Darius the Great Is Not Okay

When they learn his grandfather has a terminal illness, Darius' parents arrange for the family to visit him in Iran. Though Darius is half-Persian, he feels disconnected from his mother's native culture -- he doesn't speak Farsi and he doesn't know anyone in the Iran outside his grandparents (and he's never even actually met them). Almost immediately upon arriving, he falls in with Sohrab, a local boy about his own age, and experiences what feels like his first genuine friendship.

Any book that opens with the protagonist's love of tea has definite promise! Darius, with all his charmingly geeky quirks, has probably as close to an authentic teenage voice as I've encountered in literature. A few of his favorite phrases do feel repetitive show more over time, and the story itself wobbled slightly toward the end, but happily it righted itself. I delighted in learning more about Iranian culture. Highly recommended! show less

Before you start reading this book, look up a good Persian restaurant near you. There are so many descriptions of food in this book, you will be starving by the end. On a more serious note, Darius is Persian American and is visiting Iran for the first time because his mother's father has a brain tumor. Darius (like his father) struggles with depression and has a hard time fitting in and feels like he is a constant disappointment to his family. The author reveals in the afterward that he also struggled with depression growing up and that struggle adds a depth and visceral realness to Darius's experiences that totally affected me as I was reading. It was very easy to get smothered by Darius's fear, frustration, anger, and feelings of show more inadequacy. But it made for a very powerful read. Darius is also a bit of a nerd and his allusions to Star Trek and Lord of the Rings were fun and revealing. show less

I received this ARC from Dial Books via BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion in any way.

"It's okay not to be okay."

Okay, so this was strangely really relevant to my entire life. And to my family reunion vacation I was on as I read this. Creepy.

Thing number one: Darius is a Fractional Persian who doesn't speak Farsi and goes to Iran for the first time. I'm half Chilean, have never been to Chile, and don't speak Spanish.

Thing number two: Darius struggles with depression and friendships. My entire life I've had friend issues, and recently (last night actually), I was even talking to my sister and her husband about this very topic.

Thing number three: Darius has a grandfather who he cannot really show more connect to who is terminally ill. While not my grandfather, and not someone I never met in person (I actually grew up going to his house every summer), my mom's brother in law is grandfather aged and a very similar person to Babou, which made my heart just seize every time he was on the page. And I was literally with my Tío last night. Creepy, right?

Now, here's some things that are more book review and less me talking about how Adib Khorram might be my stalker.

The book is written in a pretty unique, voice heavy narrative style that I really liked but sometimes got a tiny bit in my nerves tbh. It's a debut though so I'll let it slide.

The plot was good, I was really invested, and it read quickly. If I hadn't been at a family reunion, I could have read it in one sitting.

Darius is (as previously made clear) pretty darn relatable. He's awkward and self deprecating, but quirky and likes science fiction and fantasy, particularly Star Trek and The Lord of the Rings.

I loved Mamou!!!!! She's an angel and I want her to be my grandma! She's warm! She listens to ABBA! She's perfect!

The one thing I didn't like about this was the instalove friendship (with some borderline homoerotic elements). If you wanted to write a book about homosexuality, you totally could have, Adib. The market is definitely there. Why can't guys just be friends? I love friends. I love healthy platonic relationships in literature, because I struggle with healthy platonic relationships. I want a realistic portrayal of fast friends. I don't want insta-friendship. That's "you just have to wait for Mr. Right" ideology and it never works.

All in all, freaking fantastic, but not something that will necessarily astound you tbh. It's great. It's more than okay. show less

A heartfelt and touching story about mental illness, and the difficulties of growing up as mixed, and the complexities of those two together. I have struggled with depression most of my life, and this book wonderfully depicted it, without falling into the same story I see time and time again about it. I also felt the depiction of Iran felt so real and beautiful, and human, like I was there, learning with Darius about the culture he came from. I plan to read the second book, and I will be re-reading this one.

This book is incredibly good. In part, my reaction to this was personal — Darius loves tea, Lord of the Rings, and Star Trek, all of which I also love. He lives with depression, and so does his father, and while I don’t have depression, I definitely grew up around it. And his grandfather is dying of brain cancer, which is what my father died of. (That part was an excruciating gut-punch, and I did end up crying a lot in the latter part of this book.)

But also this is just a really good book. Moving, engaging, well done. The book sees the characters clearly and loves them anyway. Reading this, I was sympathetic to everyone in it, even when they were in conflict, and I was capable of seeing that conflict from all sides. And this book show more deals with issues without being about issues; it is just about life, one specific person’s life, and all the stuff that’s in it.

My only real complaint about this book is that a lot of Big Stuff happened at the end, in kind of rush, without enough time to make the resolution finally clear.

But overall, this was a beautifully done book. Totally recommended. show less

Darius Kellner has never really fit in into Chapel Hill High-School, not just because he is half-Persian but also because of his depression which makes it hard for him to make friends. When is grandfather gets seriously ill, his whole family is flying to Yazd for the first time: his father, whom he considers an “Übermensch” because he is perfect in every respect, his beloved mother and his 8-year-old sister Laleh. Even though Iran is much less different from his home than expected, Darius, or Darioush as he is called there, makes masses of new experiences. He finds a good friend in Sohrab, plays football successfully and with fun, he tries out great Persian food and the family relationships somehow shift and allow him another look show more at how things are between himself and the rest of his family. When he returns, he is not the Darius he was before anymore, a bit of Darioush the Great has come with him to the US and he accepts that at times it is ok just not to be okay.

Adib Khoram’s novel presents a very different perspective on many things we know from novels. First of all, it is not an immigrant who comes to the US and has to adjust, but vice versa, an American boy, who even though he has a Persian mother is not speaking any Farsi, who discovers a country and its people of the Middle East. Khoram doesn’t play on clichés here, luckily, Darius does not come with too many ideas about his mother’s native country and enters it rather open-mindedly. Additionally, Darius is at the age where he could have his first girl-friend, but it is not a girl he meets and falls for, but a boy with whom he makes friends. And thirdly, the novel does not present a happy-end where everything is cured and everyone is fine. Darius still suffers from depression and has to fight for every little step in his life. Just travelling to Iran and back does not change everything.

I really enjoyed reading to book. Most of all because it gave a lot of interesting insight in the life in Iran, but also because it doesn’t pretend that life is easy and that everything can be fixed. None of the characters is perfect, they all make mistakes and they all feel awkward at times. In this respect, it is very authentic and convincing. I think it is great for teenagers who struggle with fitting in since the main message for me was that we all at times feel like outsiders and it is absolutely ok, not to fit in and to feel sad at times. show less

Before I start let me just say that Darius sneezes a lot throughout the book and says "Um" way way too many times! That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Darius is getting teased at school and feeling underloved by his dad. His grandfather has a brain tumor so the family goes to Iran to visit him. That's where the story takes off and Darius "grows" up, meets his best friend and connects with his dad. It was funny and sad and everything in between.