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A review by niamhel_knievel
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-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
I knew from when I started reading that the book would be 5 stars. The jumps times, POVs and narration styles but is intricately woven. I found the themes of morality and religion hit something deep in me. Themes of addiction and grief were moving and devastating but also fascinating from an academic point of view.
There were so many lines that stood out to me. One of my favourites was “Everything green just farms us….feeding us oxygen and eating our corpses”.
The part where Cyrus ruminates on whether going back to give the homeless person his coffee makes him a good person or if thinking whether it makes him a good person makes him a bad person really resonated with me.
I don’t know how to feel about the ending *spoiler* the ambiguous ending was a little disappointing as I hate not fully knowing, but it has also made me think so much more about the story which I think is the point.
I’ve seen on Reddit some people think the psychedelia is just the elicit happiness of Cyrus accepting and embracing love but I absolutely think it’s a peak of Euphoria and mania as he dies. I think maybe he allows himself to freeze to death on the bench. I found it surreal for the author to end the book without a happy ending where Cyrus finds redemption and happiness but then I think that’s because I rarely read books like this one. Cyrus’ whole life consisted of suffering and in reality, many people don’t get a happy ending but just an end to the suffering.
An amazing book.
There were so many lines that stood out to me. One of my favourites was “Everything green just farms us….feeding us oxygen and eating our corpses”.
The part where Cyrus ruminates on whether going back to give the homeless person his coffee makes him a good person or if thinking whether it makes him a good person makes him a bad person really resonated with me.
I don’t know how to feel about the ending *spoiler* the ambiguous ending was a little disappointing as I hate not fully knowing, but it has also made me think so much more about the story which I think is the point.
I’ve seen on Reddit some people think the psychedelia is just the elicit happiness of Cyrus accepting and embracing love but I absolutely think it’s a peak of Euphoria and mania as he dies. I think maybe he allows himself to freeze to death on the bench. I found it surreal for the author to end the book without a happy ending where Cyrus finds redemption and happiness but then I think that’s because I rarely read books like this one. Cyrus’ whole life consisted of suffering and in reality, many people don’t get a happy ending but just an end to the suffering.
An amazing book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, War