A review by taelights
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

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

4.5

I was surprised how much I loved this book. Darius developed so well throughout the book and I loved seeing his journey and him grow as a character. The book made me laugh at parts and cry at others. Getting to see Darius make his first best friend, become closer to his family, deal with depression, expierence a new place/culture, and see him and his family deal with the impending loss of Darius' grandfather was such a bittersweet and emotiona  journey to read about but so enjoyable. 

Darius as a character is a bit cringey a times with some of the things he says and thinks but overall I ended up growing to really enjoyed him as a character. 

I was a bit disappointed that this is marketed as a gay book but the gayness was so subtle it was nonexistent. Darius never says he's gay in any way and the hints at him being so are so subtle that I probably wouldn't have picked up on them if I hadn't gone into this knowing that Darius liked boys. 

It's a beautiful coming of age story with a focus on family and friendship. It's definitely worth the read but if you're going into this looking only for gay content you might leave disappointed. The sequel from the description looks like it's actually explicitly gay though so I'm looking forward to reading that! 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings