Review by naomzzz - Martyr!

naomzzz 's review for:

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

4.5

emotional 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

as i was reading this i loved it. i thought the writing style was absolutely beautiful and the reflective passages about what it means to have a meaningful life/death were genuinely thought provoking and never preachy. i also found the parts where it touched on iranian culture, identity, and history really interesting. like i really thought it was so so so so good.

then i got to the end and...
1. i kind of predicted the plot twist but got it wrong. i thought

orkideh would turn out to be leila and while i understand that the real plot twist opens up an interesting moral conundrum about whether roya did the right thing, i found it a bit more far fetched.

and also, after the plot twist, the book kind of moved on a bit too quickly after dropping that bombshell. it could have gone on for so much longer with cyrus grappling with this new revelation imo (but maybe i'm just saying that because i didn't want it to end).
2. the final scene with cyrus and zee was obviously kind of weird but i just accepted it as just another dream sequence,

representing how love can be so powerful, it can make the world seem unreal or something. then i read some theories on reddit about how cyrus and zee actually die at the end and i don't think i believe the theories but i disliked even the thought of that possibility so much that it made me like the book less.

so that's why i took 0.5 stars off, but honestly overall i still think this book was STUNNING and i'd love to reread it (maybe with friends or a book club because there's so much to discuss)

Content Warnings