Welcome to my itsy-bitsy corner of the web! Before we get started on today’s post, I just want to thank you all for 245 followers! It means a whole lot!

So today I am going to talk about this awesome book I read. Its called; Darius The Great is Not Okay. IT IS SO SWEET AND JUST O MI GOODNESS. It is such an amazing book.

genre: YA, Mental Health, Coming of Age, Bildungsroman, Travel

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“It’s okay not to be okay.”

The first thing you should know about Darius the Great is Not Okay is that it actually made me cry. This book is a touching story about friendship, family, and learning that being not okay is okay. The characters, the settings, the feels. I felt as if I was right there with Darius.

my favorite characters

Darius- a smol tea loving boy that struggles with depression and anxiety. I loved Darius so much, he is such a relatable boyo and I just want to give him a whole bunch of hugs. His personality is just incredible and HE TALKS ABOUT TEA ALL THE TIME ITS SO CUTE ADSKSJS.

Sohrab- ANOTHER SMOL BOYO THAT NEEDS HUGS. O my goodness they are both just beautiful and pure smol bois that need hugs. I love sorabs bubbly personality he is just such a sweet and caring guy. HE IS ALWAYS SMILING. He is just adorable and positive and just a great character

laleh- she is just such a sweet little sister that needs cookies. SHES SO CUTE SUCH A GOOD LIL SISTEER. I think she is so cute and has such a cute personality.

writing style

the writing style is SO A M A Z I N G! I mean I literally felt every feeling and emotion (did I tell you that I cried?) THE AUTHOR IS SUCH A GOOD WRITER I LOVE HIS STYLE SO MUCH. ITs ASHJDIJKDK I cannot even explain it JUST READ THE BOOK PLEASE.

what I didn’t like

the only thing I really didn’t like was the beginning. I almost didn’t read the book. The beginning makes the book seem horrible but PLEASE KEEP ON READING BECAUSE IT TURNS OUT REALLY GOOD!!

i also did not like the bullies that picked on my smol boyo Darius IF YOU WANNA HURT DARIUS FITE ME FIRST!!

what i did like

basically the whole book

darius and sohrab- THEY ARE MY SMOL BOYOS IF YOU WANT THEM F I T E M O I

the tea references (THEY WERE SO BOOTIFUL)

the story setting

literally almost everything

final rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

THIS BOOK WAS SO CUTE AND BEAUTIFUL PLEASE READ IT!! Yes I loved this book so much and I really think you will too!

Have you read this book before (IF NOT GO READ IT :)) What have you read recently?

The Queen of Katwe by Tim Crothers

genre: Non-Fiction, Biography

rating: ⭐⭐⭐

“It’s all about what she knows and not who she is or where she comes from.”

The queen of Katwe is a compelling and powerful book. Not only is it an inspiring story but it also is a tremendous eye-opener. Instead of being raised to accomplish dreams young girls are raised to be mothers, at young ages. Even though I didn’t necessarily love the authors writing style, I still was inspired.

things I didn’t like

I didn’t love the writing style. The author jumped around a lot and it was hard to keep straight who he was talking about. The title is a little deceiving as there are so many other people the book is actually about.

I also feel the tagline, & synopsis is misleading as this story is more than Phiona’s story to discuss the children and chess program of Katwe. Clearly, anyone’s story takes a village. No one gets somewhere without help, mentors, family, etc. But a good percentage of the book was spent dealing with the backstories of these folks, which again, for the most part, didn’t add value to the telling of Phiona’s story.

The writing is a bit too dry, but it can’t really mask a fabulous story of redemption and hope where none were supposed to exist.

I had also seen the movie a few years ago and the movie is quite different from the book.

things I did like

I loved the book cover! It is beautifully designed!

Phiona – an amazing, talented young girl who lives in a slum in Kampala, Uganda and through hard work, perseverance and an incredible spirit, ends up playing against players from all over the world at the Chess Olympiad in Russia. She is a true inspiration and her story needed to be told.