Adib Khorram

Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He s a Fractional Persian half, his mom s side and his first-ever trip to Iran is about to change his life.

Darius the Great is not okay

karina

But then Sohrab caught my eyes and smiled so wide at me, his eyes all crinkled up, and I smiled back at him and laughed. 

And it was pretty much the most amazing thing ever. 

“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.”

Wes Michaud

I love the way this book explored friendship, depression and culture it went deep and you really get to know the characters

Bria

I want the best for Darius, and if anybody hurts him, I'm fighting.

Maria

“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.”

i dont know how to review this other than to say it was so full of compassion and somewhere around the middle i burst into tears and didn’t stop until the end

akynn 

“your place was empty before. but this is your family. you belong here.” 

sitting here trying not to cry at work but i loved this book a lot :’) firm believer that all you need in the world is someone to sit next to you in the dark shoulder to shoulder. and a good hug. and warm food. this novel had all of that. 

it just. resonated with me a lot. wonderful and bright and warm. thank you darius kellner. we’re gonna be okay. 

(i am always of the opinion that ya lit is a tough genre because it is often too old to be kiddish and too young to be considered serious literature but i think we should give it more grace because we were that age once, where we don’t have everything figured out. as i continue to grow i’m thinking that we still might not and we still might never have it all figured out. but that’s okay too.)

“your place was empty before. but this is your family. you belong here.” 

sitting here trying not to cry at work but i loved this book a lot :’) firm believer that all you need in the world is someone to sit next to you in the dark shoulder to shoulder. and a good hug. and warm food. this novel had all of that. 

it just. resonated with me a lot. wonderful and bright and warm. thank you darius kellner. we’re gonna be okay. 

(i am always of the opinion that ya lit is a tough genre because it is often too old to be kiddish and too young to be considered serious literature but i think we should give it more grace because we were that age once, where we don’t have everything figured out. as i continue to grow i’m thinking that we still might not and we still might never have it all figured out. but that’s okay too.)

allison chen

finding a true friend is so special!!! :') i really liked the portrayal of family reunions/conflicts/expectations.

Absolutely loved this book. Such a comforting and emotional book. Reminds me of my grandparents.

Claire Walsh

Тягучая, персидская история. После прочтения очень хочется учить фарси и готовить иранскую еду. Влюбилась в Сухраба

Asya

Sebastián

This book is beautiful from start to finish. Easy to read and so heartwarming.

roan

mighty dragon 

Allie Herrington

People who have read my reviews on other sites know that I generally review both as a reader and a librarian. So that's what I'll stick to here.

First, a confession. I've actually already read the whole book, not just the excerpt. I received the ARC at ALA back in June and recently finished the book. That being said, here's my thoughts.

Librarian: I will most likely order a copy of this book for my library. We're always looking for books set in non American/Western European cultures, and this one fits the bill nicely. By providing readers with an American protagonist, they were able to give us a better amount of insight into the story then we otherwise might have.

Reader: I had trouble getting into this one. That could very well be because I'm not the target audience, but I found it a bit slow. Still it was enjoyable enough once I got reading, even if it's not my preferred genre.

I love a book about an absolutely miserable boy and his eccentric new friend who is equally miserable, what can I say?

Kaia Mann

aoife

Amanda Kordeliski

Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this unforgettable debut introduces a brilliant new voice in contemporary YA. Winner of the William C. Morris Debut Award “Heartfelt, tender, and so utterly real. I’d live in this book forever if I could.” —Becky Albertalli, award-winning author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He’s a Fractional Persian—half, his mom’s side—and his first-ever trip to Iran is about to change his life. Darius has never really fit in at home, and he’s sure things are going to be the same in Iran. His clinical depression doesn’t exactly help matters, and trying to explain his medication to his grandparents only makes things harder. Then Darius meets Sohrab, the boy next door, and everything changes. Soon, they’re spending their days together, playing soccer, eating faludeh, and talking for hours on a secret rooftop overlooking the city’s 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. Adib Khorram’s brilliant debut is for anyone who’s ever felt not good enough—then met a friend who makes them feel so much better than okay.

Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Flavia Louise

Absolutely stunning. Though some writing choices did annoy me.

Alexa Jade

Actual rating: 2.5 stars. 

Listen. I know this rating is going to get me major shit but I really didn’t like the writing style and I really cringed at the last hour of this. Longest hour ever. I obviously appreciate so many aspects of this but it wasn’t enough to have me rate it any higher.

Elaina Wells

DNF at 20%  

I initially had to read this book for my Adolescent Lit class in college, and I guess this book just wasn't it for me. I have nothing against the book or any of the issues discussed in it, this book is just not something I would have chosen for myself in my free time.

flob 

Nadine 

Very moving book about an Iranian geek and his trip back to his grandparents, finding a friend and finding out about himself and his relationship with his father.
Themes include dealing with depression and bullying but don't overwhelm the story.

mia ¿

** spoiler alert **
           i am sadly not having the greatest luck with books recently... like yes i did give this book 4 stars but i was completely expecting this to be a 5 star read. this book was pitched to me as "life-changing" !!! that review gave me pretty high expectations for this book, and i guess they were just too high.

i didn't hate this book, obviously. i just thought it would be amazing and i wouldn't be able to believe it was a ya book. maybe i'm just aging out of ya? i genuinely cannot tell. but i was just expecting some really great, beautiful writing and sadly i did not find it here. that doesn't mean it was a bad story. the story was great. stories about feeling disconnected to one's culture or being mixed race really connect with me, and this one definitely had both aspects and were handled well. it was also good to read a book that had casual representation for depression. that was also another topic this book handled well. overall, i liked the story and where it went. i liked seeing darius learn more about his family and why his relationship with his father was strained but it wouldn't always be.

my main issue with this book might be kinda petty, but i just didn't care for the writing in some parts. it felt pretty realistic most of the time, but the author kept throwing in these repeated phrases that would show up constantly throughout the book. i get what he was trying to do. i myself often repeat the same phrases in my head for no particular reason. but the particular phrases darius would think just felt very juvenile to me. i hate saying this, but it reminded me of these books i used to read as a kid where the narrator would constantly say "it was a real kodak moment." like, that's a good phrase, but only when it's used once. after that, it becomes a weird catchphrase that doesn't have as much of an impact. and darius had way too many catchphrases. it just got kinda annoying, and the way some chapters were named after these phrases only brought more attention to them and made them harder to ignore. also, some were references to star trek (i think?) and those were just confusing when he repeated them but refused to explain them. the worst part about this writing choice was that the "that's normal. right?" was a great phrase to repeat throughout the book. it was a thought that fit many situations darius was in, and i understood why he constantly repeated it. but it had less of an impact because of all the other repeated phrases. it just felt like a gimmick honestly, and it felt less earnest. it felt kinda lazy, and like the author had run out of ideas for jokes and ways to describe situations. i have no idea if this is noticeable for anyone else or not but i was just not a fan. i think it could have worked if it was only used for the one serious phrase, but it was used to much for lazy jokes that attempted to be running jokes but failed.

basically, i thought this book's story was great, as well as the characters. the writing was also fine overall, but it just utilized this "repeating phrases" technique too much in my opinion. it makes me wonder if i'll ever want to reread this book, which sucks. it had a great atmosphere and self acceptance narrative, but the writing was just not amazing like i was expecting it to be. :(

Darius the Great is not okay

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