A review by illtakethenightshiftx
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

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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