Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

49 reviews

orlagal's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

heidinay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Terminal illness

Minor: Cancer, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War

raphynette's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

Minor: Homophobia, Suicide, and Xenophobia

remery3's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

reddermoon's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer and Terminal illness

zara89's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, and War

bedtimesnack's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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

5.0

If you love the feeling of things crystalizing/clarifying in retrospect, you'll love this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Islamophobia, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, and Grief

jmichaelw28's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

An incredibly rich read that digs into all the corners and hidden places of being alive. Akbar's prose is beautiful and reflects his skill as a poet - so many sentences jump out. I loved the structure of the novel and it's mix of timelines and dream sequences. The plot stretched credulity, but did emphasize and magnify the themes and the main character's growth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent

victoriapi909's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

Wow. This was an emotional, dark, and introspective read. I definitely recommend this if you like lyrical prose. It was beautifully written and it made me tear up several times. I feel like I need to reread this at some point to grasp everything that happened. There’s a lot to analyze and reflect on in this book. I can’t stop thinking about it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, and War

jenabest's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

4.0

Disclaimer: it is not the book's fault it took me absolutely forever to read. That award goes to life. 
Disclaimer 2: I was fortunate to meet Kaveh prior to reading this & it has certainly colored my perception. 

OK, so, now for the review! This book is.... A lot. It's weird and artsy and poetic and experimental and dark. There's a lot going on, but you're never quite sure what (seriously. WHAT HAPPENED at the very end?!) or at least, you're never quite sure of Cyrus's ability to explain to the reader what is happening. I know for a fact hearing Kaveh speak about this book and the experiences leading to it gave me a very positive experience - if you ever have a chance to see him speak, take it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Drug use

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Islamophobia, Death of parent, and War