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Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Darius the Great is Not Okay in Books
Dec 25, 2018
This novel got a lot of hype before and after its release - and it deserves it. It has great minority representation, from Persian (and bi-racial!) to Zoroastrian and Baha'i, to clinical depression and male friendship. You could also read gay and/or asexual into it, but that's not explicitly mentioned. Romantic love is just never addressed; perhaps because the story just doesn't involve it, but you could definitely read the main character as ace.
Darius is a great main character. He's funny, self-deprecating, and complex. He has clinical depression, is medicated for it, and can sometimes tell when it's the depression making him think a certain way, but sometimes he can't. He's biracial, visiting Iran and his mother's Persian family for the first time, and adjusting to Persian social norms and traditions while trying not to lose sight of his American life. His connection with his father is tenuous and fraught with miscommunication, and lot of the book is spent wrestling with that relationship. His new friend, Sohrab, is a great foil to that, as his father is completely absent from his life, having been arrested and thrown in jail prior to the start of the story, largely for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and being part of a minority religion.
There are so many small things touched on this book - suspicion at customs when flying through, bullying at school for being Persian, not speaking his family's language because his mother didn't teach it to him (and feeling cut off because of it) - all little things that a lot of immigrant children deal with.
Aside from the cultural things the book addresses, there's also the mental health aspect. Both Darius and his father have clinical depression, and there's stigma attached to having the diagnosis, and to taking pills for it. We see how their mental states affects their relationship with each other and with the rest of their family, and it's quite powerful. The author talks about having clinical depression in an afterword, and includes some resources that helped him. This is an #ownvoices novel in more ways than one, and it really shows. Excellent book.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Darius is a great main character. He's funny, self-deprecating, and complex. He has clinical depression, is medicated for it, and can sometimes tell when it's the depression making him think a certain way, but sometimes he can't. He's biracial, visiting Iran and his mother's Persian family for the first time, and adjusting to Persian social norms and traditions while trying not to lose sight of his American life. His connection with his father is tenuous and fraught with miscommunication, and lot of the book is spent wrestling with that relationship. His new friend, Sohrab, is a great foil to that, as his father is completely absent from his life, having been arrested and thrown in jail prior to the start of the story, largely for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and being part of a minority religion.
There are so many small things touched on this book - suspicion at customs when flying through, bullying at school for being Persian, not speaking his family's language because his mother didn't teach it to him (and feeling cut off because of it) - all little things that a lot of immigrant children deal with.
Aside from the cultural things the book addresses, there's also the mental health aspect. Both Darius and his father have clinical depression, and there's stigma attached to having the diagnosis, and to taking pills for it. We see how their mental states affects their relationship with each other and with the rest of their family, and it's quite powerful. The author talks about having clinical depression in an afterword, and includes some resources that helped him. This is an #ownvoices novel in more ways than one, and it really shows. Excellent book.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Nursing Care Plans: Transitional Patient & Family Centered Care
Book
Learn how to create nursing care plans, effectively document care, and succeed in the course with...
Specialty Competencies in Clinical Psychology
Robert A. DiTomasso, Stacey C. Cahn, Susan M. Panichelli-Mindel and Roger K. Mcfillin
Book
The field of psychology is witnessing a burgeoning competence movement and leading organizations...
BookInspector (124 KP) rated The Killing Choice in Books
Jul 1, 2021
This novel is told from multiple perspectives, sharing the thoughts of a very wide variety of characters. The detectives Finn and Paulsen are the ones tasked to solve murders that happened in a very strange circumstances. This crime story is very strongly driven by it’s characters. There are a lot of thoughts shared not only by police, but by the victims’ family as well. The characters are very different and all of them troubled, none of the character is happy in this book. 😀 Every character analise different topic and different feelings, and it does become a little overwhelming sometimes. I really enjoyed the diversity and inclusion of the characters in this book, I like wider representation of people.
As I mentioned before, this novel is more character driven than the plot, that is why, I think the investigation part was quite thin in this book. The surprising discoveries just kind of appear, missing the juicy surprises while investigating. I think all the thinking parts made this book seem quite slow, but on the other hand it allowed the reader to get to know the characters better. I liked that this book has different storylines, and it was interesting to see how all the stories get connected at the end. The topics discussed in this book were all possible aspects of grief, family relationships, drug dealing, guilt, council estate life, mental health issues, revenge, and many more.
The writing style of this book is enjoyable and easy to read. The setting of this book keeps changing, depending on the character, and I really enjoyed that. When the book has many perspectives, I find it difficult to know who is who, especially when their names and surnames are being used without one another. Personally, I prefer either names or surnames, otherwise I am wondering who that person is. 😀 The chapters are pretty short and the pages just flew by for me. I liked the ending of this novel, it rounded up the story very nicely.
So, to conclude, it is a very thought provoking crime story, filled with complex and deeply troubled characters as well as a layered plot. It is a slow burner, that allows the reader to delve deeply into the character’s world.
As I mentioned before, this novel is more character driven than the plot, that is why, I think the investigation part was quite thin in this book. The surprising discoveries just kind of appear, missing the juicy surprises while investigating. I think all the thinking parts made this book seem quite slow, but on the other hand it allowed the reader to get to know the characters better. I liked that this book has different storylines, and it was interesting to see how all the stories get connected at the end. The topics discussed in this book were all possible aspects of grief, family relationships, drug dealing, guilt, council estate life, mental health issues, revenge, and many more.
The writing style of this book is enjoyable and easy to read. The setting of this book keeps changing, depending on the character, and I really enjoyed that. When the book has many perspectives, I find it difficult to know who is who, especially when their names and surnames are being used without one another. Personally, I prefer either names or surnames, otherwise I am wondering who that person is. 😀 The chapters are pretty short and the pages just flew by for me. I liked the ending of this novel, it rounded up the story very nicely.
So, to conclude, it is a very thought provoking crime story, filled with complex and deeply troubled characters as well as a layered plot. It is a slow burner, that allows the reader to delve deeply into the character’s world.
Monolit2Go
Travel and Navigation
App
Monolit2Go is the ultimate outdoor guide for hikers, cyclists and other nature fans. It is meant for...
*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
**This review may contain mild spoilers**
I really enjoyed this book, when someone has been kept prisoner for 8 years you know there is going to be some interesting reasoning behind it. I love psychological thrillers, I like to know what the captors thought processes and why they do what they do. The scary thing though is how devious they can be but also how normal. This book makes you step back and question, who can you really trust?
This is the story of Lily, she has been held captive for 8 years and also conceived her daughter Skye whilst being held prisoner, one evening her captor forgets to bolt the door, once he realises his error, he believes he has conditioned Lily to an extent that she won’t betray him and try to escape…..Wrong!
I was seriously scared for Lily when she was fleeing the cabin, would she make it? was he waiting round the corner? I was on the edge of my seat (or bed)I mean after 8 years a lot changes, I was worried that her family wasn’t living in the same house. I was hoping someone would recognise her and pick her up and tell her she was safe.
The book is told from multiple points of view we have Lily, Rick(Captor), Eve (Mother) and Abby(Twin Sister),this made the book more enjoyable and fast paced.I am a nosey person and want to know everything so this was brilliant for me,I got to understand what life was like for her mother and sister during the past 8 years, what they went through,their grief and how they had become the people they were today.
This book definitely delved into how messy and complicated family life can become, especially when someone has been away for so long and the rest of your family are moving on without you.
I am unsure if I liked Abby’s character or not. She always believed her sister was alive (like some twin connection)and couldn’t get over the grief when people stopped looking, obviously something like this could affect your mental health but I just felt she was too intense! She was a bit of a harsh character, very abrupt and would do things impulsively.
This book is a great debut novel by Hollie Overton, it’s a fast paced psychological thriller with twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat and I recommend reading it. I don’t think it is anything like ‘The girl on the train’ as it has been compared to.
Overall I rate this 4 out of 5 stars
**This review may contain mild spoilers**
I really enjoyed this book, when someone has been kept prisoner for 8 years you know there is going to be some interesting reasoning behind it. I love psychological thrillers, I like to know what the captors thought processes and why they do what they do. The scary thing though is how devious they can be but also how normal. This book makes you step back and question, who can you really trust?
This is the story of Lily, she has been held captive for 8 years and also conceived her daughter Skye whilst being held prisoner, one evening her captor forgets to bolt the door, once he realises his error, he believes he has conditioned Lily to an extent that she won’t betray him and try to escape…..Wrong!
I was seriously scared for Lily when she was fleeing the cabin, would she make it? was he waiting round the corner? I was on the edge of my seat (or bed)I mean after 8 years a lot changes, I was worried that her family wasn’t living in the same house. I was hoping someone would recognise her and pick her up and tell her she was safe.
The book is told from multiple points of view we have Lily, Rick(Captor), Eve (Mother) and Abby(Twin Sister),this made the book more enjoyable and fast paced.I am a nosey person and want to know everything so this was brilliant for me,I got to understand what life was like for her mother and sister during the past 8 years, what they went through,their grief and how they had become the people they were today.
This book definitely delved into how messy and complicated family life can become, especially when someone has been away for so long and the rest of your family are moving on without you.
I am unsure if I liked Abby’s character or not. She always believed her sister was alive (like some twin connection)and couldn’t get over the grief when people stopped looking, obviously something like this could affect your mental health but I just felt she was too intense! She was a bit of a harsh character, very abrupt and would do things impulsively.
This book is a great debut novel by Hollie Overton, it’s a fast paced psychological thriller with twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat and I recommend reading it. I don’t think it is anything like ‘The girl on the train’ as it has been compared to.
Overall I rate this 4 out of 5 stars
Ultimate Lion Simulator
Games and Education
App
Jump into a brand new adventure as a ferocious Lion! Brave a dangerous new world to claim your place...
Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Time: The Kalief Browder Story in TV
Sep 19, 2017
Bawled like like baby, heartwrenching, horrific and utterly disgusted
It's been a while since any TV series or film has affected me as much as the Kalief Browder story. I think it made me feel nauseous at one point. The level of hideous injustice Browder faced, more so the fact he was just a boy, is worse than most police corruption cases covered by the media.
An innocent boy was held without trial, without conviction for three years in one of the most notorious prisons (Rikers Prison) where he was beaten senselessly by correction officers and inmates alike. He was then held in solitary confinement for 322 days (UN calls 15 days a human rights violation), tortured, starved and attempted suicide. This is New York. This is the American justice system.
When he was eventually released his mental health suffered, and it just gets worse and worse. I won't say anymore before I burst into tears again.
There are some remarkable interviews in here with Kalief's family, who were torn to shreds, top speakers such as Attorney General Eric Holder, "The New Jim Crow" author Michelle Alexander, journalist Shaun King, and even Jay-Z and Rosie O'Donnell, who were close friends. The biggest take away is how broken the system is / intended racial segregation and how important it is for the civil rights movement to join forces with the greater American populace to stop further injustices.
Seriously keep the tissues at hand. This is a hundred times more disturbing than Making A Murderer and The Keepers.
An innocent boy was held without trial, without conviction for three years in one of the most notorious prisons (Rikers Prison) where he was beaten senselessly by correction officers and inmates alike. He was then held in solitary confinement for 322 days (UN calls 15 days a human rights violation), tortured, starved and attempted suicide. This is New York. This is the American justice system.
When he was eventually released his mental health suffered, and it just gets worse and worse. I won't say anymore before I burst into tears again.
There are some remarkable interviews in here with Kalief's family, who were torn to shreds, top speakers such as Attorney General Eric Holder, "The New Jim Crow" author Michelle Alexander, journalist Shaun King, and even Jay-Z and Rosie O'Donnell, who were close friends. The biggest take away is how broken the system is / intended racial segregation and how important it is for the civil rights movement to join forces with the greater American populace to stop further injustices.
Seriously keep the tissues at hand. This is a hundred times more disturbing than Making A Murderer and The Keepers.
A detailed look into the world of forensic pathology.
I don’t read a lot on non-fiction and when I do it is rarely an autobiography or memoir but when I happened to see Unnatural Causes I decided to jump in and hopefully get a better understanding of a profession so often touched on in my beloved crime thriller books. I didn’t regret it for a second.
Dr Richard Shepherd, as one of the UK’s top forensic pathologists, has performed over 23,000 postmortems; that’s a lot of dead bodies! Fascinated by cracking the puzzle of what killed each one this book covers a whole host of unusual cases. Clearing up many misconceptions of the world of forensic pathology we get a great insight into a job few people could stomach.
As he covers many interesting cases we get a unique behind the curtain look into some famous murders and disasters. Shipman, Stephen Lawrence, the Hungerford massacre, the Marchioness disaster, he is even involved in Diana’s inquest. The look into the very difficult area of the death of babies shows a complicated area where everything is not as black and white as we’d like it to be.
His single minded quest for the truth and the very distressing nature of his work takes a toll on his mental health and family life. Although not as fascinating as the cases themselves it’s important to cover this, bring into sharp focus the debt society owes to those willing to surround themselves in such a grim profession.
Dr Richard Shepherd, as one of the UK’s top forensic pathologists, has performed over 23,000 postmortems; that’s a lot of dead bodies! Fascinated by cracking the puzzle of what killed each one this book covers a whole host of unusual cases. Clearing up many misconceptions of the world of forensic pathology we get a great insight into a job few people could stomach.
As he covers many interesting cases we get a unique behind the curtain look into some famous murders and disasters. Shipman, Stephen Lawrence, the Hungerford massacre, the Marchioness disaster, he is even involved in Diana’s inquest. The look into the very difficult area of the death of babies shows a complicated area where everything is not as black and white as we’d like it to be.
His single minded quest for the truth and the very distressing nature of his work takes a toll on his mental health and family life. Although not as fascinating as the cases themselves it’s important to cover this, bring into sharp focus the debt society owes to those willing to surround themselves in such a grim profession.
Merissa (11950 KP) rated Without Regret (Pyte/Sentinel, #2) in Books
Dec 17, 2018
Chris has had it tough. Not only was his childhood nothing to write home about but when a Master attacks their home in Book 1, it is Chris who ends up being shot and severely wounded. Through sheer grit and determination, he has made it back to full health. But along the way he has lost that cheekiness that I loved about him. The responsibility he feels towards his family and making sure that no one can hurt them again is what makes him get up in the morning. His mate is still out there and he imagines she will be just like him. Isabella is the perfect partner for Chris. He needs someone to bring laughter back into his life and she manages to do this even when she doesn't mean to. Isabella shows Chris that you don't always need physical strength. Yes, she is the helpless and hapless female on more than one occasion but she also has a mind and isn't afraid to use it. Her wit is rapier sharp too and once she sets her mind on something, it takes a very good reason for her to change it.
This book is the second in the series and doesn't disappoint. The plot moves along swiftly and we reconnect with characters from book 1 which too often isn't the case. This book is once again filled with action and humour. We get some depth in the lives of all the characters too which is also good to read. Absolutely brilliant with lots of spicy moments. Recommended!
This book is the second in the series and doesn't disappoint. The plot moves along swiftly and we reconnect with characters from book 1 which too often isn't the case. This book is once again filled with action and humour. We get some depth in the lives of all the characters too which is also good to read. Absolutely brilliant with lots of spicy moments. Recommended!