Scan barcode
kvreadsandrecs's review
4.0
Dang. Darius the Great does deserve better. This is fantastic writing because you can very much feel all of the ways Darius feels. I do not miss high school haha, but it was nice to see some familiar characters :)
evelynyle_88'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
5.0
Adib Khorram, you did it once again! I decided to listen to this beautiful story about Darius Kellner to continue my journey with him, his family and his friends... I feel like this story gave me comfort.
Knowing that there's Landon in his life at the start of the story... I could picture how happy he was. But, I sometimes felt Landon was too pushy toward Darius.
Darius really deserves better than the love he got from Landon. And I'm glad this quite heavy story ended well for all of them; including Darius. Great job, Mr. Khorram! You made me love Darius even more!🩷
Knowing that there's Landon in his life at the start of the story... I could picture how happy he was. But, I sometimes felt Landon was too pushy toward Darius.
Darius really deserves better than the love he got from Landon. And I'm glad this quite heavy story ended well for all of them; including Darius. Great job, Mr. Khorram! You made me love Darius even more!🩷
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Bullying, and Homophobia
Moderate: Death, Grief, and Racism
Minor: Sexual content
bwray1's review
emotional
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? No
5.0
pkinzw's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
bethany6788'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
5.0
Will I ever make it through a book by @adibkhorram without crying my eyes out? Because I’m not sure it’s possible. Once again, Adib climbed into my brain and pulled out experiences and thoughts that I’ve had myself. I wish I had this book when I was 16. I am telling you that I am certain this book has changed lives. I don’t have words other than that to express what this book means to me. But I’ll share some quotes to help:
“Ghorbanat beram is one of those perfect Farsi phrases you can’t quite translate into English. The closest thing is: I would give my life for yours. Sometimes it was just a hyperbole. But for Sohrab, it was literal. It was literal for me too. That is what it means to have a best friend.”
“Best friends are special Darioush. But you’re a nice guy. Of course you are making more friends. I’m happy for you.”
“I knew him well enough to sit with him until it passed. That’s the kind of friends Sohrab and I were.
“Sometimes people just need you to listen to them.”
“That’s what being depressed does. It’s like a supermassive black hole between your sense of self and your actual self, and all you can see is the way you look through the gravitational lensing of your own inadequacies.”
Being depressed doesn’t mean I’m not happy. It’s like, happy is one color. And depressed is another color. And you can paint happy, then paint a little depression around the edges.”
“But I was helpless against her grief and Mom’s grief, and my own. I hated how powerless I was.”
“There was probably something wrong with me. There were a lot of things wrong with me.”
“How do you explain the fear that someone you love might stop loving you all of a sudden?”
“When you’re young and full of feelings, sometimes they come out in the wrong way.”
Thank you for gifting us with Darius. He’ll stay with me. ❤️🩵
“Ghorbanat beram is one of those perfect Farsi phrases you can’t quite translate into English. The closest thing is: I would give my life for yours. Sometimes it was just a hyperbole. But for Sohrab, it was literal. It was literal for me too. That is what it means to have a best friend.”
“Best friends are special Darioush. But you’re a nice guy. Of course you are making more friends. I’m happy for you.”
“I knew him well enough to sit with him until it passed. That’s the kind of friends Sohrab and I were.
“Sometimes people just need you to listen to them.”
“That’s what being depressed does. It’s like a supermassive black hole between your sense of self and your actual self, and all you can see is the way you look through the gravitational lensing of your own inadequacies.”
Being depressed doesn’t mean I’m not happy. It’s like, happy is one color. And depressed is another color. And you can paint happy, then paint a little depression around the edges.”
“But I was helpless against her grief and Mom’s grief, and my own. I hated how powerless I was.”
“There was probably something wrong with me. There were a lot of things wrong with me.”
“How do you explain the fear that someone you love might stop loving you all of a sudden?”
“When you’re young and full of feelings, sometimes they come out in the wrong way.”
Thank you for gifting us with Darius. He’ll stay with me. ❤️🩵
aliena_jackson's review
5.0
How are these books so perfect? Each one is better than the last. I hope we get more of Darius, and soon!
riley_97ri's review
5.0
This was an amazing sequel!! So glad I was able to read more about Darius’s story and see his character grow, change and experience new things.
The writing abs story were nice and so easy to jump into I could read it for hours abs not notice the time or how my arm had gone numb!
It really expressed the hardships of first relationships, the highs and lows of friendship and of the times of tension and hardship of family, and how one can be stronger on the other side. And how sometimes you need that support.
A much read
5/5
The writing abs story were nice and so easy to jump into I could read it for hours abs not notice the time or how my arm had gone numb!
It really expressed the hardships of first relationships, the highs and lows of friendship and of the times of tension and hardship of family, and how one can be stronger on the other side. And how sometimes you need that support.
A much read
5/5
breakfastgrey's review
1.0
I seem to be alone in this opinion, but I thought this book was a massive letdown. It's one of those sequels that isn't just bad on its own, but makes you doubt if the other book was ever actually good to begin with. I did appreciate that Khorram flew in the face of a lot of writing tropes, but I also think he absolutely wrote the wrong book. I would've much rather read Laleh's book. Or even Chip's. Their arcs were so much more interesting.
Darius' book, though? It was overlong, extremely repetitive, and featured a lead whose whiny passivity becomes infuriating by the end. I'm not sure what was author, what was character, and what was supposed to be the depression, but this book absolutely destroyed Darius as a character for me. He doesn't deserve better. His life is pretty freaking amazing and everyone spends the book bending over backwards for him because apparently he's just the best, as we are told every. freaking. page. by every character. We're constantly told how wonderful he is, but there's very little in the plot to actually support that besides roughly a hundred scenes of him making tea for somebody.
And that's not even tapping into all of the plot peculiarities along the way--Laleh's book choices (regardless of her giftedness, those are bizarre books for a 3rd grader to have self selected), Darius' overnight popularity (seriously, all the hot guys are in love with him and all of the kids at school think he's awesome now except for Trent), and the family's inexplicable money problems (despite two parents working extra overtime, one of whom is an architect). Or the fact that 2/3 of this book is some combination of 2 scenes: Chip smiling at Darius or Darius making out with Landon. This was a solid short story that somehow went on for 350 pages.
I'm going to go scream into a paper bag now.
Darius' book, though? It was overlong, extremely repetitive, and featured a lead whose whiny passivity becomes infuriating by the end. I'm not sure what was author, what was character, and what was supposed to be the depression, but this book absolutely destroyed Darius as a character for me. He doesn't deserve better. His life is pretty freaking amazing and everyone spends the book bending over backwards for him because apparently he's just the best, as we are told every. freaking. page. by every character. We're constantly told how wonderful he is, but there's very little in the plot to actually support that besides roughly a hundred scenes of him making tea for somebody.
And that's not even tapping into all of the plot peculiarities along the way--Laleh's book choices (regardless of her giftedness, those are bizarre books for a 3rd grader to have self selected), Darius' overnight popularity (seriously, all the hot guys are in love with him and all of the kids at school think he's awesome now except for Trent), and the family's inexplicable money problems (despite two parents working extra overtime, one of whom is an architect). Or the fact that 2/3 of this book is some combination of 2 scenes: Chip smiling at Darius or Darius making out with Landon. This was a solid short story that somehow went on for 350 pages.
I'm going to go scream into a paper bag now.
brittyashley's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.5