Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram - Book Review

Description:

314 page YA Realistic Fiction

Darius Kellner is a tea-loving, Star Trek nerd who knows more Lord of the Rings terminology than he does Farsi. He spends his days trying to live two lives: the mentally healthy boy his father wants him to be and the Persian boy he doesn't quite think he is.

Being an outsider in his school and even his own home is hard enough, but when it's announced that his family is taking a trip to Iran for the first time in his life, Darius wonders if he'll feel like a tourist among his mother's family.

But while in Iran, Darius meets Sohrab--the first boy to ever accept him for the person he is rather than the person people want him to be. Sohrab speaks English to Darius because he knows he can't speak Farsi as well as his little sister, Laleh, can, and he insists that Darius plays soccer with him and the other Persian boys just like every Persian teenager does. With Sohrab, Darius no longer feels like the depressed Fractional-Persian of Oregon, Portland but rather a True Persian boy who has been away from home for far too long.

In this touching young-adult coming-of-age novel, Darius discovers what it's like to have a best friend, to hug his grandfather for the first and last time all in one visit, and to remember who he is even in his darkest moments.

I'd give this book five out of five stars. The sentence structure may not be complex and the read is not the most difficult, but there is certainly a lot of character in this book that brings it to life. Also, I'd google the places Darius visits in Iran. Sometimes words can't describe what a picture can.

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My thoughts (spoilers):

Oh, Darius. How you made me cry. This is my second time reading this book, and it somehow made me cry harder than it did the first. In fact, this, for a long time, had been the only book that made me cry (All the Bright Places recently became the second). I think it was the emotional connection and clarity between Darius and his father that really threw me off the edge. It was so pure and raw. I could hear their voices and see their faces. And then Sohrab and Darius' reconciliation? Don't get me started.

Too late. I'm getting started. Sohrab is the friend that we all wish we had: he's kind, gentle, compassionate, forgiving, and humble. He apologizes to Darius whenever he feels he has broken their trust or hurt his feelings. He makes others speak English to Darius so that he feels included. He may not fully understand Darius' depression (like many in Yadz who think depression can be whisked away with positive thinking), but he tries his hardest to accept it and recognize that Darius' brain is different from his. And Darius loves Sohrab for this. He's his first best friend. I can't image going that long without one.

But, of course, Sohrab is human. He isn't perfect. After his father died, Sohrab was at his weakest and most vulnerable. Perhaps he rarely reveals that part of him, and when Darius saw this, Sohrab panicked. Or maybe he was just so angry at the world--at the fact that his father was killed and that he was left with the pain and loss--that he wanted someone else to hurt just as badly as he did. And Darius was the perfect target, full of his own insecurities and imperfections. Their relationship could have easily ended there, but Sohrab knew what he said to Darius was wrong, and he sought forgiveness.

Be like Sohrab: don't have a huge ego and recognize that you make mistakes and are capable of hurting others with your words.

Aside from the wholesome friendship between Darius and Sohrab, I found myself relating to many aspects of this book. Like Darius and his Persian-ness, I feel as though I'm not as Mexican as my mother's side of the family is. I don't have the darker skin like my brothers Juan and Julian do. I wasn't raised bilingual. Until a few years ago, I only knew certain Spanish words--most of which consisted of food terms just like Darius' did (side note: Chorizo con huevos is the bomb whenever I visit grandma's. Her frijoles are good, too). When my family visited Texas back in 2016, I met some family I never knew existed. I felt my skin melt in the Texas sun. I threw rocks into the Rio Grande. It was the closest I had ever been to Mexico.

However, Darius wanted to stay in Yadz because after a while he felt like he belonged there. Like it was his home. I was a stranger among my bloodline in Texas. Of course, it was nice to meet them and talk to them, but I never had that connection and certainly did not meet a friend like Sohrab. And I'm okay with that. I am my own person. I don't have to be defined by my family's history. And, besides, my little brother falling into the bushes on camera is a memory that I'll carry with me everywhere. I'm glad that he got to leave Michigan at least once.

Darius the Great is Not Okay is more than it's beautiful cover and intriguing title; it's a wonderful story that teaches its readers about Persian culture while sharing the life of teenager confused about his identity and ashamed that he isn't the person people expect him to be. If you're looking for a unique YA novel, this is it.