MARTYR! BY KAVEH AKBAR
Martyr! is one of my top books of 2025. It was hard to put down, especially because a lot of the chapters are fairly short so you can’t help but keep reading. The author fosters an immense curiosity from the readers to know what happens next. The different perspectives are artfully presented in a cohesive timeline, even jumping years it was not too complicated to keep everyone straight.
I was so interested by Cryus’s character. The way the author creates this intense creative narrative from Cyrus (and other characters honestly) was captivating. His all-encompassing need for his life/death to mean something was palpable. The author manages to convey the desperation, the nothingness, the everythingness, of the constant existential dread that the character was feeling. Desperate to find meaning, to find fulfillment, to find the answer. Cyrus’ struggle with his mental health was very real, very raw and vulnerable to share. It is an important insight for those unaffected by mental health afflictions or whom have never seen such struggle.
I loved the writing. I loved how the author truly captured the mania of Cyrus’ thoughts, the detailed glimpse into a completely chaotic brain. The prose was awe-inspiring, honestly. I was completely captivated by Cyrus, and all the people in his life. The novel even mentions “sonder” - the realization that each individual person you pass lives a life as real and complex as your own. This word has hit a chord with me prior to reading this book, and to see it included in the introspective and philosophical debates in Cryrus’ mind felt like it reached into my soul to fish it out. The way the author worded everything just made sense to me. Everything clicked, it was just that good. I feel inadequate attempting to describe the novel because it truly transcends words - at least my own. I thought that there were a lot of experiences that are just beyond literature, but Akbar has shown that is not the complete truth. He is blessed with this innate ability to express such abstract and hard to grasp concepts with such clarity and depth. I was enraptured by the entire novel, I feel blessed to have read it to tell the truth.
Zee was a great character. His addition to Cyrus’ life and to the authors intended message was paramount. His perspective and actions added no small amount of importance to the novel, his challenging of Cryrus’ opinions and thoughts was integral to his growth through the novel. To have a friend, a loved one, who loves you as Zee did, who will challenge you when it’s needed and support you through your hardships, is a great blessing. Cyrus does not realize this until the end of the novel - this is an apt example of the average human experience for some. It is often difficult for individuals to accept their situation with gratitude, instead of comparing to others and dreaming about having a different life. Living with gratitude is the healthiest thing one could do, in my opinion. Cyrus struggles through all of his intense, clouding, manic thoughts throughout the novel to find the clarity he was seeking. In the journey of this, he meets Orkideh; an artist who is dying of stage four breast cancer. Orkideh decides to spend her last days/weeks in a museum speaking to whoever comes to see her. When Cyrus comes to talk to her, and they discuss death and purpose and martyrdom, it is a profound moment. The emotions creep off of the page with each word you read, slowly sinking into you as you absorb the depth of the conversations had.
The author’s expression of existential crisis/dread, of philosophical questions and devastating anxiety was written better than I could have ever hoped to read. At the same time, the author educates readers with small details about the Iraq-Iran war, about the commercial flight that got shot down in 1988 by the US military, killing 290 people. The author incites curiosity for these things, prompting the reader to take it upon themselves to find more detail about the events. I was appalled by the knowledge of the previously mentioned flight. It seemed unreal to me, unbelievable.. I couldn’t imagine how it could feel for the people closely surrounding the event. Akbar devastatingly describes the grieving process, addiction, love, anxiety, depression, emptiness. An extremely important novel. I could not possibly recommend this more.