Reviews - Darius the Great Is Not Okay

4.34k reviews for:

Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Adib Khorram

4.28 AVERAGE

mcgrathprj's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

booknook43's review against another edition

4.0

3.75 ⭐️

kenemery's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

I definitely enjoyed reading this young adult novel. It provides some interesting insights into Iranian culture. As I recall, it is an interesting mix of clash of cultures and searching and finding oneself.

ddan's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

kay_bug08's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed the story and the characters as well as the message the author tried to put across about depression. It was a very relatable book.

cocoonofbooks's review against another edition

4.0

It's always great to read a YA book that doesn't feel like every other YA book I've ever read. Darius' challenges felt real and emotionally complex: Traveling to another country to visit family he's only known through a computer screen and feeling inadequate and misplaced. Living with depression that is managed but can cause him to interpret others' actions toward him in the worst possible light. Navigating a tense relationship with his father, who seems perpetually disappointed in him. Developing a close friendship for the first time with someone, across cultural differences.

It was a sweet book, and I appreciated how Khorram treated each situation with nuance; people behaved like real people, and the messages he was imparting didn't feel forced or like the book was built around an agenda, something I hate that is disappointingly common in YA books. The only thing that grated on me throughout the book was how Darius turned everything into a Star Trek or Lord of the Rings metaphor. Everything. This was annoying both because it was a cliché — yes, we get it, he's nerdy and awkward — and because it was unrealistic that he would have no other reference points. Darius' language was also repetitive (e.g., "a non-passive failure," "soccer/non-American football", a Level X such-and-such), which may have been more obvious on audiobook.

On a side note, don't make the mistake I did and pick this up thinking it has LGBT representation because there's only the slightest implication that Darius is gay and only one line in the whole book about his feelings for Sohrab maybe being more than friends. That never comes out in their relationship in any way, nor is Darius' orientation made explicit on the page (thought it appears that it is in the sequel).

Anyway, this was lovely and sweet and a nice change of pace. Definitely recommended if you can get past the near-constant Star Trek and Lord of the Rings references.