Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

38 reviews

noahsingh's review

medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

tbh an Immediate favourite book, really hit home as someone who is also mixed race and depressed and queer lol would b 5 starts if not for the weird occasional fatphobia:/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Bullying, Fatphobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, Body shaming, Colonisation, Terminal illness, and Islamophobia

Minor: Torture, Cancer, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, and Confinement

riannesdijkstra's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book has my whole heart

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Grief, Terminal illness, and Fatphobia

Minor: Xenophobia and Suicidal thoughts

ceilisbookshelf's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Bullying, Fatphobia, Grief, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Racial slurs

hylian_narwhal's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, Body shaming, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Bullying, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, Confinement, and Islamophobia

courtnoodles's review

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Sorry to everyone who was excited I was reading this

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Dementia, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Murder

maggies's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was not a guaranteed 5⭐️ book. Not until about the last 30%, when I realized the characters had wormed their way into my heart. I want to give Darius, and his parents, and his grandparents, and his sister, and Sohrab, and even Chip a big ol hug. They all need it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Self harm, Racism, Islamophobia, Terminal illness, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Cancer

nytephoenyx's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’m kicking myself so hard right now because this book was so hyped when it came out four years ago and at any point during the last four years, I could have read it… and I didn’t. For some reason I don’t even remember, I avoided Darius the Great is Not Okay. Maybe, at the beginning, just because it was a contemporary YA and it took me some time to get acclimated to that genre? Either way, I’ve been missing out, and the steady theme about living with depression that runs through Darius the Great is something I needed to read years ago.

Let this be a lesson – be openminded about your books. You never know which ones you’ll end up loving.

I deeply appreciated Khorram’s discussion of depression in this book. This is one of those moments where the line in the sand is drawn and it become abundantly clear who is writing from personal experience vs. research – Darius’ depression consumes him in a way I think only someone else living with depression could write… and this is something I know a little bit about. I am grateful to Khorram for his vulnerability and creating a character who is so full of life and so consumed by storm clouds. Sometimes there are stereotypical moments, but that’s normal… right? Seriously, I can’t think of a single way Darius’ depression could have been handled better, and it was huge.

While there is a little bubbling romance deep under some interactions in this book, Darius the Great is Not Okay is largely about the relationship between fathers and son and how complicated that can be. It’s about growing up and growing distant. It’s about mental health and health and family. These moments of untraditional discussion within the story brought it to the next level while making it that much more relatable. I am not a fractional-Iranian (Darius’ words) or a male-indentifying person or a teenager, but there were a whole lot of revealing moments in this book for me. If that’s not good writing, I don’t know what is.

I connected with the mental health aspects of this book, so I will admit I didn’t focus as closely on some of the other pieces, like Darius’ relationship with Sohrab, but the soccer games were an interesting piece that helped Darius find purpose and strength. We also see him grow a little in empathy, although I do think he has more to learn. The trip to Iran is interesting, as well as the range of faith in the book. I loved the day they spent at the ruins of ancient Persepolis. My historian’s heart flowed over!

Altogether, Darius the Great is Not Okay is a wonderful read. But it’s twice as good – and twice as important – if you live alongside depression. The representation is fantastic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Bullying and Terminal illness

ana1s's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The best parts were dariuses character growth, the immersion into Iran's culture and the family dynamics. Looking forward to an evolution of his relationship with Sohrab!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Racism

Moderate: Fatphobia

Minor: Islamophobia

martapsalvado's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really loved this book 🧡 It is very character-driven, not a lot happens, but you get to really know the characters and see how this trip changes them, and specially how they change each other. It's about family, friendship, self-identity and, in the author's words, "how depression can affect a life without rulling it".

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Bullying, Terminal illness, and Fatphobia

Minor: Suicide, Islamophobia, and Self harm

jennikreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Confinement