Darius the Great Is Not Okay

I was impressed with how much Darius the Great Is Not Okay managed to accomplish.

It has the exploration of cultural identity and heritage, with Darius feeling too Persian in some contexts and not Persian enough in others. His encounters with unfamiliar places and people help him to better understand himself. By visiting Yazd and forming relationships, it's as though certain aspects of his identity appear on his radar, suddenly having spiked in relevance. It makes you think about how identity can be both distinct and collective.

The depiction of mental illness (thankfully) differed from a lot of YA about mental health that veers toward high-stakes, acute crises following specific trauma. This book is more about day-to-day functionality in response to a chronic condition. It was also unusual to see a parent-child relationship wherein both parent and child are mentally ill. You get to see how depression impacts Darius and his father respectively, but also how it impacts their relationship.

Expectations governing how boys and men are “allowed” to express emotion and affection. How Darius uses tea to spend time with and demonstrate concern for others. The relationship dynamics between Darius and Laleh, and of course Darius and Sohrab. I can't discuss this as much without getting spoiler-y, but suffice it to say that there are lots of interesting points made about vulnerability and processing hurt.

This book oddly reminds me of Gary Schmidt's Okay for Now. If you liked that, I would try this.