Martyr!

by Kaveh Akbar
Martyr! cover
Good Books rating 4.25
Literary Fiction
Technical:
  • ID: 445
  • Added: 2025-09-11
  • Updated: 2025-09-12
  • ISBN: 9780593685778
  • Publisher: Random House
  • Published: 2024-12-31
  • Formats: 6
  • Reviews: 4
Buy online
Waterstones
Paperback • £9.99

Martyr! follows Cyrus Shams, a young man grappling with the violent legacy of his family and his own struggles with addiction and identity. After losing his mother in a tragic plane incident and growing up with a self-destructive father, Cyrus turns to poetry and an obsession with martyrdom to make sense of his life. His journey leads him to a terminally ill Iranian-American artist in Brooklyn, whose performance art and mysterious past challenge Cyrus’s understanding of death, legacy, and belonging. The novel blends humor, philosophy, and surreal conversations with historical and cultural references, exploring themes of faith, displacement, and the search for meaning in seemingly senseless tragedy. Kaveh Akbar’s debut novel is a powerful meditation on how we use art and storytelling to endure grief and forge identity, marked by inventive narrative and a deeply human protagonist caught between worlds.

Reviews
Reading Writing and Me · 2024-02-29
powerful 4.50

The book is described as incredible with a strong, vivid protagonist whose grief and struggles with identity and addiction powerfully drive the narrative.

This review is enthusiastic about the novel, emphasizing how compelling and vivid the main character, Cyrus, is from the very first page. The reviewer connects deeply with Cyrus's complex emotions shaped by early loss and addiction recovery, praising the book's exploration of fitting into the world while wrestling with grief. The relationships around Cyrus, including his roommate and AA sponsor, add layers of complexity that enrich the story's emotional impact and authenticity.

Quick quotes

    This book is incredible. I'll say it over and over again throughout this review.

    From page one, Cyrus's voice jumps out with an incredibly strong sense of who he is.

    The complexities of these questions scream off the page.

The New Dork Review of Books · 2024-02-05
brilliant 4.50

The novel is described as immense and brilliant, focusing on the meaning of death with unique, mind-blowing details and humor that enrich the narrative.

This review praises the novel for its profound engagement with death and martyrdom, using compelling and unusual imagery such as the protagonist’s uncle’s haunting role in wartime. The reviewer finds the book's imaginative dream sequences—featuring figures like Lisa Simpson—to be among its funniest and most memorable parts, adding a rich layer of humor and surrealism that complements the serious themes. The novel’s originality and depth make it stand out as a remarkable debut.

Quick quotes

    This is a novel not about the meaning of life, but the meaning of death.

    This blew my mind.

    Some of my favorite -- and the funniest -- parts of this novel are conversations Akbar gives us between, say, Lisa Simpson and Cyrus's mother.

NPR · 2024-01-29
engaging 4.25

Martyr! is an engaging and wildly entertaining debut novel that deftly explores grief, identity, and cultural heritage with humor and emotional depth.

This review emphasizes the novel's dynamic and entertaining narrative style, which balances heavy themes like addiction and loss with humor and vivid characters. The reviewer sees Martyr! as a standout debut, praising its ability to delve into the Iranian-American experience and the protagonist's quest for meaning without losing a sense of playfulness and humanity. They highlight how the novel combines imaginative elements such as hallucinations and artistic performances to enrich the story's emotional resonance. The novel is recommended for its compelling voice and the fresh perspective it brings to contemporary fiction, particularly regarding cultural identity and personal recovery.

Quick quotes

    Engaging and wildly entertaining, Martyr! will undoubtedly be considered one of the best debut novels of the year.

    The novel focuses on very real questions of grief, addiction, and cultural heritage with humor and depth.

    Martyr! combines imaginative elements to enrich the emotional resonance of the story.

The Masters Review · 2024-01-23
thoughtful 3.75

Martyr! is a novel that explores addiction, identity, and the search for meaning through a mix of metaphysical elements and cultural critique, though it sometimes feels over-the-top and struggles with believability.

The review highlights how Martyr! follows Cyrus Shams as he grapples with addiction, artistry, and Iranian-American identity, using poetry and metaphysical conversations as tools for exploring life and death. While the novel is praised for its inventiveness and cultural depth, the reviewer notes that the story occasionally feels overwhelmed by its ambitious scope and some narrative elements lack credibility, which may challenge the reader's suspension of disbelief. They appreciate the novel's passionate and curious protagonist and the philosophical grounding through history and art references, but suggest that these efforts sometimes fail to fully anchor the story in a believable reality. Despite this, the novel's unique voice and thematic richness make it a notable work in contemporary fiction.

Quick quotes

    Martyr! is funny, savvy, and feels deeply rooted in culture and tradition, sharply critiquing Iranian and Iranian-American customs.

    Akbar’s true inventiveness as a fiction writer shines in the metaphysical turn the novel takes.

    The novel sometimes feels over-the-top, and while Akbar incorporates references to history and art to ground the novel, it does not always feel believable.

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