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yoursupremereads's review
emotional
funny
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
3.5
The follow up to Darius The Great Is Not Okay is a great sequel. Khorram has continued to flesh out Darius's trademark nerd/weeb tea loving charm through this new installment. But has given him a new boyfriend and a potential future love interest in the form of an old childhood bully. This story explores not only residual trauma from bullies, but from the passersby who stood around and let the bullying happen. This story also did a good job of investigating personal growth and understanding one's boundaries when entering a new relationship. And how sometimes your first "love" might not even be that, and that's okay. Khorram also fills Darius's world with characters that are multi-faceted just like him, making his new crush for a previous bully all the more interesting. Also, fully appreciate Khorram giving Darius queer grandmothers, while adding to that one of them being a transwoman. Chef's kiss.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, and Islamophobia
Minor: Toxic friendship and Death
ok7a's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Death, and Islamophobia
Minor: Racial slurs and Sexual content
imstephtacular'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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Bullying, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Xenophobia, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cursing, Pregnancy, Racism, Death, Alcohol, Dementia, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
tinytrashqueen's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Homophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Fatphobia, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content
davidup_15's review
emotional
funny
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
4.0
NB I haven't read the first book in the series (I just found this on the library shelf and it looked interesting) - I intend to read the first book but honestly I think you can enjoy this one independently.
REVIEW: The characters and their relationships are endearing, complex, intriguing, and deeply real. There are no real 'good guys' and 'bad guys', which I love - everything is nuanced, and sometimes relationships just don't work out even though both participants are good people, which is so reflective of real life. Khorram's exploration of the intersection of Iranian/Persian and queer identity was also really interesting. It didn't grab me and hook me in so I was gobbling every word up the way a lot of other books have, but it was still a fun read that I enjoyed and had absolutely no trouble getting through.
REVIEW: The characters and their relationships are endearing, complex, intriguing, and deeply real. There are no real 'good guys' and 'bad guys', which I love - everything is nuanced, and sometimes relationships just don't work out even though both participants are good people, which is so reflective of real life. Khorram's exploration of the intersection of Iranian/Persian and queer identity was also really interesting. It didn't grab me and hook me in so I was gobbling every word up the way a lot of other books have, but it was still a fun read that I enjoyed and had absolutely no trouble getting through.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Homophobia
hazelsnoot's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Bullying, Body shaming, Grief, Homophobia, and Mental illness
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Racism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Transphobia, and Toxic relationship
thewordsdevourer's review
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
i actually liked this better than the first book! darius the great deserves better is a book i wish i had read when i was younger: it was comforting in its assurance of continually discovering oneself; relatable in its depiction of grief; and affirming in its portrait of living w/ depression but still being ok.
darius's growth and his changing relationships w/ those around him were sth i enjoyed seeing, particularly his family dynamics and his new, supportive friendships. the characters--even the bully loser--were surprisingly multidimensional. this book was also refreshingly--almost effortlessly--diverse, and i rly like how the author tackled racism, microaggressions, homophobia, sexuality, consent, and mental illness w/ tact, somehow managing to interweave them all into the plot w/o ever sounding preachy.
similar to the first book, however, i was often annoyed by the writing, specifically the unncessary single sentences + line breaks and repetition that sounded more dramatic than they needed to be. i also wish the ending was less rushed, and that more time were spent on certain ideas and scenes, exploring them a lil further to fully grasp them. nevertheless, i still enjoyed this book, and it's def one of my top mental illness-related books for sure.
darius's growth and his changing relationships w/ those around him were sth i enjoyed seeing, particularly his family dynamics and his new, supportive friendships. the characters--even the bully loser--were surprisingly multidimensional. this book was also refreshingly--almost effortlessly--diverse, and i rly like how the author tackled racism, microaggressions, homophobia, sexuality, consent, and mental illness w/ tact, somehow managing to interweave them all into the plot w/o ever sounding preachy.
similar to the first book, however, i was often annoyed by the writing, specifically the unncessary single sentences + line breaks and repetition that sounded more dramatic than they needed to be. i also wish the ending was less rushed, and that more time were spent on certain ideas and scenes, exploring them a lil further to fully grasp them. nevertheless, i still enjoyed this book, and it's def one of my top mental illness-related books for sure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Bullying, and Mental illness
Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Death
callmeluh's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
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
3.5
I was both excited and scared to read Darius the Great Deserves Better. Excited because I absolutely loved the first book, and scared because to me a sequel wasn't necessary. And unfortunately, I didn't feel the same things I did with Darius the Great Is Not Okay.
I found this book too predictable, I knew from the start how it was going to end (and the synopsis doesn't really help either). I did really appreciate how the conversation on depression was brought here. It's a little different than in the first book, especially as it essentially focuses on Darius' dad, but I think it was just as important.
Although I didn't like this book as much as the first one, I would still recommend it. Also, I hope there will be a third book. Even though I didn't feel like there needed to be a second book, with everything that happened here I feel like there could be a book 3.
I found this book too predictable, I knew from the start how it was going to end (and the synopsis doesn't really help either). I did really appreciate how the conversation on depression was brought here. It's a little different than in the first book, especially as it essentially focuses on Darius' dad, but I think it was just as important.
Although I didn't like this book as much as the first one, I would still recommend it. Also, I hope there will be a third book. Even though I didn't feel like there needed to be a second book, with everything that happened here I feel like there could be a book 3.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, and Homophobia
Moderate: Grief and Racism
jacobandthefrogs's review
emotional
hopeful
relaxing
sad
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
4.75
I truly can’t believe it took me this long to get back around to reading about Darius. I absolutely fell in love with his story in the first book Darius The Great Is Not Okay, and then in this book I rekindled that flame with this cast of characters. In the first book there were obvious correlations between Darius thoughts, feelings, and actions that for me at least correlated with a queer experience. So I was more than delighted to see that this book relievers on that front and gives us an out and proud Darius as our narrator. He has some bumps in the road with his relationship with his boyfriend, Landon, and some outlier feelings and hat he has to deal with returning character, Chip. I’m also glad this book does not shy away from the mental health representation and advocacy that was established in the first book. Depression is a delicate and serious topic that this book handles carefully and gracefully with Darius and his Dad.
There are so many things that I want to say about his book, so much praise, and so much love but I’ll leave this review at that because I don’t want to risk telling every single detail of this book.
(The only reason I have given 4.75 stars is a mainly selfish reason because I wish there was an epilogue or just another chapter to the ending of the book.)
There are so many things that I want to say about his book, so much praise, and so much love but I’ll leave this review at that because I don’t want to risk telling every single detail of this book.
(The only reason I have given 4.75 stars is a mainly selfish reason because I wish there was an epilogue or just another chapter to the ending of the book.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, and Mental illness
Moderate: Death
n_asyikin_'s review
challenging
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Darius' unique voice once again stood out, with his brilliant analogies as he tried to navigate family, platonic, & romantic relationships.
The complexities to a person was explored; the emphasis rested upon how most people cannot be easily categorised as purely good or poorly bad.
The story also tapped upon the confusion that can derived from determining what you want in life. This uncertainty, I believe, is commonly experienced regardless of age. And I guess, that's the beauty of the book: it brought into the forefront that sentiment, we are all just trying to figure things out. And compassion may be a way we can connect, bridging the gap between each other.
I'm hoping that Khorram will re-visit Darius again; the way the book ended seemed to imply so - though that might just be my wishful thinking.
Darius the Great Deserves Better is full of pockets of wisdom & kindness. Reading it will leave you tingling with warmth for this coming-of-age story.
The complexities to a person was explored; the emphasis rested upon how most people cannot be easily categorised as purely good or poorly bad.
The story also tapped upon the confusion that can derived from determining what you want in life. This uncertainty, I believe, is commonly experienced regardless of age. And I guess, that's the beauty of the book: it brought into the forefront that sentiment, we are all just trying to figure things out. And compassion may be a way we can connect, bridging the gap between each other.
I'm hoping that Khorram will re-visit Darius again; the way the book ended seemed to imply so - though that might just be my wishful thinking.
Darius the Great Deserves Better is full of pockets of wisdom & kindness. Reading it will leave you tingling with warmth for this coming-of-age story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, and Sexual content