A review by ktrain3900
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.25

Art! Death! Life! Family! Martyr!. There's a staccato here, and humor. There are weavings and unweavings and reweavings, traveling back and forth in time and in narrator. I love the sheer creative breadth - poems and excerpts from the main character's book-in-progress, dream narratives, descriptions of visual art and installations. It's not unapparent that it's a first novel--it's a little disjointed and deus ex machina in places--but it still manages to handle philsophy and faith with some grace, and to nicely balance the morbid with joy.