Even though this book was published on August 28, 2018; I read the advance readers copy. Undoubtedly there will be some differences between the version I read and the published edition.
That being said, I loved this story. I loved the culture, family, and self perspectives. SO GOOD. An amazon summary, "Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He’s a Fractional Persian—half, his mom’s side—and his first-ever trip to Iran is about to change his life.
Darius has never really fit in at home, and he’s sure things are going to be the same in Iran. His clinical depression doesn’t exactly help matters, and trying to explain his medication to his grandparents only makes things harder. Then Darius meets Sohrab, the boy next door, and everything changes. Soon, they’re spending their days together, playing soccer, eating faludeh, and talking for hours on a secret rooftop overlooking the city’s skyline. Sohrab calls him Darioush—the original Persian version of his name—and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he’s Darioush to Sohrab. Adib Khorram’s brilliant debut is for anyone who’s ever felt not good enough—then met a friend who makes them feel so much better than okay." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
Darius is persian, well half persian. His mother is persian and his father is an american. Darius has grown up in the states where he loves tea. He works part time at a tea shop where he's a little horrified with how the owner prepares tea (with tons of sugar). He also gets picked on by some of his classmates. Darius also has clinical depression, as does he his Dad. His little sister Laleh is quite a bit younger than him, but he adores her...even if he thinks she was born to replace him.
However, Darius has never met his mom's side of the family. He's talked to them on skype, but he's never seen them in person. So when his Babou (grandpa) has a brain tumor and started to decline, his family decides to travel to Iran to see them.
In Iran, Darius gets enmeshed in his family's history, his culture, and he starts to discover his whole family. He also meets his best friend, Sohrab, who seems to have a better and deeper understanding of Darius than anyone has ever had before.
That's enough summary.
I really loved this story, I know I said it once before but it bears repeating. I loved reading about the friendship with Sohrab, I loved reading about Darius getting to know his family, his family history, and his family's culture. I also learned so much about food that I'm going to Google some recipes for the foods they talked about in the book.
I also thought it was good to see all of Darius's thoughts as he reacted to different situations. It felt very authentic, and a kind of felt like what I imagine someone with clinical depression would think in different situations. The whole narrative felt authentic through and through.
Eh, as is my curse, it's hard to explain precisely why I love a book as much as I do. But I'm pretty sure all the Star Trek references helped in this case. :)
Happy reading!
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