MARTYR! BY KAVEH AKBAR

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BOOK NAME: MARTYR!

AUTHOR NAME: KAVEH AKBAR

GENRE: CONTEMPORARY FICTION

PUBLISHER: PANMACMILLAN - PICADOR BOOKS

BOOK BUY LINK: https://www.amazon.in/Martyr-Kaveh-Akbar/dp/1035026074



BOOK COVER IMAGE




BOOK REVIEW

Martyr is a book I was expecting to fall head over heels with throughout, but it turned out like a waveform spiking high initially, then dipping low and, luckily, ending with a peak. Martyr is the journey of Cyrus Shams, who is grieving the loss of his mother, whose plane was shot down in the Persian Gulf by a US Navy warship when he was a child. Cyrus was then brought up by his father after migrating to the US (ironically) for his higher studies until he succumbed to poor health. He then takes on the journey of writing his book, "The Earth Martyrs", inspired by his mother, his Uncle and Orkideh, the cancer survivor who he meets on the verge of her death.


This book had a thunderous start with a solid opening line and a brilliant display of characters. The plot was also very defined and promising until 25% of the book, after which it started coursing downhill. I don't know what really happened with the plot that was promised in the beginning, and suddenly, after 100 or so pages, I felt that I was reading a completely different book. The discourse was too sharp to be ignored. Luckily, the book soared again in the last few chapters, making up for the sombre mid-ones. But only it was too late to like the book wholeheartedly.


The language was undoubtedly excellent, and the writing was phenomenal, given the author's artistic background. However, the tone of the book was a letdown, which was all bearable until a certain point. Cyrus' grief and trauma were palpable in the beginning, but later, the whining got too repeated and unbearable. He was amateur, clingy, jealous and insanely rude to everyone. I disagree that a person who has had a traumatic childhood will turn mean to everyone all their life as if they are entitled, and others don't have sufferings of their own. Cyrus was so blunt and thankless that it made it hard for me to empathise with him. 


Roya, Leila and Ali were some of the characters I rooted for despite their brief appearances. The disclosure at the end was a surprise and it was executed so well. I was really looking forward to this book and thought that I would love it even when the author's beliefs didn't align with mine. Readers who enjoyed books like 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' and '10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World' will have a good time reading thisl.



MY REVIEW: 3.5/5

This is a part of Blogchatter’s #TBRchallenge

#penbooksandscalpel

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