A fresh and bold story, with a great twist towards the final section of the book but ultimately it did not capture my attention in the way I would have liked it to. Not that it was a bad book, just not my most favourite recent read.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

I know Kaveh Akbar from his works of poetry: "Pilgrim Bell," "Calling a Wolf a Wolf" and his chapbook, "Portrait of the Alcoholic." As a fan of his previous work, I went into "Martyr!" with high expectations. Akbar's talent for honesty, beauty, and social and cultural commentary is on display here. The book never pretties up the life of the alcoholic Cyrus, and how his behaviour impacts everyone around him. Akbar's major talent is exploring the often unsaid and hidden in the world.

Akbar tells "Martyr!" in multiple viewpoints so that the book is fragmented, and the overriding narrative is about putting these fragments together into one cohesive unit. We learn about Cyrus, his parents, his friend Zee, his uncle, and other supporting characters. Akbar shows immense empathy for his characters and that's something that I don't often see in debut novels.

However, I feel that the book is let down by the imaginary discussions that Akbar writes throughout the book. They feel artificial and they take away from the emotional truth of so much of the novel. The tonal shifts from the real to the imaginary (characters have conversations with Rumi and Lisa Simpson for ex.) did not work for me. There is justification for them in the narrative, but I was annoyed because they felt too gimmicky, and they could have been removed without harming the rest of the book.

I'm also not completely sold on a plot point that happens later because Akbar spends too much time explaining it. I would have preferred that there'd been some mystery or unanswered questions. Life doesn't always tie up every loose end. With that said, "Martyr!" is a solid debut novel and I look forward to Akbar's next book because he is such a powerful writer and when he hits the mark, he's fantastic. I just wish "Martyr!" was more consistently fantastic.

Kaveh Akbar makes a grand entrance into the realm of long-form fiction with a debut novel as intricately crafted as any stanza of his poetry. The spellbinding journey through American necropolitics in "Martyr!" begins with a contemplation on addiction, as our poet-protagonist Cyrus Shams grapples with the challenges of recovery. In the stark clarity of his hard-won sobriety, Cyrus, an orphan of a 'third culture,' feels adrift, struggling to find purpose in his life and the poetry that once defined him but now seems to have dried up within.

The core of Cyrus's substance struggle is rooted in grief – losing his mother as an infant when her plane was downed by the US Navy, and his father passing away shortly after he left for university. Emerging from years of numbing himself with drugs and alcohol, Cyrus, now on the brink of 30 and stuck in his college town, contemplates suicide. Driven by a desire to give meaning to his life and death on his terms, he conceives a grand poetic project, "The Book of Martyrs," to honor overlooked martyrs, establish himself as a poet, and find peace in eternal rest.

Cyrus's quest begins with defining martyrdom, exploring figures like Bobby Sands, Hypatia of Alexandria, Bhagat Singh, and Joan of Arc. However, his compendium is limited until he encounters Orkideh, an Iranian-American artist choosing to die from cancer in an exhibition. Will her proximity to death provide Cyrus with answers or lead to more questions?

"Martyr!" is emotionally charged, weaving potent political inquiries into its narrative. Despite its size, it is a brilliant and blazing epic, akin to works like Elif Batuman's "The Idiot" and "Either/Or." Like Catherine Lacey's "Biography of X," it employs the making of artists – Orkideh modeled on Marina Abramović and Cyrus possibly inspired by Akbar's experiences – as a lens to examine the socio-political context shaping their work.

While reminiscent of past reads, "Martyr!" is undeniably original, particularly in its portrayal of Cyrus not as 'between' hyphenated identities but radically both Iranian and American. Akbar's prose, influenced by his poetic background, unfolds with a unique fluidity, incorporating a non-linear narrative, multi-perspectival storytelling, extracts from Cyrus's "Book of Martyrs," and dream sequences with real and fictional characters.

Akbar's evocative and playfully elegant prose mitigates the novel's flaws, turning contrivances and predictable twists into intentional elements, showcasing the transformative power of a poet's words. For Akbar's existing fans, the novel holds delightful connections to his poetry and critical work, such as revisiting a line from Jean Valentine's poem within Cyrus's story.

In contrast to comparisons with Ocean Vuong's "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous," where Vuong's prose mirrors his poetic perfection, Akbar introduces a fresh style, blending the transformative essence of poetry with the grounded readability of a novel poised to endure the test of time.

Cyrus Shams wants to die. He is a recovering addict living in Indiana & is obsessed with martyrs. His mother was killed when he was a baby when her flight out of Tehran was shot down by the US military & his dad died when he was at college. This obsession leads him to New York to visit a terminally ill artist who is living out her last days at the Brooklyn museum.

I thought this book was spectacular. Akbar, like his protagonist, is a poet & if that wasn’t clear from his gorgeous prose, there is also poetry woven throughout the book. Cyrus is writing a collection of poems about martyrs (having Bobby Sands appear in this book was definitely a surprise) and is spending a lot of time thinking about his own mortality.

There are multiple POVs here and we find out a lot more about Cyrus’s mother & her brother who has severe PTSD following the Iran-Iraq war. Personally I didn’t find this hard to follow but I know this can be an issue for some.

I found this to be so moving and so special, it truly took my breath away.

This was a surprise 5 star read.
I requested it because the title intrigued me and it seemed interesting, and at first I struggled. I thought it was going to be a ‘its me not the book’ situation but I ended up falling in love.
Martyr! is a beautifully unique and heavily emotional read, exploring a range of topics with expertise. Grief, art, identity, addiction, racism, religion, family dynamics, capitalism, otherness, intimacy, suicide, loss and death are all explored beautifully.

The main question of the novel is if we all die anyway, should we die for meaning? for something?
Our MC, Cyrus’ own experiences with death, lead him to ask these questions. He struggles with his grief and the trauma of the death he has experienced, as well as a battle with addiction and suicidal ideation.

Everything within the novel is so complex. I related to a lot of it, which made it pretty hard to get comfortable with, but it is important.
There were moments where I was gasping as I turned the pages, moments where I felt for Cyrus and moments where I was angry at him. I also enjoyed the perspective of things I do not relate to, or that I have no experience with. Akbar has an incredible touch.

Overall, this is not an easy read, it challenges thoughts of death and identity but it is definitely worth reading.
My only comment is I think this would be a novel better enjoyed physically. I struggled with some of the formatting reading it digitally.


Thank you to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the ARC

Akbar's debut has been much-hyped and while its blend of fantasy and reality peppered with excerpts from Cyrus's own work-in-progress doesn't (in my opinion) entirely come together, that same scope and ambition make it a fascinating and compelling read. There's a lot to ponder on in here, and the transcendent power of love is beautifully handled. Recommended.

!!!!

This book is my biggest surprise of the year so far. It was a random ARC I requested because I liked the title, but it's incredible. The writing is lush, the characters are relatable, and the unfolding of the story genuinely caught me by surprise. My ebook is full to the brim with highlights - it really shows that the author is a poet, but in an entirely subtle way - he just understands the importance of language and makes every word count. Adored this and will be buying a physical copy at some point, so I can lend it to people whether they like it or not.

Definitely a case of 'It's me, not the book'. Objectively extremely good and well drawn, I just couldn't immerse myself on this occasion. Such is the peculiar nature of reading and engaging with different titles; sometimes recognition of excellence doesn't equate to readerly success. I hope the book does well, and can see the vast majority love it.

This was such a unique and emotionally weighted read. It’s unlike a lot of anything else I’ve ever read. It explores such a range of things with depth: grief, addiction, identity, art, racism, language, religion, history, capitalism, alienation, kyriachy, friendship, loss…and, of course, death.

More specifically, how we all die anyway, so why shouldn’t we make this death have meaning? Shouldn’t we die for something? Otherwise, what does it all mean, and what did we do it for? This was triggered by Cyrus’ own personal experiences with death, when his mother Raya was shot down in a plane in 1988 when he was a baby, how her death was just one of over 300 and then was turned into a political talking point. I also believe that his obsession with death stems for his other traumas, as well, especially being Iranian living within America where he is constantly treated as a threat despite the pain and suffering they have caused him, his family and his homeland. This is something he greatly struggles with and is a constant theme throughout.

The discussions about everything were so complex, multilayered and gripping. Many are things I have personally thought about before and it was wonderful seeing something I’ve struggled to put into words right in front of me. Others are things I have not thought about and were new to me, and I appreciated the discussions, and others were from the perspective of someone I don’t relate to due to our completely different life experiences/privileges etc, which I also appreciated and enjoyed.

Also, the poetry! Unexpected, but a joy.

Overall, this was not an easy read, it was challenging but fantastic and I would recommend it. My only ‘gripes’ (both personal and not wrong with the book) is that I struggle to read things that are ‘stream of consciousness’ , which is what this felt like a lot of the time, and I also don’t know how I feel about that ending and how it changes everything that was being talked about up to that point. It was entertaining, but I’m not sure if I liked that twist or not.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for the review copy. I definitely need a copy of my own to annotate because I highlighted SO much of this! Here are some of my favourite quotes:

“There’s no difference to the outside world between a good guy and a bad guy behaving like a good guy. In fact, I think God loves that second guy a little more”

“Recovery is made of words, and words have all these rules. How can anything so limited touch something as big as whatever the fu*k a ‘Higher Power’ is? How can it get rid of the big ball of rot inside me? it feels like this giant sponge sucking away anything in the world that’s supposed to feel good. What words can touch that?”

“When a sadsack who hated life killed themselves, what were they really giving up? The life they hated? Far more meaningful, thought Cyrus, to life yourself out of a life you enjoyed - the tea still warm, the honey still sweet. That was real sacrifice. That meant something”

“Martyr. I want to scream it in an airport. I want to die killing the president. Ours and everyone’s. I want them all to have been right to fear me. Right to have killed my mother, to have ruined my father. I want to be worthy of the great terror my existence inspires”

(I have SO much highlighted, honestly, that I really want to share but I think you should just read the book, it’s brilliant)

“Anger is a kind of fear. And fear saved you. When the world was all kneecaps and corners of coffee tables, fear kept you safe.”

Kaveh Akbar’s novel tells the story of Cyrus Shams. He is a young man trying to cope with a lifetime of struggles including addiction and loss. His mother’s flight was shot down over the skies of Tehran and his father died from an accident working on a farm in America. Cyrus has become a drunk and an addict. His passion is to write and his years of sobriety lead him towards a project where a women who is dying of cancer lives her last moments in a museum under an installation called “Death Speak”. She sits and speaks to strangers, Cyrus wants to write a book and incorporate what this artist is doing. Little does he know what he thought about his past so far is about to be completely changed.

This novel was so hard to put down. Not only does it explore such important themes like addiction, grief, and violence, it portrays a life of an individual trying to come to terms with his true identity and family history.

Although a lot of the topics were quite deep and thought provoking, there was humour within these chapters with characters that stood out. The dynamics between the people who come and go in Cyrus’s life leave a trail towards what he comes to learn whilst writing his book.

I found it hard not to finish this book too quickly. The humour and the interesting perspectives make this an experience to read.

Cyrus Shams is a recovering addict, an artist, an Iranian-American, a pansexual man, yet each label stuck on him doesn’t feel quite right. After his mother died in the criminal shot down of Iran Air Flight 655 by American Forces on July 3, 1988, Cyrus and his father, Ali, emigrated to the US to start a new life.

Martyr! will arguably be the best book I’ll ever read - at the very least in 2024. Packed with powerful, gut wrenching lines oozing a truth a lot of us can’t bear to see yet, the reader follows the sinuous life of a lost, grief-ridden poet; sometimes devastating, sometimes hilarious, always maddeningly gorgeous, Akbar’s writing takes us down to the darkest, finest and irremediably most human depth of a suffering, gorgeous man.

By no means is it an easy read; both in content and form. Kaveh Akbar doesn’t shy away from a dark and mysterious metaphor, or a comparison that stretches your imagination all the while reading like the best description you’ve ever seen. The topics that are dealt with are brutal, honest, looking you straight in the eye and saying ‘now you can’t pretend you don’t know’. The character development of Cyrus, Zee and later on Roya is all so deeply, hopelessly human and so real it made me gasp here, tear up there.

There is no doubt Martyr! will become a timeless classic, finding its rightful place on our shelves. If I could give it 6 stars, I would. Read it, reread it, savour it; I certainly will as soon as it comes out.

A much anticipated (at least in the US) debut novel from an award winning Iranian-American poet.

The book begins in 2015 (before quickly jumping forwards two years). Its partly autobiographically inspired narrator is Cyrus, 27 in 2015 and addicted to a combination of drugs and alcohol, he believes that he hears from God (in nothing more – but also nothing less - than the requested flickering of a light bulb and resolves to sober up.

Two years later he is working as a medical actor (role playing patients or relatives as part of medical training), living with his friend and occasional lover Zee (a Polish Egyptian), and occasionally writing poetry now he has been sober for some time (with the assistance of his AA sponsor Gabe) – before being sober he less wrote poetry than “drank about writing”.

Cyrus is an orphan – shortly after his birth his mother Roya was killed on the IRL Iran Air Flight 655 shot down by the USS Vincennes: his father Ali (never the same since his wife’s death) moved to the US to work on a chicken farm in Indiana, taking Cyrus with him, dying of a sudden stroke just as Cyrus started college

The only relative with which he has any contact, and even there very infrequent, is his Uncle Arash – in the Iran/Iraq war Arash had an unusual job - visiting the battlefield at night dressed as an angel so as to inspire the dying Iranian soldiers to die with dignity.

Earlier these experiences are what had driven him to addiction, but now, newly sober they have given Cyrus something of an obsession with death – particularly with those who die as martyrs (examples give include Joan of Arc, Baghat Singh, Bobby Sands – as an aside it was hard not to notice a link here, one example of various aspects of the book which I felt alienated or excluded me a little) – and he decides to write a collection of poems about martyrs.

Shortly after this resolution he finds out about a visual artist – Ordikeh- who dying of cancer decides that he her last piece of installation art will be “Death Speak”, with the artist living in the museum for her last weeks and days, and with museum visitors invited to speak with her. When he finds out that the artist is herself an Iranian exile he decides he has to visit her as part of his own project.

The novel itself is told in a variety of chapters – which as well as Cyrus’s on-going story include the back stories of his father, his Uncle and his mother (including a relationship she struck up with the young wife of one of Ali’s friends). Inserted in these are brief extracts from the US enquiries and records into the Vincennes attack on the airliner, drafts from Cyrus’s writing and poems for his collection, and perhaps most oddly a number of dream dialogues (for example one between Cyrus’s mother and Lisa Simpson, one between Cyrus’s father and the poet Rumi). This latter part is justified at some length in the text – we are told that Cyrus originally invented these dialogues as a way to cope with anxiety and insomnia and then over time they bled into his dreams and became a crucial part of how we continued to feel a link to his parents – but they did not work at all for me (I am not particularly interested in the Simpsons for example).

There is also a hard-to-avoid-mentioning plot twist some way through the novel – which felt both required (and retrospectively inevitable) to give the book a narrative trajectory (it was otherwise hard to see where the book was going) but did feel more than a little far fetched.

Overall there was I felt much to like here, and much to admire in its ambition even if perhaps not everything quite worked for me.

A remarkably philosophical, and often amusing debut book. Beautifully written and executed. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the DRC

Kaveh Akbar’s <i>Martyr!</i>, one of my most anticipated 2024 releases, fell short of its premise. Despite its potential, <i>Martyr!</i> struck me as a novel that was taken out of the publishing oven far too early. The result is a rather half-baked novel that failed to truly elicit any strong emotion on my part. Despite the novel’s polyphonic structure, the various perspectives in <i>Martyr!</i> sounded less like a choir and more like a monotonous voice, one that inadvertently pulled me out of the reading experience. I found myself acutely aware of its constructed nature, and I felt frustrated by the book’s singular tone. To be sure, there were a couple of reflections here and there that felt perceptive, nuanced, and certainly relatable (especially when it comes to expressing the experiences/mind-set of someone who is depressed, suicidal, and/or addicted). But that was sort of it. We have this main character who despite being in possession of various ‘quirks’ (from his childhood habits to his rather ‘unique’ job at the hospital that sadly made me think of c, a film i fucking hated), is ultimately a springboard for various discourses. The novel is most effective in the “sessions” between Cyrus, our protagonist, a newly sober Iranian-American queer man approaching 30, and Orkideh, a terminally ill performance artist who in a very Marina Abramović move is living out her final days in the Brooklyn Museum. These sections made me think back to María Gainza’s <i>Optic Nerve</i>, and so during these interactions, I found the artspeak and academic references to be apt, whereas, in the remainder of the novel, these felt either didactic or out-of-place.

Cyrus’ chapters are intercut by chapters from his family members: his father, who died while Cyrus was in college, his mother, whose death is in many ways the catalyst for Cyrus’ fixation on martyrdom, and his uncle, traumatized by his experiences in the Iranian battlefields where dressed as the Angel of death, he comforted his dying countrymen. I almost immediately questioned the author’s choice to adopt a 1st pov in their chapters, whereas Cyrus’ are told through a 3rd pov. Their voices, sounded like what Cyrus would think they would sound like.
I wished that the author could have been a bit more unconventional when it came to the structure of his novel. The storytelling could have been more experimental, for instance, something along the lines of Mary-Alice Daniel's<i> A Coastline Is an Immeasurable Thing</i> (a memoir that manages to balance an intimate coming-of-age with various historical accounts), Namwali Serpelll’s labyrinthine <The Furrows</i> (which presents readers with different versions of the same events/episodes), or Kim Thúy’s fragmented forays into the past. A more atypical structure would have complemented Cyrus’ troubled nature to his childhood and family history, as well as his sense of dislocation. For example, we could have had Cyrus either imagining and writing about the experiences of his parents and uncle or providing secondhand accounts of their lives. After all, he is a writer, a poet, who is writing a work on martyrs that is heavily influenced by his own experiences of death and grief.
Or it could have gone for a story-within-story type of framework, a la Elizabeth Kostova, or committed more fully to being a family saga, after all, that type of narrative doesn't prevent one from exploring more ‘literary’ topics or providing thought-provoking reading material (eg. Elif Shafak, Louise Erdrich, Hala Alyan, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton). But <i>Martyr!</i> never quite finds its footing. The use of multiple perspectives is done by rote. And I wouldn’t have minded as much if these various voices had depth, but they struck me as self-referential, mere exercises in style. The author tries to jazz things up by including sections where Cyrus imagines conversations between real-life people, like his mother, and fictional characters, like Lisa Simpson. Not only is this idea not particularly original (exploring a character’s psyche by having them engage in imaginary dialogues with famous figures). Maybe if the author had captured the essence of these fictional figures, I would have been more willing to overlook the contrived nature of these sections, but as it was Lisa Simpson is recognizable as such only because of her pearls and a possible reference to music. These chapters were distractingly gimmicky and further solidified my disinterest in the overall story. As I said early on, the novel did have potential, especially when it came to its topics & themes: martyrdom, death, grief, contemporary American politics, Western military interference in the Middle East, Iranian history, misperceptions of Islam, generational trauma and silence, the relationship between one’s identity and one’s art as well as the difficulty in challenging dualistic either/or way perspectives of one’s identity (when it comes to race, nationality, faith, and sexuality). In many instances dialogues or segments surrounding humanities subject areas rang hollow, at times even performative, as these added little to important issues, or advanced no new perspectives or argument, for instance when it came to using a postcolonial lens to reevaluate the Western canon. Like, we have this bit where two characters, who almost always sound like the same guy, talk about how racist <i>The Bell Jar </i>is, mentioning this one episode from that novel (the novel has several overt instances of racism). They then mention other controversial figures, like Susan Sontag, but the discussion there.. felt truncated, mere name-dropping. One character concludes childishly that everyone should do as he does. I wanted more from a scene like this, and certainly, I wanted this scene to feel like a realistic back-and-forward between two people.
If you follow my reviews here on GR, you know by now that most of my favorite novels are centered around alienated, self-sabotaging, navel-gazing characters (eg. Are You Happy Now by Hanna Jameson, Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi, You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat and The Arena of the Unwell by Liam Konemann). And I also have a high tolerance when it comes to rambling internal monologues, or very academic novels (for instance Elif Batuman’s duology). But with <i>Martyr!</i> I did not feel that I was reading a compelling or in-depth character study. Cyrus was a means through which the author could initiate and discuss various topics. Cyrus’ internal monologue struck me as slightly formulaic, affected even. The ideas and images we found there were often overly wordy, in a way that took me out of the reading experience. It made me think of a certain type of very self-conscious academic writing, the kind of writing where something ‘simple’ is worded in such an unnecessarily convoluted way as to lose sight of its original meaning/purpose and can come across as just plain pretentious. While the novel does touch upon interesting issues, certain dialogues, especially the ones between Cyrus and his best friend, or Cyrus and his sponsor, seemed, schematic, and slightly dry. There is this plot reveal that struck me as sentimental and out-of-place, the type of plot point that would have been more suited to a more book-clubby book, or something from Hollywood.

As I said above, the novel would have benefited from having a more ambiguous type of storytelling, as it would have suited the novel’s themes: Cyrus' tendency to mythologize his past and family history, the uncertain nature of the act of retrospection, and so on. I have just read several books exploring these themes and, compared to those, <i>Martyr!</i> comes across as rather derivative and generic. Which is a pity, especially for a novel that includes a quote by Clarice Lispector...

There were instances, often on a sentence level ("hairless in a way that makes my skull louder, the angles of my jaw"...i understand wanting to emphasize the uncle's, shall we say, fragmented psyche but his chapters were, predictably, full of these clunky stylized sentences), that needed more thorough editing (did we really need Cyrus to tell us how a wikipedia page is usually subdivided? And, at the risk of being pedantic: it's Venice Biennale, not Venice Biennal). A lot of descriptions were just...trying too hard (exhibit a: "his face all chin and jaw, cavernous dark eyes like weeping poppies"; exhibit b: "the narrowing angles of her jaw and neck like a diving crystal dangling from an invisible string").

It was by no means a bad read but it was a forgettable one. I was too aware of the author’s presence to feel invested in the story or its characters. The snippets of poetry that we get (written by Cyrus for his book) didn’t feel as striking as they were meant to be. All in all, <i>Martyr</i> was a bit of a misfire. Cyrus is the type of alienated and obsessive young(ish) man going through what could be broadly described as an existential crisis that I have come across before in literature (Hari Kunzru's <i>Red Pill</i>, David Santos Donaldson's <i>Greenlanad</i>, David Hoon Kim's <i>Paris Is a Party, Paris Is a Ghost</i>) and despite his experiences throughout the novel he ultimately ends up adhering to a predictable story arc (featuring convenient coincidences, moments of truth, and so on) that struck me as disappointingly vanilla.

I don’t think that I’d read more by Akbar, but you never know. If this book is on your radar I recommend you give it a try despite my negative review or at least check out more positive reviews if you are making your mind up about it.

This was fantastic. A really surprising book. I can honestly say that it defied all my expectations and I loved it. Funny, smart and darkly comical, this is a terrific read. Although it isn't a thriller it reads with the pace and verve of one. I could not put it down. I loved how beautifully rendered the characters were and how they were so complex and multi faceted. Even though I was rooting for them, there were times when I was so frustrated with their behaviours I found myself clenching my jaw as I read, but that was perfect. They were properly human and I loved them so much. Fresh, original and charming.

“That first kiss between Leila and me was a strange and foreign word, one someone might clumsily translate as "sky" but that actually meant something closer to "heaven."”⁣
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“written after he got sober, when poetry simply became a place to put his physical body, something he could do for a few hours without worrying about accidentally killing himself. That was poetry then, a two-by-four floating in the ocean. When Cyrus wrapped himself around it, he could just barely keep his head above waves.”⁣
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From: 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺𝘳! by Kaveh Akbar⁣
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This flawed yet gorgeous book was something I devoured between boxing up all our stuff and all the administrative hassle of moving houses and jobs at the same time. ⁣
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Martyr! is surprisingly entertaining for a book about martyrdom - about the main character’s quest to make his death matter, and then also in the setting of sobriety after addiction and the loss of both his parents - but Akbar has a way of making you smile through it all. ⁣
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Martyr! is so smart, original in style and form. Akbar’s writing is poetic without being overdone or losing clarity. The main character’s journey is satisfyingly philosophical without the heavy pondering. ⁣
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Of course, some of the other characters could have been more fleshed out, especially Roya deserved a little more depth in my opinion. The big surprises and plot twists were much, but somehow felt appropriate, the same way the exclamation point in the title felt appropriate. I think the book wouldn’t have lost any of its power if it lost (some of) its dream sequences (although I thought the interaction with a certain President was so fun and one of my favorite quotes was about the dreams: “Dreams give us voices, visions, ideas, mortal terrors, and departed beloveds. Nothing counts more to an individual, or less to an empire.”)⁣
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I loved this book and highly recommend it! ⁣
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Thank you @prhinternational and @netgalley for the ARC.

Absolute brilliant 5* read

Thanks to @netgalley & @panmacmillan for allowing me to read the pre publication Arc.

Simply one of the best books I have read in years... I couldn't put it down. So many complex issues, wrapped up in the mind of man, soothing his deep trauma with drugs & alcohol, searching for the meaning of his life.

The end was totally unexpected.

I will read anything Kaveh Akbar writes. His writing is simply stunning. Will purchase his poetry collections & all of his future publications.

'More than a little surprised by the words as they came out of his mouth, how they gave shape to something that had long been formless within him. It was like the language in the air that night was a mold he was pouring around his curiosity. Flour thrown on a ghost'....

This summed up the whole beautiful book for me, pages and pages of stunning prose, so many lines annotated & are in my journal.

I loved it & recommend everyone reads it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Picador for my copy - 3.5/5

Should poets write novels? Yes and no based on this one.

Cyrus Shams is an Iranian American recovering addict trying to find meaning through writing. His father is dead and his mother was killed when a plane was shot down by the US army. When Cyrus hears about a fellow Iranian who has turned her death from cancer into an art installation he heads to Brooklyn to see if she can shed light on his existential crisis.

This book is dreamy and lyrical, with beautiful passages touching on theology, martyrdom, language and art, queer love, redemption, forgiveness and Persian-ness. Its strength is its weakness - the poetry and expansiveness of the novel sometimes makes the narrative disjointed, and there’s too much head hopping altogether.

Some great writing tho and I’m excited to see what he does next.

Would recommend.

This moving debut by Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar is one I was really looking forward to reading, and it did not disappoint. Martyr! follows Cyrus Shams as he struggles to find meaning in addiction and recovery while also grappling with the death of his mother and the complications of being an Americanized yet recognizably middle eastern man in middle America. Akbar's writing is confident and deft; beautiful without ever overshadowing the plot. I love the shifting perspectives and feel that the pacing is especially well done—this is a book you can really sink into the details of while still feeling like it's a fairly fast-paced read. I look forward to recommending this book throughout 2024 and am thankful to netgalley for providing me with an eARC.

I am halfway through and I’m just struggling to invest in the story. I just do not care what happens next. The writing is perfectly fine and the concept interesting, but it’s all just a bit meh.