Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by jennabeelack
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I'm pissed off tbh. The blurb and all the recommendations of this book had me convinced that it was going to slap. Alas, I lowkey hated it lol.
It felt really piecemeal like it wanted to be 3 different stories that all explored different themes, so it ended up doing nothing well. I didn't give a shit about most of the characters, so I wasn't invested in anything. There's also an ambiguous ending and I just ended up being so annoyed that it felt like a waste of my time to read the book at all.
It gets an extra star purely because Roya and Leila's relationship was interesting, and I think that the story would've been so much better if it had been just about these two navigating their lives.
tldr: The themes explored were interesting but the execution was horrible.
It felt really piecemeal like it wanted to be 3 different stories that all explored different themes, so it ended up doing nothing well. I didn't give a shit about most of the characters, so I wasn't invested in anything. There's also an ambiguous ending and I just ended up being so annoyed that it felt like a waste of my time to read the book at all.
It gets an extra star purely because Roya and Leila's relationship was interesting, and I think that the story would've been so much better if it had been just about these two navigating their lives.
tldr: The themes explored were interesting but the execution was horrible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Alcohol
Moderate: Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Pregnancy, War