Dario suffers from anxiety and depression mixed with a toxic desire to please his parents. Although an overachiever in all things, he can’t get the approval he craves; never believing he could be good enough for them. His friends try to help him realise he’s okay as is, but nothing they do works. Eventually, something beyond his control forces Dario to the conclusion that all he’d worked for no … no longer mattered. Will the damage of Dario’s past stop him from full acceptance or will he push through to find the man he buried.
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Engaged parenting, matters. Dario, is a hot mess from very early in his life. He does not get the love and nurturing children deserve, so he is a little emotionally malnurished. He struggles with social anxiety coupled with an intense need to please his demanding, overbearing, inconsiderate parents. He travels through life dragging his baggage. His cirucmstances, make him the person he is.Is that a good thing? Does he find his balance? Does he find his muse? Is he stronger, a rock? Does he finally receive the love of his parents? Interesting story. Intense. I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is a hard review to write simply because I read the entire series before writing a single review. This makes it a little harder to tease out the parts that belong to which story. Let me start by saying these initial stories are like lays potato chips, it is impossible to read just one.
Dario introduce to the merry band of friends in this seven book series. A quick read, this story tells you about our star player white the voice of an angel and parents sent directly from satan. His mother is ill equipped to be a parent and his father follows her like a lost dog. This dysfunctional duo create an anxious, insecure, she’ll of a child who will eventually have to come to terms with the fact that he is gay. But what he lacks in parental support, he has in his best friends, Gavin and Ray, his surrogate father Louis, his siblings, and his future love interest. The next five stories will tell all about the story from their respective timelines.
Bravo to Samuel Alexander for a riveting series and a heart wrenching story about the complications of love and friendship.
Note: this is written in British English so there are “u”s where Americans don’t put them (favour, colour, favourite, etc.). There are genuine editing issues that cause confusion, but it does not detract from the magic of Dario’s story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A story seen both from deep inside the thoughts and feelings of a growing preteen and narrated as a more mature memory of cause and effect. The profound impact of how personal upbringing shapes personal perception of reality is gradually developed into something not much short of a horror story. Even the hint of light in the final chapter comes in the wake of denial, and foreshadows something possibly wonderful yet probably dreadful.
The end is only the end of a chapter of life, childhood.
This is a hard review to write simply because I read the entire series before writing a single review. This makes it a little harder to tease out the parts that belong to which story. Let me start by saying these initial stories are like lays potato chips, it is impossible to read just one.
Dario introduce to the merry band of friends in this seven book series. A quick read, this story tells you about our star player white the voice of an angel and parents sent directly from satan. His mother is ill equipped to be a parent and his father follows her like a lost dog. This dysfunctional duo create an anxious, insecure, shell of a child who will eventually have to come to terms with the fact that he is gay. But what he lacks in parental support, he has in his best friends, Gavin and Ray, his surrogate father Louis, his siblings, and his future love interest. The next five stories will tell all about the story from their respective timelines.
Bravo to Samuel Alexander for a riveting series and a heart wrenching story about the complications of love and friendship.
Note: this is written in British English so there are “u”s where Americans don’t put them (favour, colour, favourite, etc.). There are genuine editing issues that cause confusion, but it does not detract from the magic of Dario’s story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.