Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Spoiler Free Review and Synopsis:

 I am terrible at writing synopses so here is the one from Wikipedia: "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a coming-of-age young adult novel by American author Benjamin Alire Saenz which was first published in 2012.  Set in El Paso, Texas in 1987, the novel follows two Mexican-American boys, Aristotle "Ari" Mendoza and Dante Quintana, their friendship, and their struggles with racial and ethnic identity, sexuality, and family relationships." 

This book is beautifully written! I loved it so much! I literally just finished reading in an hour ago and I read it in like 6 hours, I couldn't put it down. I'd recommend it to any reader who loves friendship, romance, and coming of age stories.  This book is largely based on character development so if you are looking for action (although there is some "action" in it, it is not the main focus) this is not the book for you however if you are looking for an amazing book about self discovery this is a great book for you.  

Spoiler Review:

I loved this book so much! The only thing stopping me from giving it a 5 star review is that I felt that Aristotle's struggle with his sexuality was a bit under played. I felt like he never really thought about the possibility of him being gay or bisexual. Like it was something very apparent through out the story, at least for me, that he was falling in love with Dante but I felt Ari didn't even notice it in terms of the narration until his parents sat him down. I just wish there was some sort of recognition by Ari in the narration in the possibility of being anything other than straight. But other than that little thing I freaking loved this book.

"The problem with my life was that it was someone else's idea."

I think I fell in love with this book when I read that statement on the title page of the first section, "The Different Rules of Summer" It just set the stage for this being a coming-of-age story and I have a special place in my heart for coming-of-age stories. 

 I also fell in love with Ari from the very beginning of this book.  He is my favorite character in this book, very closely followed by Dante of course. Ari is just some angsty, awkward, funny, and sweet. I got a Holden Caulfield type vibe from him and I was digging it. I also really related to his "pseudo only child" thing because I am the youngest in my family by seven years and have been the only kid at home for a long time and I loved that description of feeling like you're the only child when you aren't. I just love everything about how this book begins.  I love the teen angsty and finally a YA novel with parents actively engaged in the story!!! In most YA books the parents are either villain like characters or aren't very present but both characters parents were very present in this book. 

Another thing I liked about the beginning of this book was meeting Dante and how adorably he was portrayed from the very beginning with his little allergies! It made my heart sing! 

This book deals a lot with masculinity and family relations and I loved the juxtaposition between Dante's and Ari's families.  I really liked the comparison between Dante and Sam who are very lovey and open with each other and Ari and Jaime's very closed relationship.  I really loved the further development between their families and how Ari, Jaime, and Lilly all became much more open with each other. 

I loved Legs! I love dogs so much! And I loved her weird name! Which brings me to the "accident". I audibly gasped out loud at that. It was perfect too because my father just happened to interrupt my reading at that point in the story and I'm siting there like "DID DANTE JUST DIE?!?" because the last thing I read was that there was a car swerving around the corner.  My nerdy soul was like "Dad, what could you possibly want at a time like this!" Anyways, all I can think about in retrospect of reading that scene is that actions speak louder that words.  Ari clearly loved Dante enough to put his life in danger but it wasn't until the next summer that Ari finally had enough courage and self awareness to face it.  

Then there was Dante the next summer who got the shit beat out of him and I cried.  It was so messed up and broke my heart.  Why other people care about everyone else's sexuality is beyond me.  And when Ari was describing how badly Dante had been hurt I was so ready for that scene with Julian.  Like how dare you do that to my beautiful little Dante! 

All together I really loved the build up between Dante's and Aristotle's relationship.  I loved watching their relationship evolve and I loved how it was very clear that their relationship was built on foundation of friendship. I really loved too how both sets of parents were so loving to both boys and were so aware of their situations and present.  I just loved all the relationships in this book, they were so sweet. 

The only characters I couldn't stand were Ari's sisters who were barely even mentioned but I still hated them. 

As for Ari's brother, I thought it was so sad what happened.  It broke my heart how much it effected his family, which I mean how could it not? I can't imagine what I would do in that situation.  I don't really know what else to say about this story line other than the fact I'm glad their family finally opened up to talking about it. 

I could go on about this book for days but I just wanted to hit the major points.  Now below I'm going to write my favorite quotes and moments from the book:

"I didn't like the fact that I was a pseudo only child. I didn't know how else to think of myself. I was an only child without actually being one. That sucked."

I liked this one because I related to it. I don't have close siblings and it feels like I'm the only child.

"Not talking can make a guy pretty lonely."

I just liked this because its true.

"I had a feeling there was something wrong with me.  I guess I was a mystery even to myself. That sucked. I had serious problems."

I really liked the "mystery even to myself" thing because I feel like that is a large part of growing up.  And if I may also use this to contradict myself, I like how this directly applies to Ari's "private war" and his sexuality. So yes his internal struggle is addressed and this is found towards the beginning of the book however this attitude remains until the end of the book when his parents force him to confront his love for Dante. 

"I got to thinking that poems were like people. Some people you got right off the bat. Some people you just didn't get-and never would get."

I just thought this was beautiful and accurate. 

"That afternoon, I learned two new words. 'Inscrutable.' And 'Friend.'"

I just thought this was freaking adorable. As I've already made fairly clear I love Dante's and Ari's friendship.  

"There were so many ghosts in our house-the ghost of my brother, the ghosts of my father's war, the ghosts of my sister's voices.  And I thought that maybe there were ghosts inside of me that I hadn't even met yet. They were there. Lying in wait."

I loved this! And if I may yet again contradict myself I like how this again ties back to his internal struggle with his sexual orientation.  I also think it just really goes with growing up.  There are a lot of things you don't learn about yourself until something comes along and makes you confront ghosts you didn't even know you had. 

"'I wished it was raining,' he said.

'I don't need the rain,' I said. 'I need you.'"

I liked this allusion back to when Ari said something along the lines of "boys like me need the rain" when no, in reality, guys like Ari just need their Dantes.