a review (to recommend or not?)

ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE

ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Goodreads' rating: 4.35

short description:

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

my thoughts

First of all, these are all the awards the book has won:
Stonewall Book Award
Michael L. Printz Award
Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award
Lambda Literary Award
Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis

It's an easy read. Although, I am a proud risk taker, easy read books are my comfort zone.

A friend recommended it to me saying it's really good. And so I read it.

The phase was just right. Not too slow, not too fast. The characters are perfectly flawed. It was a beautiful life with all its imperfections. It was honest and realistic.

Reading this is like reading my memoir. I was so comfortable in Ari's (main character) voice that it just feels natural and normal. Like, it was mine. I was moved in ways I couldn't explain.

- english
- not from Wattpad
- honest and realistic
- manly voice
- the power of friendship
- lgbtq+
- 100% enjoyed it
- coming of age
- YA contemporary
- an amazing first book choice
- 5/5

SPOILER QUOTES (not all the quotes are spoilers but to be safe, don't read it if you haven't read the book)

But love was always something heavy I have to carry.

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 bet you could sometimes find all the mysteries of the universe in someone's hand.

I thought it might be a great thing to be the air.
I could be something and nothing at the same time. I could be necessary and also invisible. Everyone would need me and no one would be able to see me.

How could I have ever been ashamed of loving Dante Quintana?

Sam and I were right about you. You are the sweetest boy in the world."
"Next to Dante," I said.
"Next to Dante," she said.

I had a feeling there was something wrong with me. I guess I was a mystery even to myself.

In some ways I had never felt closer to him. In other ways I had never felt further away.

"Bullsh*t, Ari. You have the harder rule to follow? Buffalo sh*t. Coyote sh*t. All you have to do is be loyal to the most brilliant guy you've ever met—which is like walking barefoot through the park. I, on the other hand, have to refrain from kissing the greatest guy in the universe —which is like walking barefoot on hot coals." (my favourite quote)

And somehow it seemed that the dog helped us be a better family.
Maybe dogs were one of the secrets of the universe.