Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

22 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

leastrawberryfields's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, 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

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

austinpmueller's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-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

5.0

Rich. Devastating. As if Holden Caulfield were a Persian nihilist poet from Indiana.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and War

Minor: Mental illness

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

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

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

vanguardens's review against another edition

challenging reflective 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

4.5

What does it mean to be alive when you wish to be among the dead? That is Cyrus Shams’ central obsession. Martyr! takes you on a series of journeys of one man holding multiple histories in his body and mind. A scathing story of addiction, recovery and how “living life on life’s terms” does not gel well with post-post-modernist conceptions of justice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, and War

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Death of parent