Darius the Great Deserves Better

Intro.

Darius’ life has changed since visiting his grandparents in Iran:

He’s part of the varsity soccer team
Darius has a great internship at a tea shop going for him
Sohrab is only a Skype call away
Darius and his dad are connecting again
Landon is Darius’ first boyfriend!

Darius still has depression, but he’s doing much better. He finally feels like he’s supposed to be Darius Kellner.

But just as everything seems to have fallen into place, just as he’s sure that he’s got everything he could ever want, little things start to fall apart:

Sohrab isn’t answering his Skype calls
Dad goes away on a business trip
Darius grandmothers come to visit, but he’s not sure they even really like him. (It’s just so hard to tell)
He’s sure he likes Landon, he really does, but then he starts hanging out with his former bully Chip Cusumano, & now he’s not so sure about anything anymore

Thoughts on Darius the Great Deserves Better

This is one of my favorite YA books series. I loved the first book, Darius the Great is Not Okay, and recommend it to anyone who has ever wondered what it’s like to have depression. Or, if you’re like me, and live with depression, it’s nice to see depression accurately depicted through the eyes of a teenager.

Darius is one of my favorite characters. He’s funny, smart, nerdy, and just wants to live his best life. He sounds like a real, normal teenager. (Writing good characters is tricky, but Adib Khorram pulls this off effortlessly. He makes writing seem easy, which is a sign that he’s a good writer.)

In this companion to Darius the Great is Not Okay, Darius’ life is finally looking up. As I’ve mentioned earlier, he’s got a lot going for him: a good job that he loves, he’s reconnecting with his dad, and he has found a niche at school where he feels comfortable being himself. He has a first boyfriend, Landon, and stays in touch with his good friend Sohrab regularly. But as the school-year progresses, he starts to question whether he’s really has everything he really wants.

I personally really enjoyed the character development in this. I liked the addition of Darius’ grandmothers, and the dynamic of him having to balance having a boyfriend and discovering that he maybe likes Chip instead. (This is actually a good thing, because Landon begins to pressure Darius, wanting to have sex with him when Darius isn’t so sure he wants to connect like that with Landon.)

This was another emotional rollercoaster, one that I would definitely ride again. I’m really hoping that there will be a third book in the wings.

Thanks for reading,
Meghan B.