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A review by tori214
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Oh. My. Goodness.
That’s literally all I can say.
I just finished this and I cannot put into words how much I love this book oh my goodness.
I’ll come back in the morning I need to sit with this wow
Edit: okay hello it’s the next morning, here are my thoughts.
This book is PHENOMENAL. I’d heard a lot about it and thought about picking it up for a while, but when I heard someone compare it to “I’ll Give You The Sun” by Jandy Nelson (my all-time favorite book) that was when I knew I needed to read this immediately. And honestly?? I really see the comparisons! Noah and Ari are super similar characters and the writing style is very similar. While Alire-Sáenz doesn’t exactly match Nelson’s constant flowering metaphors, this book isn’t any less gorgeously written. From the very first line, before the book really even started, this book just slapped me in the face while hugging me tightly.
It was wild.
I don’t want to spoil the first line but it was so painstakingly relatable and I felt understood from the first moment I opened the book.
One of my favorite quotes (aside from the first line) is:
“<bold>I knew that there was something about me that Mrs. Quintana saw and loved. And even though I felt it was a beautiful thing, I also felt it was a weight. Not that she meant it to be a weight. But love was always something heavy for me. Something I had to carry.</bold>” UGH... LOVE THAT SO MUCH!!! FELT THAT IN MY SOUL
Towards the end, I had a few ideas of where I thought it was going to go and I did end up calling one of the final conflicts, I still greatly enjoyed this.
I think this is gonna be closer to a 4.5. I’m not sure why, just kind of a gut feeling, but I’ll still round up bc this book def deserves it!!!❤️❤️
That’s literally all I can say.
I just finished this and I cannot put into words how much I love this book oh my goodness.
I’ll come back in the morning I need to sit with this wow
Edit: okay hello it’s the next morning, here are my thoughts.
This book is PHENOMENAL. I’d heard a lot about it and thought about picking it up for a while, but when I heard someone compare it to “I’ll Give You The Sun” by Jandy Nelson (my all-time favorite book) that was when I knew I needed to read this immediately. And honestly?? I really see the comparisons! Noah and Ari are super similar characters and the writing style is very similar. While Alire-Sáenz doesn’t exactly match Nelson’s constant flowering metaphors, this book isn’t any less gorgeously written. From the very first line, before the book really even started, this book just slapped me in the face while hugging me tightly.
It was wild.
I don’t want to spoil the first line but it was so painstakingly relatable and I felt understood from the first moment I opened the book.
One of my favorite quotes (aside from the first line) is:
“<bold>I knew that there was something about me that Mrs. Quintana saw and loved. And even though I felt it was a beautiful thing, I also felt it was a weight. Not that she meant it to be a weight. But love was always something heavy for me. Something I had to carry.</bold>” UGH... LOVE THAT SO MUCH!!! FELT THAT IN MY SOUL
Towards the end, I had a few ideas of where I thought it was going to go and I did end up calling one of the final conflicts, I still greatly enjoyed this.
I think this is gonna be closer to a 4.5. I’m not sure why, just kind of a gut feeling, but I’ll still round up bc this book def deserves it!!!❤️❤️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Medical content
Minor: Cursing and Murder