Darius the Great Deserves Better

I am a straight, white, 60-year old man: about as far out of the target audience for this book as you could get. And just like the first book, "Darius the Great is Not OK," I loved it. In spite of being so different from me in most ways, I related to Darius well. He is a completely believable and deeply sympathetic character. Two small moments, not that important to the overall story stood out to me. 1) Darius can be happy and depressed at the same time. 2) Darius fears letting something he loves doing become just another thing he fails at. I have felt these myself, many time.
But as to the story... Darious is a half Iranian, half Caucasian American high school student in Portland. A "fractional American" as he calls himself. He is show more mostly happy with his boyfriend, who is just wonderful in every way, but Landon is gently pushing for them to move into a sexual relationship which Darius is not ready for. Meanwhile, Darius has a friend on his soccer team who has a crush on him. Darius can't tell Chip has a thing for him, though the reader can tell almost immediately.
Darius is also dealing with a dying grandfather in Iran, a best friend who suddenly and inexplicably isn't answering his calls or emails, a father facing his own depression, a little sister being bullied at school, a homophobic jerk harassing him at school, two grandmothers who are distant and cold most of the time, a job he thought he'd love, but ends up not wanting... Truly, Darius does deserve better.
(You should read "Darius the Great is Not OK" first.) show less

Darius is back and is figuring things out at home, having returned from the trip to visit his grandparents in Iran as described in the first Darius book. He's got a new job, a new soccer team and friends, a new boyfriend, and a new relationship with his father. Even so, he has new complications to deal with, like financial problems at home, his beloved sister being bullied at school, grandfather slowly dying half a world away, mom and dad working all the time, paternal grandmas acting distant, his former enemy becoming friendly, but HIS best friend continuing to be abusive, racist, and homophobic, his "dream job" turning out to be less fulfilling, and his boyfriend pressuring him about sex. It's a lot. Darius is such a great character. show more He's honest about his feelings, does not stigmatize his depression or anyone else's, is out and proud, and deals openly with the problems in his life, while still feeling relatable and realistic. Khorram gives us another beautiful book with a protagonist I wish I knew. show less

In this follow-up to Darius the Great Is Not Okay, we follow Darius - now back home in Portland from the family trip to Iran - as he negotiates his first job (at a tea shop), dealing with racism directed at himself and his little sister, his first experience as a team player (JV soccer), and his first relationship. He worries about his father's depression, which seems to be getting worse again, and his best friend in Iran, who seems to be holding something back.
There's some great stuff in here about teen relationships, both friendships and love interests, and it's always great to read a YA novel that gets those kinds of things right; Khorram writes convincing young characters who interact in believable and realistic ways, and he uses show more those characters to talk about important issues. Highly recommended, but if you haven't read the first book, I'd start there. show less

Darius the Great Is Not Okay was a lovely book. I have to put that out there. It was was of the best books I read last year. The struggle for Darius to merge his Persian and American worlds was heart warming and often upsetting.

Darius the Great Deserves Better is referred to as a “companion novel”. It’s basically a sequel that happens after he and his family return from a trip to Iran.

The characters in this book are dealing with a lot…but this is definitely not a plot-driven novel. I found myself a little unsure of where things were headed when I began to read, I had to just read and go along with it.

Darius is back at high school. He’s got a boyfriend now, Landon whom he seems to have mixed feelings about. He enjoys spending show more time with him but he’s not comfortable with a progression to a physical relationship. He is also struggling with body image… he thinks that he is fat and doesn’t like his stomach. It’s particularly uncomfortable for him if Landon tries to touch his stomach.

Both Darius and his lovely little sister Laleh (one of my favourite supporting characters) are still dealing with racism at school. There are some great discussions between the siblings about bullying and racism… and the author does a great job of illustrating the sheer ignorance that one can run into when trying to deal with it.

One of the people that’s bullying Darius is Trent and what’s complex about that is that Trent is a friend of Chip’s. Darius has been becoming friends with Chip and he’s not sure why Chip stays silent when Trent calls him names or is racist. I know that’s a common thing for young people to go through… especially in High School.

There is a going on for Darius’ family. His father is working away from home and his mother is working extra shifts to help with their financial situation. Darius’ father is struggling with his own depression and his son is extremely worried about him. The Grandfather that Darius just got to know in the previous book is in terminally sill and the miles of distance make it difficult for everyone to know what to do. I really enjoy the way that Khorram writes about family in this book. The closeness of Darius and his father is a lovely relationship and it’s a job to see it in a YA context.

There were some spots in the book that I found a little choppy, maybe it is because I’m used to a plot driven story rather than character driven. This book is purely about Darius’ thoughts and feelings as he sorts out how he feels about things. There were some expressions/ dialogue that was a bit repetitive… like “no, maybe, I don’t know.”

This is a good read, not on the exciting end of the spectrum. It’s much more about characters and emotion and a good solid exploration of living with mental illness. show less

I really enjoyed that this book didn't go back on all the growth Darius did in the first one. I especially appreciate his improved relationship with his dad sticking, as that is something I could see having gone away once they got home from Iran. I like how much more Darius grows over the course of the book, especially in regards to his sexuality and his own comfort.

audio (8 hours) teen fiction (sequel continuing to follow Iranian-American dealing with the racism and depression that continues to impact his family and friends, and also navigating his first relationship)

I really like spending time with Darius so was happy to pick up this sequel. The issues he deals with are very real and all the characters are so thoughtfully drawn -- they do feel like family, right down to his "tired old queer" trans-grandmother.

After the family's return home from Iran, Darius gets a boyfriend, his dream job as an intern in a tea shop, and a spot on the school's soccer team. But that doesn't mean his problems are over.

There were times I felt the intricacies of tea connoisseurship and sports were taking over the story, but I still want to know how various relationships were going to develop further at the end. There wasn't really a cliffhanger, it just left me wanting the story to continue.