Martyr! A Novel

Literary fiction following Cyrus an Iranian American writer, orphaned twice, obsessed with death, sober from alcohol and drugs, tries to find a new subject for writing and meets a dying artist in residence named Orkideh. 
What a gorgeous book this was ! First of all the writing was stunning, which didn't surprise me given that the author is a poet.  He tackles a variety of important thematics like death, life, faith, art etc and while some parts felt a bit clunky (not developed enough for me or didn't interest me), there was a real emotionality to his story, with so many moments that hit me hard. I loved the overall queerness and it had one of my favourite trope but I won't say anything else because of spoilers.  Various points of view and flashbacks are scattered throughout the book, some I liked more than others and I especially loved reading the ones with Roya, Cyrus' mother and Zee, Cyrus' best friend.  I did love the use of mixed media, and the ending was certainly interesting and unexpected.  Overall a gorgeous, by no means perfect but an emotionally truthful debut novel, I'm looking forward to read more from Kaveh Akbar.