Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

123 reviews

pabi's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense 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

4.0

Gotta love when a poet writes a novel. Too good!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer and Physical abuse

minkler's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and War

mbgibson825's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

katarinabee's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and War

emilyem206's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Drug use, and Death of parent

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

charlma's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and War

greenleafclarke's review against another edition

dark funny reflective 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, and Drug use

Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

Minor: Racism

mrbijoy's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

4.75

A brilliant piece of fairly relatable fiction for many middle-eastern and South Asian immigrants. Funny, but not without subs very serious, sad moments. There’s so much to love. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism and Death of parent

Minor: Violence

ziareads's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Death lingers in every chapter of this book. We witness our protagonist, Cyrus Shams, in constant mourning. Dead relatives, dead dreams, dead habits. They haunt him, and he lets them. I think it's beautiful- realistic, even! We are shaped by the very things that we grieve, and Cyrus is the same way.

So many delicate topics in this book; each one handled with so much love and care. It's a delight to read! Others have said they disliked the

ending and the strange dreams,

but I think it fits Cyrus's character. He is, as I've said and as are most of us, infinitely haunted. 

As for the characters, each one has a chapter (or parts of a chapter) dedicated to them and who they are. You get to learn all these people through beautiful prose that reads like poetry, and you get to see how they deal with their lives outside of Cyrus, and how their lives intertwine with Cyrus'.

My favorite chapters were Ali's, a father who lost his wife and was now losing himself. There is so much he could have been, but all that had died when his wife did. Now all that is left of him is his son, who barely knows who he is. 

Zee was also a really good character, despite how many people claimed that he's a blank slate that's more copycat than human. Devotion does that to you! Love does that to you!!! He's realistically written and I am proof of that! We give up things for the people we love!!! We try things for the people we love!!!

This was my introduction to Kaveh, and I think I'd love to read his other works! I think I could go on and on about this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Drug abuse

Moderate: Death, Islamophobia, and Death of parent