Reviews with content warning for Racism - Martyr!

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

fairytalefootnotes's review

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.0

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Praise: Martyr! was enjoyable and I liked the time jumps and perspective changes throughout. The characters were so complicated and frustrating but deeply relatable at the same time.

The Critique:

The ending confused me. Did Cyrus die and the scene with Zee was like a hallucination? Was it an exaggerated way of showing that life was more beautiful with love? I wish it had been a bit more clear.

Final Thoughts: Martyr! is not the kind of book I normally read but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

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random19379's review

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dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-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

4.25

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evanlorant's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.75

this book is so full of beauty and vibrancy and love; it’s what i wanted from every sad girl novel i’ve ever read. the characters felt real and justified in their actions with beautiful development that you can feel, not just see. the writing is also so fantastic, full of devices that are so creative but make perfect sense.
the construction of the novel was interesting, it made the book imposing with many small three page sections bracketed by blank pages and section breaks. it broke up the flow a little bit, but didn’t have a huge impact on my reading experience.
overall, the book felt really well conceptualized and i feel like it followed through on the huge question it sought out to answer.

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bonnie9595's review against another edition

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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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hannahlee's review

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dark emotional reflective medium-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

4.25

A gripping, powerful novel from an author whose poetry I've really enjoyed. It was inspiring to see Akbar branch out into prose, which he clearly has a talent for. I was immediately gripped by the characters, and loved the perspectival shifts and the dream sequences. It feels like a young book - an author preoccupied with the difficulties of making art when one is self-conscious about that process, very meta at times - but satisfying, mostly sticking the landing. Still ruminating on how I feel about the ending, but ultimately a really enjoyable read.

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soulpigeon's review

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emotional 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

5.0

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buer's review

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-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

5.0

Martyr is about a Cyrus Shams: a young Iranian American man who is a recovering addict and toys with the idea of suicide, but cannot bring himself to end it until he is convinced that either his life or his death could mean something. As such he is toying with a book of poetry about martyrs across time - people whose deaths meant something, thinking but not wanting to say that his own death would be the capstone to the project. When a friend of his friends convinces him to take a trip to New York to talk to an artist who has turned her imminent death from breast cancer into an art exhibit where she will talk to anyone who comes to the gallery about..whatever they want to talk about. Probably death.

This is a tale of family, friends, love, substance abuse, trauma, healing, life, death, and meaning. It is told beautifully, oscillating through the perspectives of Cyrus, his father, his mother, and a few other characters. Kaveh Akbar is an incredibly talented writer, digging deep into the meat of addiction and hopelessness with just as much tenderness as he does the profound visuals with which he sets his scenes.

I recommend this book for people who are sad, people who love love, and people who are grappling with death in any capacity.

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