Darius the Great Is Not Okay

It's okay not to be okay. Darius was never really "okay", but when his family forces him to a trip to iran to learn about his roots, he discovers that "being okay" isn't always necessary.

Darius Kellner has never really fit in into Chapel Hill High-School, not just because he is half-Persian but also because of his depression which makes it hard for him to make friends. When is grandfather gets seriously ill, his whole family is flying to Yazd for the first time: his father, whom he considers an “Übermensch” because he is perfect in every respect, his beloved mother and his 8-year-old sister Laleh. Even though Iran is much less different from his home than expected, Darius, or Darioush as he is called there, makes masses of new experiences. He finds a good friend in Sohrab, plays football successfully and with fun, he tries out great Persian food and the family relationships somehow shift and allow him another look at how things are between himself and the rest of his family. When he returns, he is not the Darius he was before anymore, a bit of Darioush the Great has come with him to the US and he accepts that at times it is ok just not to be okay. Adib Khoram’s novel presents a very different perspective on many things we know from novels. First of all, it is not an immigrant who comes to the US and has to adjust, but vice versa, an American boy, who even though he has a Persian mother is not speaking any Farsi, who discovers a country and its people of the Middle East. Khoram doesn’t play on clichés here, luckily, Darius does not come with too many ideas about his mother’s native country and enters it rather open-mindedly. Additionally, Darius is at the age where he could have his first girl-friend, but it is not a girl he meets and falls for, but a boy with whom he makes friends. And thirdly, the novel does not present a happy-end where everything is cured and everyone is fine. Darius still suffers from depression and has to fight for every little step in his life. Just travelling to Iran and back does not change everything. I really enjoyed reading to book. Most of all because it gave a lot of interesting insight in the life in Iran, but also because it doesn’t pretend that life is easy and that everything can be fixed. None of the characters is perfect, they all make mistakes and they all feel awkward at times. In this respect, it is very authentic and convincing. I think it is great for teenagers who struggle with fitting in since the main message for me was that we all at times feel like outsiders and it is absolutely ok, not to fit in and to feel sad at times.

this book is amazing. the queerness, the mental health topics, the family subjects, making friends, learning about culture. i love this book so much, the sequel is amazing too. please read this.

This book is such a good read with awesome characters and lots of raw emotion. Realistic portraial of families, mental illness and coming of age. Definitely recommend to read this!!

Darius the Great is not okay ist ein tolles Buch, das mich vor allem dahingehend überrascht hat, dass es kein Setup gibt, welches darauf hinausläuft, dass der Protagonist am Ende in einer Beziehung landet. Es geht wirklich um Familie, Identität und Freundschaft. Das Buch wirkte auf mich sehr authentisch und all die Emotionen werden wunderbar rübergebracht. Einziger Minuspunkt ist, dass das Ende etwas schnell und verhältnismäßig oberflächlich kam. Dennoch ist es definitiv ein großartiges Buch, das ich auf jeden Fall auch ein zweites Mal lesen werde!