Amina learns that Dunya is leading Falco to the Moon of Saba, a pearl rumored to have magical powers.

She tells Amina that the Moon of Saba is not a pearl at all, but a wash basin that holds the spirit of Al-Dabaran.

Dunya admits that she was not kidnapped; she went with Falco willingly because she has been questioning her gender identity and is fleeing an arranged marriage.

This violates the laws of the peri who rule the island; they believe in a strict separation between human and magical realms.

Amina is granted permission to leave the island in exchange for hunting down five magical artifacts, including the Moon of Saba.

[3] In an interview with Kalyani Saxena, Chakraborty explains that she wrote the book during the COVID-19 pandemic, mostly between the hours of 4 A.M. and 6 A.M. before her daughter's online school began.

"[4] Bookpage gave the novel a starred review, calling it "a swashbuckling high seas quest that’s rousing, profound, and irresistible."

The review praised Chakraborty's decision to use a middle-aged mother as a protagonist as opposed to the more common "young, inexperienced hero or ... grizzled loner veteran".

[3] Writing for the New York Times, author Tochi Onyebuchi noted that "there's a reason why 'one last job' remains such a popular and powerful subgenre".

He also praised the "adroit commentary on class conflict, piety, warfare and gender politics, particularly how these things are perpetuated through myth and storytelling".

[6] A review by Chris Kluwe in Lightspeed notes that the novel feels "like a heist movie à la Ocean’s Eleven or The Italian Job."

She believes that the novel pushes back against the traditional tropes in pirate stories, which can include "swordfights, rum, probably some treasure, [and] maybe a little misogyny".