There are no spoilers in this review.
Darius The Great Is Not Okay, Adib Khorram
Publishing on August 28th, 2018 by Dial Books.
Darius doesn’t think he’ll ever be enough, in America or in Iran.
Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He’s about to take his first-ever trip to Iran, and it’s pretty overwhelming–especially when he’s also dealing with clinical depression, a disapproving dad, and a chronically anemic social life. In Iran, he gets to know his ailing but still formidable grandfather, his loving grandmother, and the rest of his mom’s family for the first time. And he meets Sohrab, the boy next door who changes everything.
Sohrab makes sure people speak English so Darius can understand what’s going on. He gets Darius an Iranian National Football Team jersey that makes him feel like a True Persian for the first time. And he understands that sometimes, best friends don’t have to talk. Darius has never had a true friend before, but now he’s spending his days with Sohrab playing soccer, eating rosewater ice cream, and sitting together for hours in their special place, a rooftop overlooking the Yazdi skyline.
Sohrab calls him Darioush–the original Persian version of his name–and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he’s Darioush to Sohrab. When it’s time to go home to America, he’ll have to find a way to be Darioush on his own.
Darius The Great is Not Okay is one of these books I had on my TBR ever since it was, like, announced years ago. It was one of these books I was so deeply convinced I would love that it took me somehow another year after it released to get to. I actually found a signed copy of it on my holidays in Toronto and, luggage weight be damned I had to buy it. Broke my back squeezing it in my backpack for my 17 hour-journey back home this summer and, friends.
It was so worth it.
I ENJOYED…
☂️
- Darius is one of these books where you feel like not much is happening, but everything is actually happening. It’s like, life. It’s gradual, it’s little things happening day by day, every single day until you realize your life is different and so are you. That’s what this book is, a piece of life, character-focused and so, so wonderful.
- I would protect Darius with everything I have. Gradually, I grew so, so very fond of him and by the end of it all I was sobbing for him and with him, I just wanted to hug him. Honestly that’s when you know you love a book, when you want to hug the characters. Darius is awkward and wonderfully sweet and quotes Lord of the Rings all the time in his head and just wants to do his very best and let me hug him please and thank you.
- Darius’ growth through the story was absolutely wonderful and I adored following it all as he grew more confident, even as he struggled. His growth wasn’t linear, but you know what so is life.
- The family, oh, the wonderful family. Darius goes to Iran to meet his mother’s family for the very first time and oh, my heart. There were moments of adaptation and awkwardness, moments of hugs and love and all of the warmth of the world as they got to know each other and grew close and I’m soft.
- I loved that Darius could discover this part of him he hadn’t known too much until this moment, his family in Iran and the country just as well. I loved it all, the exploration of Darius’ heritage and discovering Iran with him, the culture and holidays and language and I felt swept away by it all.
- The father and son relationship, one of the most complex and realistic relationships I’ve read for sure. I loved how central it was to the story, too, the way Darius felt about his father and how their bumpy relationship grew and evolved through the story.
- Oh, the friendship was so lovely. You know how you can just sit next to someone and feel content with it all, without having to speak? That’s the friendship in this book and that’s one of the most accurate and lovely friendship I’ve ever read about. We need to read more stories with wonderful and open male friendships like this one.
- ALL the feelings in this story. Of not belonging, of trying to fit in, of not being good enough, of the awkwardness of it all, life, friendship, discovering his roots for the first time. All the emotions. Everything just made me emotional by the end okay.
- The mental health and depression rep were absolutely wonderful. It’s not a book about depression, it’s a book with main characters dealing with depression and… we need more of these. We saw how depression affected Darius in his day to day life and how his family perceived it, the mood swings and anxiety and overwhelming feelings taking it all over and it was A+ rep and everything was just so well-written.
- I cried. That’s it, that’s my point.
I HAD A HARD TIME WITH…
☂️
- I… honestly don’t even know.
OVERALL
☂️
Darius The Great Is Not Okay feels like one of these slow contemporaries, the ones that just take you into someone’s life and, without you even realizing it, sweeping you away in another life, in another world, making you care so much for a character you end up crying because everything is not okay and it’s okay. If you haven’t read this one and are a fan of contemporary reads, I’d recommend you meet Darius right away and, hopefully, love him as much as I do.
Final rating: A hurricane of emotions.
Trigger warnings: depression, bullying, suicide-idealisation, fatshaming (challenged), stigma against depression (challenged), terminal illness, death, racism (challenged)
Diversity: biracial main character (Iranian & white), he’s fat and has depression. The MC’s father has depression, Iranian main and side characters, Baha’i main character. The main character might be queer, but it’s not stated in the book, only hinted at.
Did you read Darius The Great Is Not Okay? Do you want to?
What was the last book that made you feel all the emotions? Let me know in comments!
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Wonderul review. I’m glad that the book had such an impact on you (: I’m not actually sure what the last book that made me really emotional was… I kind of feel like I should read more books that are emotional.
Ahh thank you Charlotte, so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Well if you ever need recommendations… I LOVE emotional reads haha 🙂
Thank you (: I’m always open to recommendations.
Off the top of my head right now I’d recommend The Beauty That Remains, it’s a beautiful but very emotional contemporary, I loved it 😀 I’ll have to think of other emotional reads, if you want 😀
I think it’s already on my TBR but I’ll have to check as it could be one that I meant to add then hopelessly forgot about. It’s okay don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll find plenty on your page (: plus I’m kind of buried in library books right now.
Oh yes, so many books ahah. Feel free to let me know whenever you need more recommendations 😀
Thank you.
This is a great review! *_* this is not exactly my cup of tea, so I didn’t put it on my wish list, and I kept this book out of my radar but… But you just made me so curious, and you said a ton of good things that I just have to give it at least a try!
Oh thank you so much!! I’m happy I could make you curious about it and hope you’ll love it 😀
I loved this book too!
Ahh so happy to hear it 😀
Oohhh finding a signed book in Toronto was so lucky– what a great find!!
I read this book recently and I loved it so much too!! I completely agree that the plot is like life!!
Darius is wonderful and I definitely want to protect and make sure he is okay!!
I also loved his relationship with his father and seeing it grow and change throughout the course of the book– it felt so realistic!!
I loved reading your review and agree with so many of your thoughts– it really was a wonderful and emotional book. Great review Marie!! ?
It really was lucky and I’m so, so happy that I did <3 I'm so happy you enjoyed this book jut as well! It was such an amazing, realistic read and I loved the complex family relationships so much <3
Thank you, Sophie! <3
Thank you for your review! I’m so interested by this book. It sounds very good and i’ll love to read a story with a main character I can identify with (i’m french-iranian✨). ?
Oh thank you so, so much!! I really hope you’ll get a chance to read it and will love it 🙂 <3
Yesssss this book has been on my TBR for ages! So glad you enjoyed it this much.
ahhh I can’t wait for you to read it, I hope you’ll love it 🙂
Thank you! <3
Fantastic review! I never heard of this book but it sounds like a great YA contemporary read! I’m glad you enjoyed it so much!
Thank you so much Raven <3 I hope you'll get a chance to read it 😀
Terrific review! This sounds amazing.
Thank you so much!! I hope you’ll get a chance to read this 🙂
Aww, this is such a beautiful review, Marie! I’ve heard so much about this book, and I don’t know how I haven’t read it yet! I’m so glad that you loved Darius so much and that everything worked in this book. It’s also so nice to hear that the depression/mental health rep is done so well! <3
Oh thank you so, so much Kelly! I really hope you’ll get the chance to read it soon and will love it 🙂
This one yessss. I read the audiobook recently and just LOVED it. I really like the thoughtful, slower contemporaries that just take you along the thought-processes of the characters. ?I thought it was really good depression rep too!!
Agree, I love these kind of slower contemporaries, they always make me so happy <3
Thank you!! <3
Ahh Marie, like you, this book is on my shelf for so many months now and now I think I should definitely read it ASAP. It’s been a while since a book gave me ALL THE FEELS. I am sure I would love it too 🙂 Wonderful review.
AHH YES! I can’t wait for you to read it, Sim, hope you’ll love it <3
Marie, this is such a wonderful review! I honestly didn’t know if I was interested in this one or not but you have totally convinced me that it’s something I need to read! <3
Oh thank you so, so much Alex, this makes me so happy <3 <3
I looooooved this book so much! It gave me all the feels and I’d definitely read it again 😀
AH RIGHT YES me too, I loved it so so much <3
Great review, Marie! I really want to read this book ASAP!
Thank you so much! I hope you can read it soon 🙂
Another beautiful review, Marie. I love how the book isn’t about depression but still deals a lot with it & the culture seems big & important. Def added to my TBR, thank you for continuing to make it grow! ♡
Oh thank you so, so much <3 <3 I hope you'll love this book when you can read it! <3
Yay!! So glad you loved it!! I absolutely fell for it so hard and so fast it wasn’t funny at the time. It’s just so important that we see Darius’ life as a gradual thing that’s still in progress and that there are ups and downs. It’s just so freaking great and the relationships and their complexity really made me so happy!
I’m so happy you loved this book as well, yay! This book just felt so realistic and… I cared for Darius so, so much as well, I love him ahhhhhh <3
I’ve seen lots of general flailing about this book, but for some reason this is the first review that I’ve actually read. Sounds like there’s a whole lot to love here!
ahhh I’m so happy you read my review Nicole and I hope I could convince you to give it a try. It’s such a good read 🙂