In my OWN joyful Walk through the Aristotelian Village of Old-Fashioned Values, with Side Trips (in my reading) into Literary Utopias like Darius the Great! Darius the Great Is Not Okay” has been on my TBR for years now and even though a lot of people say it’s underrated and needs more attention I actually saw it quite often on my feed. Which is the reason it landed on my TBR in the first place. Khorram, Adib (January 3, 2020). "Darius the Great Is Not Okay: Adib Khorram's 2019 BGHB Fiction and Poetry Honor Speech". The Horn Book . Retrieved January 1, 2022.

‎Darius the Great Is Not Okay on Apple Books

Darius, oh Darius. I can’t stress just how much his character means to me. The way his depression was handled was amazing, the growth in his relationship with his father had me in tears. Teenagers everywhere will easily be able to relate to this beautiful character because of his faults and struggles. It was nothing short of breathtaking to follow Darius’ journey of self discovery. I enjoyed and adored each and every character and their relationships so much. This is really a beautiful, feel-good book that just highlights the beauty of relationships. Not romantic relationships. Just relationships in general. The beauty of masculine affection. We always see very affectionate female friendship bonds, but we rarely see male ones. Not like the one Darioush and Sohrab shared. It was truly a beautiful thing to witness. I don't think it's possible for me to actually be able to externalize how much this book meant to me. And how dear it has come to be to my heart.trigger warnings: depression, racist comments, bullying, grief, fatphobic comments , comments criticizing depression The only thing I actually loved through out the whole book was the mental health representation. Both Darius and his father have depression and I loved seeing what that meant for the relationship between them and how it impacted that said relationship. But even so there's one thing I didn't really like about this is that neither Darius nor his father ever corrected their family on their ignorant views about depression. Their family did mean well, but they never actually tried to make them understand what it's like to have depression instead they let them believe that the cure for it is to just not be depressed. Characters wear Samba and Adidas shoes, watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Next Generationand Star Trek: Voyager, and read The Catcher in the Rye. I was a big fan of the friendship between Darius and Sohrab. Sohrab was born and raised in Iran, and is kind of like a family member. He becomes Darius’s best friend, and their friendship grows as Sohrab invites Darius to play soccer together, shows him a little of Yazd, shows him new cultural aspects, listens to Darius when he’s upset, and go to each other’s houses. Their friendship is in innocent, full of a couple firsts for Darius, since he’s never really had a friend like Sohrab. They share differences yet get along well. Their fights are realistic for teenagers, yet are solved maturely. They learn from their past, move forward, and let it go. I loved how close they became, to the point where Sohrab was able to read Darius well. He’s friendly and gets along with everyone, but he understands Darius on another level. He’s caring, respectful, and understanding, never showing a sign of impatience or annoyance with Darius. He also never made Darius feel like he wasn’t Persian enough or that he [Sohrab] was more Persian than Darius.

Darius the Great Deserves Better - Common Sense Media Darius the Great Deserves Better - Common Sense Media

Darius and his father have very frank discussions about sex and relationships. Would you be embarrassed to talk that openly with your parents? This reminded me of a time I traveled to another state to go to a concert with a friend. We had planned it all, so everything was looking good until plans had to change. The day I arrived, everything was fine–we hung out as much as we were able to, walking downtown, laughing until 3 am, and hanging around the city. The next day, the day of the show, she calls me in the morning and tells me she got in a car accident. The first thing I felt was anger. Anger at herself for getting in that. Then I reflected on that, and felt scared for her, and hoped she was okay, telling her to call me or update me as soon as she can. I wasn’t able to do much, being in my hotel and not having a car, but I really was only a phone call away. Hours later passed, and I knew we would not be able to go to the show anymore. I didn’t feel comfortable going alone, and I didn’t want to pay so much for a lift, so I stayed in the hotel. All day. I cried so much, and I hated my friend at that moment. I was so mad at her. And while Darius does get to know his grandparents and aunts and uncles, he ends up also growing closer to his dad, who he hasn’t been on really good terms with. It was honestly so beautiful to see their relationship developing, especially because they also talked about depression (which his dad has as well!).

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. Darius wasn't an exceptional main character. Most of the times he was actually extremely boring and reading from his POV got tedious very fast. It was interesting seeing the way he dealt with some of the situations he was put in, but at the same time I didn't really cared about those. None of the other characters stood out that much which makes sense considering this is Darius's story. The only other two characters that stood out were his father and Sohrab.