Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram

14 reviews

traceyanderson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Classism

mconant's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, and Grief

bladelikesbooks's review against another edition

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

Like the first book Darius is still going through a lot. Darius has to deal with a lot of complicated teenager feelings while also worrying about his family’s financial position, grieving his grandfather, maintining a long distance friendship, still dealing with bullies, and dealing with a boyfriend who wants more from him. 

I love Darius as a character so much and i could easily read 10 more books about him. Khorram gives such a real presentation of teenage depression and regular teenage life. I really enjoyed the narration too! I literally don’t have a single bad thing to say about either of these books. I also really appreciated the inclusion of crisis lines at the end of the book. 

Representation - Asthma (MC); Bahá’í (SC); Bisexual (LI); Black (BGCs); Depression (MC/A); Fat (MC); Gay (MC); Iranian (SC); Iranian American (BGC); Iranian/Persian American (MC); Korean American (BGC); Muslim (BGC); POC (SC); Queer (SC); They/Them (BGC); Trans MTF (SC); Sapphic (SCs)

TWs/CWs - Bullying; Death of a Loved One; Discrimination; Fatphobia; Homophobia; Islamophobia; Mental Illness; Racism; Weight Talk

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Death

mswarning's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

4.25

I preferred the first book with Darius exploring Iran and his Iranian heritage. This sequel lagged for me with a lot of tea and tea tasting.

Read for Whateverathon 2022 for host fave (first book in the series), continue a series, and borrow a book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Dysphoria

Minor: Suicide, Transphobia, and Islamophobia

yoursupremereads's review against another edition

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, and Islamophobia

Minor: Death and Toxic friendship

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Death, Islamophobia, and Toxic friendship

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Grief

Minor: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Dementia, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

anxiousnachos's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.25

Trust Adib Khorram to write a book that makes me look like a fool - I was literally talking to someone just yesterday about how I felt like I had completely outgrown YA contemporary as a genre and then BAM, I decide to finally pick up the Darius sequel and of course it is amazing. There’s something about Khorram’s writing style and voice that I find so special and emotive, and the way he so accurately portrays what it’s like to live with depression, even when not in the midst of a depressive episode, is fantastic. Add in one of the best father/son relationships in YA, some soccer gays, and I am completely sold. 

Content warnings: depression, bullying, homophobia, Islamophobia, sexual content (including being pressured into sexual activity), terminal illness, death of a grandparent, grief  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Grief

decklededgess's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

trigger warnings: depression, suicide mention, homophobia, racism, bullying, transphobia mention, body dysmorphia, fat shaming, sexual content mention, refugee mention, death of family member, cancer mention, grief

I didnt expect the second book to hit has hard as the first one did but here I am driving to work crying over the last few chapters. 

Such an incredible duology and a strong follow up to a stunning first book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Islamophobia, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Sexual content and Transphobia

tyyne's review

hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

2.5

A nice YA story. The nerdy references were fun but got repetitive. Somehow got more boring as it went on, which was a bummer.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Grief