Name: Darius the Great is not okay
Rating: 4.163265306122449 (147 reviews)
ISBN: 9780525552963

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

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

Sebastián

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

mighty dragon 

Wes Michaud

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

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.

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.

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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