Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

18 reviews

joce_lyn's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Racism, Islamophobia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Mental illness and Medical content

ka_cam's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.75

Beautifully written, moving, frustrating, and chaotic - I enjoyed the dream sequences and getting into Cyrus’ head. You could tell the author is a poet with the artful use of language. The ending for me was a bit abrupt, but I couldn’t put it down. An excellent novel exploring death and relationships for our violent, meaningful and meaningless time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

TW airplane crash/shot down

cultbyproxy's review against another edition

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

“Dying. It feels like such a throwaway to just die for no reason. To waste your one good death.”

martyr! by kavek akbar felt like the perfect book to read as my heart ached for every person martyred in Palestine right now. through genocide, i leaned on art, on literature, to find some kind of meaning to the world’s cruelty. in reading this novel i found peace, and sadness, and happiness, and anger. and finally, i found mourning. for all those living, who are also all those dying (some simply faster than others). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Grief

fkshg8465's review against another edition

dark emotional relaxing sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

This book made me so angry. The protagonist embodies patheticism, and his whole life can only be described as futile.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

zara89's review

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

kalagrace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.5

Compelling and a bit too relatable. Beautifully written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Grief, and Abandonment

sadhbhprice's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Domestic abuse and Sexual content

kelsea's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Terminal illness, and War

Minor: Xenophobia

savvylit's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful slow-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

4.5

Martyr! is lingering in my mind as a series of feelings - Big Feelings (capital letters required). Deep empathy, earnest yearning, fierce commitment to art, sacrificial love, overwhelming grief, intense addiction, self-denial, and most of all, the feeling of being undeserving. Akbar's novel is an evocative and searing story comprised of flashbacks, dreams, and multigenerational perspectives. Cyrus - the primary focus of the novel - is a very complex and intensely loveable protagonist. And the rest of the cast of characters are just as complex as Cyrus. I could probably write pages and pages about each of them but you ought to just read the book to find out for yourself!

Ultimately, I would eagerly recommend Martyr! to anyone who has ever felt themselves to be on an existential quest. Or to anyone who has felt absolutely overwhelmed by the cruelty of the world around them. I think you just might leave this novel with more hope than you'd had beforehand; I know I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, and War

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

this is such a brilliant book. i think id really benefit from rereading it to really understand it all. i did get a little confused between the POV and timeline changes which made it a tad less enjoyable. i also guessed the plot “twist”/ reveal within the first 50 pages but it was very enjoyable despite that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment