This is a super interesting book. Akbar paints some seriously real characters and gives them depth and motivations which aren't ordinary, but believable for people in their positions. His background as a poet shines through his prose, and his grasp/articulation of addiction, suffering, loss, and man's search for meaning are great

Cyrus smiled, despite himself. He remembered reading about how children who had lost a parent would often act out against the one left, an unconscious way of testing whether that parent could be trusted to remain unconditionally.

The premise is that a sober addict has dreams about dialogues between martyrs (of varying degrees) and ficticious characters. In doing so, he finds purpose in life (giving them voices in a book, informed by conversations with someone who's actually dying for a purpose), and reclaims the previously-dreaded territory of sleep/lack thereof. There's several profound passages about what sobriety is and is not. Akbar (accurately) states that it is not abstinence, but instead chiseling away those parts of your life which shroud your inner beauty (I'm making it sound cornier than he did).

The sufi prayer of entropy:

Lord, increase my bewilderment

Opportunity cost of doing nothing in the city is so immense that it feels opulent

There are a few character choices towards throughout thhe novel which are questionable:

• Zee being a chameleon who drinks/doesn't drink along with Cyrus, and takes him back unconditionally. He's just a bit too convenient/1D of a character
• Orkideh killing her suicide out of avoidance? or as a tough love lesson to show the value of life, and how death is not inherently meaningful. She's an interesting character...

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