Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

7 reviews

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

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Grief, Abandonment, Addiction, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Islamophobia, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Cancer, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

kenrya's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective slow-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Medical content, Sexual content, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Violence, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Death, Vomit, Drug use, Lesbophobia, Grief, Suicide, War, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Cursing, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Infidelity, Outing, and Pregnancy

hannahlee's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Terminal illness, War, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Addiction, Islamophobia, Racism, Death, Drug abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Infidelity and Sexual content

Minor: Pregnancy and Suicidal thoughts

hmcastaldo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

i wanted to immediately dive back into his prose 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Addiction, and Violence

the_other_yvonne's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide, and Addiction

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Violence, Domestic abuse, and Xenophobia

happyknitter2020's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Absolute brilliant 5* read

Thanks to @netgalley & @panmacmillan for allowing me to read the pre publication Arc.

Simply one of the best books I have read in years... I couldn't put it down. So many complex issues, wrapped up in the mind of man, soothing his deep trauma with drugs & alcohol, searching for the meaning of his life. 

The end was totally unexpected.

I will read anything Kaveh Akbar writes. His writing is simply stunning. Will purchase his poetry collections & all of his future publications.

'More than a little surprised by the words as they came out of his mouth, how they gave shape to something that had long been formless within him. It was like the language in the air that night was a mold he was pouring around his curiosity. Flour thrown on a ghost'....

This summed up the whole beautiful book for me, pages and pages of stunning prose, so many lines annotated & are in my journal.

I loved it & recommend everyone reads it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mental illness, Genocide, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, and War