Book cover of Martyr!

Book description

'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

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024
A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST 2024
A BARNES & NOBLE…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Martyr! as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

A truly unforgettable novel, clever and moving at the same time. Confused, lonely, and frustratingly stubborn, Cyrus Shams is his own worst enemy--the best kind of character in my opinion! Newly sober and too smart for his own good, he pours his heart into his writing but neglects the relationships that sustain him. There were times I wanted to shake him, but I never stopped routing for him to find his way, and find peace.

Scattered with Cyrus' poetry, dreams, and imagined conversations, the novel has a gorgeous literariness to it that pulled me right in as a reader.…

Wacky and weird and yet also very affecting. Thoroughly enjoyed the structure and the quality of writing. Akbar is a natural poet and it shows in his prose.

If you love Martyr!...

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December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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