Martyr!

I will carry this story, and the people in it, with me for the rest of my life. -- John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars
Smart, dazzling, different... a novel of depth and complexity, tragedy and humour . . . This book is thrilling. There's no other word for it. It's like watching the novel itself be reinvented -- Ann Patchett, author of Tom Lake
Playful, soulful, kaleidoscopic, honest and profoundly moving. It is also wholly original, and the writing is brilliant, full of chutzpah and heart -- Elif Shafak, author of The Island of Missing Trees
Kaveh Akbar is a radiant soul, a poet so agile and largehearted it comes as no surprise that his first leap into fiction is elegant, dizzying, playful. -- Lauren Groff, author of The Matrix
In Cyrus, Akbar has created an indelible protagonist, haunted, searching, utterly magnetic. But it speaks to Akbar’s storytelling gifts that Martyr! is both a riveting character study and piercing family saga . . . what Akbar pulls off in Martyr! is nothing short of miraculous. * The New York Times *
Kaveh Akbar renders the full spectrum of life, and death, with great beauty and care -- Raven Leilani, author of Luster
An absolute jewel of a novel. A diamond. I haven’t loved a book this much in years. Kaveh’s writing is so thoroughly powerful and gorgeous you can feel it from where dreams come . . . This book does everything. -- Tommy Orange, author of There, There
Martyr! is an astounding debut . . . It feels like holding magic in your hands -- Aimee Walsh, The Irish Times
It's so, so incredible -- Kaia Gerber
I haven't stopped thinking about it. Sensational. * Daily Mail *
A kaleidoscopic debut . . . a novel that comes at you from every conceivable direction * Guardian *
Martyr! will stay in my soul for good—a fever dream, a reckoning, a heartbreak, a shattering and mending, a delight—its double-helix of dreams and conversation now part of my own DNA -- Leslie Jamison, author of The Empathy Exams
A brilliant debut... simultaneously funny and piercing... Akbar writes beautifully * LA Times *
Akbar is a black-belt storyteller, and MARTYR! is a page-turner I couldn’t put down. Buy this book! -- Mary Karr, author of The Liars' Club
Akbar’s debut is full of love, fury, humour and wisdom. Protagonist Cyrus Shams . . . is coming straight for your heart * People *
I laughed out loud * NPR *
I can’t remember the last time a book made me feel like this. Martyr! is simply extraordinary. Kaveh Akbar has written a novel that will stay with me forever. -- Clint Smith, author of How the Word Is Passed
Brilliant * Los Angeles Times *
Reading Martyr! is a delight * The Washington Post *
Stuffed with ideas, gorgeous images, and a surprising amount of humor . . . The serious fiction lover’s favorite kind of book, offering plenty to think about and discuss, all of it couched in brilliantly rendered prose that’s a pleasure to read. Let’s hope that Kaveh Akbar’s impressive debut is the first of many novels to come. * The Boston Globe *
Deep-feeling, beautifully bruised . . . A darkly comic and heartrendingly earnest work * The San Francisco Chronicle *
A unique delight. It is insightful and clever while also being unafraid to poke fun at itself . . . this is a singular work that introduces Akbar as an audacious and original contemporary storyteller * The Sydney Morning Herald *
A literary gem . . . Martyr! invites you to read with a highlighter in hand * Observer *
One of the many glories of MARTYR!, a first novel by the poet Kaveh Akbar, is its entirely original voice: half wised-up dude-speak, half soaring lyricism. This is a major novel that, like all major novels, doesn’t quite resemble anything else you’ve read. -- Michael Cunningham, author of Day