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peanutscratch's Reviews (15)
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think calling this book Martyr! really set my expectations up for it being more about a crisis of faith and hope and some of the stuff alluded to in the introduction of this book, when really it is much more accurate to say this is a book about a young man's journey to sobriety.
I really loved the characters in this book and the way they are written, and have little vignettes that are placed in conversation with Cyrus's story. I can feel the author's poetic skills coming in to curate and organize these scenes. And Cyrus himself feels so beautifully Stuck in the world around him. Always trapped between two extremes, not white enough to be American but certainly too American for him to feel Iranian himself, not wanting the clarifying boringness of sobriety but also wanting to escape his addictions. And he's a gay mess, eschewing labels around his sexuality but unintentionally pushing away his boy toy by not clarifying what they are. It's all portrayed so well, but it's tempered and balanced by the successes he's had, little wins that make you want to root for him despite his angst and his know-it-all behavior. I loved hearing his conversations with the rest of the characters, and most of all with Orkideh, easily the best part of the book.
Now onto the bad...
I almost DNF'd this book when they confirmed that yes, Orkideh is his long lost dead mother who surprise didn't die the whole time. It's contrived, it's not impactful to Cyrus's character arc, and it turns these beautiful tender moments between two strangers into something over-explained and uninteresting.
In a similar vein, the vignettes I mentioned loving before, there are frankly just too many of them. They overstay their welcome
It's one thing to learn who Arash is and tie his PTSD from the War to Cyrus's story in America, but he shows up another maybe 2-3 times too many. Not to mention the pages and pages of exposition we get on Roya and her relationship with Leila and cheating on their husband's and then even more pages to justify how she "became Orkideh" like... it's all just too much. Their moment at the Zoo was a lovely point to leave the story of Cyrus's mom at and yet we just keep going and going and going. It becomes fanfiction of itself.
A final complaint here, is that there are points in the story where all the characters start to feel like Cyrus. From the ancient and extremely Iranian Orkideh saying things like "Grieve x amount, receive y amount of comfort" to Arash who never left Iran, describing the inadequateness of language to convey True meaning, all the while giving English examples rather than ones in Farsi. Even Zee Novak at the end of the book, philosophizing into a socratic debate with Cyrus in a way that almost feels like he's talking to himself, and yet that doesn't feel like the intention. Every character's personality, despite feeling so strong and distinct at the beginning of the book, slowly feels like they begin to become just a facet of Cyrus.
The author is a poet and this is his first novel, and it shows both for better and for worse. And while I might not be rushing out to read his next book, if he keeps it up I'll be so very excited to read his fourth.
I really loved the characters in this book and the way they are written, and have little vignettes that are placed in conversation with Cyrus's story. I can feel the author's poetic skills coming in to curate and organize these scenes. And Cyrus himself feels so beautifully Stuck in the world around him. Always trapped between two extremes, not white enough to be American but certainly too American for him to feel Iranian himself, not wanting the clarifying boringness of sobriety but also wanting to escape his addictions. And he's a gay mess, eschewing labels around his sexuality but unintentionally pushing away his boy toy by not clarifying what they are. It's all portrayed so well, but it's tempered and balanced by the successes he's had, little wins that make you want to root for him despite his angst and his know-it-all behavior. I loved hearing his conversations with the rest of the characters, and most of all with Orkideh, easily the best part of the book.
Now onto the bad...
In a similar vein, the vignettes I mentioned loving before, there are frankly just too many of them. They overstay their welcome
A final complaint here, is that there are points in the story where all the characters start to feel like Cyrus. From the ancient and extremely Iranian Orkideh saying things like "Grieve x amount, receive y amount of comfort" to Arash who never left Iran, describing the inadequateness of language to convey True meaning, all the while giving English examples rather than ones in Farsi. Even Zee Novak at the end of the book, philosophizing into a socratic debate with Cyrus in a way that almost feels like he's talking to himself, and yet that doesn't feel like the intention. Every character's personality, despite feeling so strong and distinct at the beginning of the book, slowly feels like they begin to become just a facet of Cyrus.
The author is a poet and this is his first novel, and it shows both for better and for worse. And while I might not be rushing out to read his next book, if he keeps it up I'll be so very excited to read his fourth.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I worry this book might have been less enjoyable if it was longer than it is (and so I'm a bit worried looking at the length of the sequels but that's fine, we trudge on.) This is mainly because it's kind of a confusing read. Not only because we have an unreliable narrator, (and I was worried we'd have 4 but at least that got taken care of quickly enough ha ha,) but also because any time something is asserted it's couched in "well this is at least how it feels to me, but it might not to you, or someone else, and it might also not be the truth"
Luckily though, I feel that near the end things start to consolidate a bit.
For the good, I have to say that from the very beginning the book does a wonderful job grounding you into a sense of unease,trying to explain how it's sensible for the characters not to use each other's names and that it's important that they should leave everything of personal importance or sentimental value behind, but I actually think a lot of it comes almost more from the character of the biologist than the plot of the book itself. She's just kind of weird, her natural inclinations to things are often bizarre to me, and the things she's stubborn about were always so interesting to see (ie "it's a tower not a tunnel" vs "yeah it's incredibly unsurprising to think we were brought here to turn on each other.")
She's like the weird kid you knew in middle school but she never got properly socialized and is now just a weird adult in the same exact way. But you can also tell she does biology because it's the closest thing to a job that taps into how her brain works by default, and she's just living and breathing it.
Now it can get a bit grating, just the way the biologist talks can be a little circular and self-deprecating, but it's not the worst book to have to reread a bit at times. I think the reliance on hypnosis took me a bit to get on board with, especially because they seem to treat it almost as if it's some magic spell that can subdue the party or cause them to become instantly docile rather than something to ease tension during stressful parts of a mission, but that aside I liked the tension between the various characters. I kept expecting them to talk about why they had decided to send an all-women this time specifically but it seems like I might have to wait til the next book to find out.
Luckily though, I feel that near the end things start to consolidate a bit.
For the good, I have to say that from the very beginning the book does a wonderful job grounding you into a sense of unease,
She's like the weird kid you knew in middle school but she never got properly socialized and is now just a weird adult in the same exact way. But you can also tell she does biology because it's the closest thing to a job that taps into how her brain works by default, and she's just living and breathing it.
Now it can get a bit grating, just the way the biologist talks can be a little circular and self-deprecating, but it's not the worst book to have to reread a bit at times. I think the reliance on hypnosis took me a bit to get on board with, especially because they seem to treat it almost as if it's some magic spell that can subdue the party or cause them to become instantly docile rather than something to ease tension during stressful parts of a mission, but that aside I liked the tension between the various characters.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loved the fast clip of this book, easy to read through and the use of multiple main characters to keep things moving was very well done (even if a lot of them died)
You can really feel that this is a pandemic book, but it works to it's favor, the way it talks about isolation and being silo'd off while things happen in the world around you feels very prescient.
I appreciated the ending,final enough to wrap things up in this solo but open ended enough to have a sequel (which I'm excited to read!)
You can really feel that this is a pandemic book, but it works to it's favor, the way it talks about isolation and being silo'd off while things happen in the world around you feels very prescient.
I appreciated the ending,
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Loved this book, so informative and clearly written, and the descriptive attitude it takes towards describing the changing landscape of online speaking and culture and the internet as a place with its own populations and regions and regional dialects is so fascinating!
informative
slow-paced
informative
medium-paced
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Challenging book
Brutally banal, but not in a derogatory way, even if it's an unpleasant read. It hits you with the immense reality of life, especially for someone who feels they only have value as a cog in a machine, and knows nothing without that sense of routine and expectation.
It's a feeling that's surprisingly analogous to quite a few different struggles and experiences honestly, from social performance for someone who has autism, to the immigrant or refugee experience of trying to fit in in a place you don't think you belong, and that constantly reminds you of that.
The saddest thing about the story is that it's so clear that if she ever met someone who explained how the world works to her in terms she could relate to, and was able to isolate what she likes about the convenience store and convey that to her, instead of trying to "fix" her or get her to go away
she could live a much more fulfilled life.
Brutally banal, but not in a derogatory way, even if it's an unpleasant read. It hits you with the immense reality of life, especially for someone who feels they only have value as a cog in a machine, and knows nothing without that sense of routine and expectation.
It's a feeling that's surprisingly analogous to quite a few different struggles and experiences honestly, from social performance for someone who has autism, to the immigrant or refugee experience of trying to fit in in a place you don't think you belong, and that constantly reminds you of that.
The saddest thing about the story is that it's so clear that if she ever met someone who explained how the world works to her in terms she could relate to, and was able to isolate what she likes about the convenience store and convey that to her, instead of trying to "fix" her or get her to go away
she could live a much more fulfilled life.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes