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A review by criticalgayze
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
MARTYR! by Kaveh Akbar was my last read of 2023, which I requested largely based on its striking cover. I was also very interested in the formatting concept of plot, poems, and interstitials as I am finding format to be a bigger draw for me.
I will say there’s a lot here to like. As individual pieces, a lot of this works; however, I thought this was lacking cohesion. While some of this may be impacted by eARC formatting issues, I didn’t think everything blended.
Trying my very best not to spoil, the back third also did not end up working for me. I was more disappointed than gagged.
Finally, for a novel by a poet about a poet writing a novel, I was not wowed by the language.
Overall, I did like this, and please check out the lovely reviews I mentioned earlier!
I will say there’s a lot here to like. As individual pieces, a lot of this works; however, I thought this was lacking cohesion. While some of this may be impacted by eARC formatting issues, I didn’t think everything blended.
Trying my very best not to spoil, the back third also did not end up working for me. I was more disappointed than gagged.
Finally, for a novel by a poet about a poet writing a novel, I was not wowed by the language.
Overall, I did like this, and please check out the lovely reviews I mentioned earlier!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
Moderate: Medical content, Blood, Cursing, Vomit, War, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, and Terminal illness
Minor: Sexual content