Reviews tagging 'War'

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

24 reviews

bluelilyblue's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Cancer, Death of parent, and Alcoholism

Moderate: War

savvylit's review

dark emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Martyr! is lingering in my mind as a series of feelings - Big Feelings (capital letters required). Deep empathy, earnest yearning, fierce commitment to art, sacrificial love, overwhelming grief, intense addiction, self-denial, and most of all, the feeling of being undeserving. Akbar's novel is an evocative and searing story comprised of flashbacks, dreams, and multigenerational perspectives. Cyrus - the primary focus of the novel - is a very complex and intensely loveable protagonist. And the rest of the cast of characters are just as complex as Cyrus. I could probably write pages and pages about each of them but you ought to just read the book to find out for yourself!

Ultimately, I would eagerly recommend Martyr! to anyone who has ever felt themselves to be on an existential quest. Or to anyone who has felt absolutely overwhelmed by the cruelty of the world around them. I think you just might leave this novel with more hope than you'd had beforehand; I know I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, War, Suicide, Lesbophobia, Infidelity, Addiction, and Xenophobia

sweetsouthwest's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Alcohol, Grief, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Cancer

lindsayorme's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Alcoholism, Grief, Terminal illness, and War

illtakethenightshiftx's review

emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I really wanted to love this but it just didn’t hit for me. The prose is GORGEOUS and I could tell right off the bat the author is a poet. I did enjoy that aspect of the book throughout; the main character, Cyrus, is where it felt flat for me. I wasn’t a huge fan of his character and how he treated everyone else in his world. I loved the side characters of Zee, Orkideh, and his uncle - especially his uncle.
 
The changing perspectives and dream sequences throughout the  novel were cool and added a richness to the narrative, but I did find them a bit distracting by the end, especially because there was so much happening in Cyrus’s story.

Overall, this novel was rich, full of beautiful prose and incredible characters, but it just didn’t hit the mark for me. I will  be revisiting this in the future because I feel like I “missed” something.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Death, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcoholism, War, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Drug abuse

marmitecake's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Islamophobia, Drug use, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, and War

Moderate: Suicide, Abandonment, and Terminal illness

Minor: Xenophobia and Sexism

bonnie9595's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Mental illness

Minor: Racism, Homophobia, and Islamophobia

bella_cavicchi's review

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

To be alive! A burden and a pleasure, and I admire MARTYR! for attending to both. In fact, I adore its absurdity, a treat of form aligning perfectly with content. Akbar can clearly write, but what had the novel stand out, for me, is the steadfast commitment to the existential question of what marks a (meaningful) life.

The hype is well-earned.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Abandonment, Terminal illness, War, Cancer, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Grief, Alcohol, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Islamophobia

Minor: Deportation and Homophobia

alisonvh's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If you had told me this book was a meditation on life and death, I wouldn’t have been interested (although I guess the title should have given that away.) But it’s beautifully written and I ended up absolutely loving it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Xenophobia, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, War, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Islamophobia and Grief

ukponge's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Suicide, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and War