, that the perie won’t give Amina and her crew much time to catch their breath. But for her, Majed and the others I do hope that they will be adventurous and set sail to unknown places.
What did you think of the book overall? — The part where the peries turned up still doesn’t seem right. Sure it made sense in the end and I like that Amina is “changed” now, stronger and faster. But the implementation doesn’t really fit in to the story for me. Sure, there are other magical creatures/beasts, but that island and the peries seem a bit far-fetched. But altogether I really did enjoy this adventure and I hope I can soon return to more of her Adventures.
1. I hadn’t thought for one moment that Duyna was Jamal!
2. The hunt of another transgression to pay of the “debt” Amina has of getting five of those.
3. I really enjoyed it! It was a bit different from what I’d expected, but in a very good way!
Did you realise who Jamal was? No I didn’t! This was a pleasant surprise.
What do you think is next for Amina and the Marawati’s crew? I guess it’s on to finding the rest of the transgressions. No doubt will run into trouble on the way – very excited to see how this story continues.
What did you think of the book overall? 4.5/5 stars for me. I really loved this book. I wasn’t sure what to expect to begin with but this book did not disappoint. I love how Amina (and all the side characters) had so much to them, not just a bunch of pirates but with interesting back stories too. I would definetly recommend this book. The only downside being I got slightly lost towards the end (where Amina washed up on the island with the magical beings), but I caught up eventually and overall it was a good read.
I was so shocked that Jamal turned out to be a transitioned Dunya! But I’m not surprised they stayed on with Amina. I love that for them, I got a bit emotional reading the last chapter!
I think next they’ll be off to find the next transgression but I have a feeling Raksh will be back on the scene too! I sort of want him to find out about Marjana because I’m interested to see how that will play out!
Loved the book overall! The writing and plot was incredible and the characters were all so interesting. Another five star read from Fairyloot!
I honestly didn’t realize Jamal was Dunya until the final chapter. It was an awesome reveal.
The next magical item! How long will Amina get with Marjana before then? Will Raksh reappear?? The Peri and Magnun?! Excitement to everywhere.
Overall this book was surprisingly a slow read for me. It wasn’t until 300 pages in that I was finally hooked. I think this was just a personal reading rut for me. I loved the characters and all the action! I’d definitely give it a go with the next book.