Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

52 reviews

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

baguettekelly's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

Stunning on every level.  Dimensional, lovable characters, a unique take on the meaning of death and dying, tragic and redemptive in equal share.  I miss the world of this book and look forward to reading it again one day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Alcoholism

evanlorant's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Self harm

egwoodhaus1's review

challenging 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Death of parent

libbylou1201's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Death

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Suicide, and Lesbophobia

saragardinier's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Suicide

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Death

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

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