Darius the Great Is Not Okay

“Suicide isn't the only way you can lose someone to depression.”

I really liked “Darius,” and the way the author explored depression, family, friendship, and self-esteem. I know what it's like to be “inexplicably” sad in a way that just seems ridiculous and spoiled to people who haven't been there. I know what it's like to say the worst, meanest things to people I care about. I know what it's like to see every human interaction in the darkest, most suspicious light. I know what it's like to feel I've disappointed a parent by just being me.

Anyhow, the Iranian setting was also amazing! I loved how Darius became more himself by meeting this portion of his family, and realizing he belonged to something bigger than himself, when he stopped worrying about being Persian enough.

I thought it was terrific how the reader could see that one of the kids Darius went to school with (in America) wanted to be friends, but Darius wasn't in a place where he could see it, not until he returned home.

Darius's friendship with Sohrab was great, but what made the book for me was the exploration of Darius's relationship with his father, and now what can seem like rejection is really based on that person's pain, their feelings of failure and inadequacy. They're not rejecting you so much as dealing with their own issues.