My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“Darius the Great Is Not Okay,” by Adib Khorram, is a YA coming of age novel about Iranian American teen Darius Kellner. But unlike his namesake, Darius is far from great. He’s bullied at school, his father is always disappointed in him, and he deals with chronic depression, feelings of isolation, alienation, and suicidal ideation.
Most of the novel deals with Darius’s struggles to fit in and his budding friendship with Sohrab, a local boy he meets while his family is visiting his mother’s parents in Iran, following the news her father is dying from a brain tumor.
At first, I found Darius’s speech pattern and mannerism loquacious and pretentious, but it grew on me, as did his geeky, poetic personality. I really connected with Darius’s struggles, as I dealt with chronic depression, suicidal ideation and being bullied too. And as a fellow biracial guy (Black and white), I know what it’s like trying to find where you fit in.
Darius reminded me a lot of Charlie from “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” which I also loved. He was both sensitive and geeky while being realistic, funny, and relatable.
Sohrab was the perfect counterbalance to Darius’s shyness and introspectiveness, and I loved how he was able to bring Darius out of his shell and show him that he is worthy of love and would be missed if he weren’t around anymore.
Though it’s not explicitly stated in the text, my interpretation is that Darius and Sohrab are gay and in love with each other. But you could also interpret their relationship as purely platonic. Either way, it was a joy to see such a great example of positive masculinity.
If I had one criticism, it’s that the ending was a bit too Disney for me; one argument/conversation couldn’t magically fix everything between Darius and his father, given that Darius has harbored years’ worth of resentment against his father and believes his parents purposely conceived his sister Laleh to replace him.
But aside from this minor issue, I loved the book and give it five out of five stars. I highly recommend you read it.