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eloise_bradbooks 's review for:
Darius the Great Is Not Okay
by Adib Khorram
This was absolutely not what I thought it would be... But it doesn't mean it was bad (I think?).
For some reason I picked it up thinking it would be an m/m romance. It isn't.
And I am stating this straight away because I was led to believe it was, and i felt almost disappointed when some phrases were suggesting queerness but it was never stated as such. I don't want you to be disappointed. I don't want you going in to this book expecting boys falling in love. That's not what this is about.
This is the story of Darius. He is half Persian but doesn't feel connected to his Persian family or culture; he is clinically depressed and on medication; he is overweight and bullied at school; he shares nothing with his dad except depression; and he suddenly needs to spend a couple of weeks in Iran with his mother's family, which he knows almost nothing about, because his grandfather has a brain tumor.
It's about a teenage boy fighting to understand who he is and who his family is and where he belongs. For him to understand that he DOES belong.
And he just so happens to find himself a best friend as well.
I loved the complexity of the characters and their relationships. It felt so very real that this big family says and does hurtful things but all in all they love each other. They learn to understand each other and respect one another. Every single character says, does and feels good AND bad things, which makes them the best fleshed characters i've read in quite a while.
The mental health elements felt perfectly handled and the author's note at the end explains exactly why.
I also appreciated how much Persian / Iranian culture was in this book. I learnt a lot but it didn't feel like an educational schoolbook either, it was done perfectly.
The writing style was similar to Benjamin Alire Saenz' style in Aristotle and Dante (my love). Simple phrases, short chapters, a bit of vagueness and a lot of introspection. Also dealing with mental health and trying to understand your family and their origins, all while finally finding your first real friend.
I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about Darius' queerness being very lightly implied but never actually stated... Why is everyone adding it to ther lgbtq+ lists when... It's not?
I was thinking of knocking it down to 3 stars but I believe it isn't completely the author's fault if everyone assumed it would be gay when it wasn't... (unless that's how he sold it, in which case... NO).
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“Darioush,” Sohrab said. “Are you stuck?”
“Huh?”
“You said sometimes you get stuck. Thinking something sad.”
“Oh.” I swallowed and pulled at the tassels of my hoodie. “It’s nothing.”
“Come on.” Sohrab pulled me up to my feet. “I won’t let you be stuck anymore.”
------------------------------------------
For some reason I picked it up thinking it would be an m/m romance. It isn't.
And I am stating this straight away because I was led to believe it was, and i felt almost disappointed when some phrases were suggesting queerness but it was never stated as such. I don't want you to be disappointed. I don't want you going in to this book expecting boys falling in love. That's not what this is about.
This is the story of Darius. He is half Persian but doesn't feel connected to his Persian family or culture; he is clinically depressed and on medication; he is overweight and bullied at school; he shares nothing with his dad except depression; and he suddenly needs to spend a couple of weeks in Iran with his mother's family, which he knows almost nothing about, because his grandfather has a brain tumor.
It's about a teenage boy fighting to understand who he is and who his family is and where he belongs. For him to understand that he DOES belong.
And he just so happens to find himself a best friend as well.
I loved the complexity of the characters and their relationships. It felt so very real that this big family says and does hurtful things but all in all they love each other. They learn to understand each other and respect one another. Every single character says, does and feels good AND bad things, which makes them the best fleshed characters i've read in quite a while.
The mental health elements felt perfectly handled and the author's note at the end explains exactly why.
I also appreciated how much Persian / Iranian culture was in this book. I learnt a lot but it didn't feel like an educational schoolbook either, it was done perfectly.
The writing style was similar to Benjamin Alire Saenz' style in Aristotle and Dante (my love). Simple phrases, short chapters, a bit of vagueness and a lot of introspection. Also dealing with mental health and trying to understand your family and their origins, all while finally finding your first real friend.
I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about Darius' queerness being very lightly implied but never actually stated... Why is everyone adding it to ther lgbtq+ lists when... It's not?
I was thinking of knocking it down to 3 stars but I believe it isn't completely the author's fault if everyone assumed it would be gay when it wasn't... (unless that's how he sold it, in which case... NO).
------------------------------------------
“Darioush,” Sohrab said. “Are you stuck?”
“Huh?”
“You said sometimes you get stuck. Thinking something sad.”
“Oh.” I swallowed and pulled at the tassels of my hoodie. “It’s nothing.”
“Come on.” Sohrab pulled me up to my feet. “I won’t let you be stuck anymore.”
------------------------------------------