Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Ohhhh I just loved this book so much. I loved Darius. I felt like his struggles here are captured so poignantly, including his awareness that “nothing bad has ever happened to him” and yet he still feels his depression. (Because...that's how it works.) And the sense of not really knowing his family, and the sense that we as a reader get that there's more going on with his parents than Darius can perceive...and yet he's also a funny, observant narrator, and I loved the peek into life in Iran as well.

I also really loved his friendship with Sohrab, and just kind of...the vaguest hint of neither of them being able to fully process their feelings for each other but just the power of finally finding a friend being a good enough place to start.

UGH. BEAUTIFUL.