Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
Synopsis
"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."
My Thoughts
This book was so much, friends. This book had me laughing hysterically and also sobbing my eyes out. It has been a minute since a book had me full-on ugly crying, and this one did it. This book might take the cake for the most Star Trek references in a book not about Star Trek, and I LOVED it. Darius was so dang endearing and as someone who also grew up on a Star Trek and general nerdery, this book lodged itself firmly in my heart and did not let go. I listened to the audiobook of this one and the narrator did such a fantastic job of embodying Darius that it was just a fantastic listening experience.
I adored the Star Trek references and the subtle humor throughout this book, but this was also a pretty serious book too. Darius and his family go to Iran to visit his grandmother and dying grandfather. He and his father also battle with depression in this book and beyond the book. And this book does not shy away from the gut punches. There are really frank discussions about depression, what it is, what it isn't, and what it's like really living with it and the stigma attached to it. There are some really painful conversations had around, along the lines of "what do you have to be sad about?" and it's really painful to see how little a lot of people know about something that affects so many people. Along with the discussions of depression, there are some really painful conversations about what it's like to be an Iranian-American in high school.
“Everyone wants you here. We have a saying in Farsi. It translates ‘your place was empty.’ We say it when we miss somebody."
"Your place was empty before. But this is your family. You belong here.”
― Adib Khorram, Darius the Great Is Not Okay
This book was amazing and I highly recommend it! It gave me all the emotions, including major second-hand embarrassment. But it was so endearing and so well written. I just want to give Darius a big hug and tell him it's alright. Definitely pick this one up! And I'm looking forward to reading this sequel soon!
Genre: contemporary, ya
Representation: Iranian-American, MC with depression
Content Warnings: Bullying, Depression, Fat shaming, Racism
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