Darius the Great Is Not Okay

There are some big subjects discussed in this story—being overweight, interracial marriage, bullying, depression. But it wasn’t the big things that drew me in; it was the little things: the references to LOTR (Lord of the Rings) and TNG (Star Trek, The Next Generation—two of my favorites), the love of tea, the titles assigned to people and places and situations.Darius the Great Is Not Okay follows teenage Darius, a half-Persian on his mom’s side, on a trip to Iran to visit family. Used to not fitting in, Darius doesn’t expect any less in another country. Then he meets Sohrab, a boy his age, and everything changes.Adib Khorram delves into clinical depression and interracial marriage with deftness and humor and wry teenage wit. I laughed at the jokes even as I felt the tension and vulnerability in relationships. In Iran, you see the bleakness and the majesty of the area, the beauty of family and complexity of a different culture. Here, Darius explores a new friendship and the often terrifying boundaries that go with it.Darius the Great Is Not Okay might seem lighthearted at the beginning. The author is extremely clever with his portrayal of teenage boy shenagigans. But beneath the surface is the desire we all share to belong, to be accepted, to be recognized. The story is fun and light as well as deep and sensitive. And what touched me the most were the gentle moments, the unexpected demonstrations of love and understanding.

A coming-of-age story of self-proclaimed “fractional Persian” Darius (he’s half Persian/half white), a teenage boy from Portland, OR who loves Star Trek and Lord of the Rings, and goes on a family trip to Iran for the first time to visit his mom’s family. Darius is a sweet and sensitive kid who is bullied at home, and makes his first really close friend in Iran with his grandparents’ neighbor Sohrab. Darius and his dad both struggle with depression, but their shared struggle doesn’t bring them together, things between them feel more awkward every day. Darius feels lonely, self-conscious, unsure, and unwanted in his own family, but dotes on his younger sister Laleh. Darius is just trying to figure himself out, deal with his strained relationship with his dad, his grandfather’s declining health, meeting his grandparents in person for the first time, trying to connect with his Persian roots, and feeling like he doesn’t fit in anywhere; too Persian in America and not Persian enough in Iran. His friendship with Sohrab is like a lifeline, and he feels fully accepted for the first time and appreciates Sohrab’s affectionate and understanding nature. This book is not a romance, and doesn’t really get into Darius’s sexuality, but that will be explored in the sequel. I just totally fell in love with Darius, Sohrab, and Darius’s parents and grandparents. This trip is really life changing for him and it was just beautiful to read about. I really didn’t want this book to end and immediately started the second book the moment I finished it. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was amazing. This book is going onto my all time favorite books list, I can’t even express how much I adored it.CW: Discussion of depression and its effects, racist comments, fatphobic comments, body-shaming, bullying

Such a good book! I will admit I almost cried a few times. I loved seeing Darius’ growth and his friendship with Sohrab grow. I am looking forward to the sequel!Definitely recommend for any YA contemporary lovers! Great Iranian rep!

Darius Kellner is a high school sophomore who describes himself as a Fractional Persian, half on his mother’s side. Living in Portland Oregon, he is dealing with feeling that he doesn’t quite belong along with bullying at school. He has one person that he considers to be a friend, and he regularly feels that his dad disapproves of him. Darius also takes medication for clinical depression which has had weight gain as a side effect, and Darius is overweight (his self-descriptor).After his babou’s (grandpa) test results reveal that the brain tumor is growing, the Kellner family quickly makes plans to leave the U.S. for a 3 week trip to Iran to visit him and tell him goodbye.This is Darius’ first trip to meet his grandparents and his first time stepping foot in Iran. While there, he feels the tension of not quite belonging–he doesn’t speak Farsi like his mom and younger sister do, and those who find out that he takes antidepressants there don’t understand mental health and tell him that he should be trying harder.He does, however, meet Sohrab who helps out Darius’ babou. Sohrab invites him to play soccer (non-American football), and Darius feels a tug towards Sohrab and accepts his invitation. Over the course of the book, we get to see more of this whirlwind friendship and what it means to belong.This book was truly excellent. First: it’s a rare YA book that has a character on medication for mental illness from the beginning. Furthermore, it’s even rarer that the character’s mental illness isn’t completely managed by medication. This truly shows a realistic portrayal of how they can help to manage mental illness but don’t cure it. Another thing done really well is the relationship between Darius and his father. His father also has depression and also takes medication for it. However, this doesn’t mean that they are close. I thought this was honestly quite realistic, and I saw some of my own relationship with my father emulated in that.I liked that this book also continued to change the trend of having words other than English italicized. Instead, the Farsi that appears in this book is kept in the same stylized font as the rest.Honestly, this was a super fantastic heart-rending read, and I definitely recommend it.

Libro en idioma ingles, pasta blanda sin sobre cubierta. Es una lectura agil y un ingles medio. Muy recomendable.

A beautiful story that I got the chance to read for school, I just wanted to travel into the book and be Darius' friend. Characters came alive and his story made me relate to him so much. A must read for youth!

This has been on my tbr list for far too long. It's an amazing story and I loved Darius and his nuances.The way his depression was dealt with really rang true for me; it was something I could identify with. Unlike the tea because, being (working class) British, tea comes in a teabag and is put in a mug, has boiling water added, is stewed for ages then milk and sugar (2 teaspoons please) added as required. 😉 Seriously though, the teas sound amazing.I really enjoyed the glimpse into Iranian life. As the author says in his interview, we are fed Iran through the filter of a news channel and it is nice to see and understand the everyday lives of Iranians.A really wonderfully written book that I highly recommend.

"Suicide isn't the only way you can lose someone to depression."This book was a solid 4 stars until the last page. Then it made me cry and that was it. Darius's story, the discovery of Iran, Persian culture, his friendship with Sorhab was really beautiful, endearing and touching. But it was the way depression is shown and the toll it takes on one's life and mind, without dramatising it, just by showing things as they are, that made this book really powerful and made me love it. I'm still shedding some tears from the after-read, but I just wanted to say, as someone who suffers from depression: Thank you.

First of all, it is a great book. It's about the daily life of this boy Darius when he ends up going to Iran to meet his grandparents for some reasons. There he meets Sohrab and his life starts to change.Second of all, I can't begin to describe how relatable Darius was. Going through clinical depression, getting bullied and mocked in his High School, having all those Father Issues and much more. I felt like I was reading about my life or what could have been in my life if I ended up in a different country having a vacation.This book did make us feel what it set out to do. It was soothing, calming and made us sit for a while and rethink ourselves. Absolutely loved it!