A review by aislinghamill
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

emotional reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Aristotle and Dante bowled me over. I flew through it in a day. While there isn’t a huge amount in terms of plot in this book, the writing is so beautiful you can’t help but be swept up by it. I found it hard to put the book down and was breathless by the time I finished.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe tells the story of two best friends in El Paso, Texas in the late 1980s. The boys meet at their local swimming pool when Dante offers to teach Ari how to swim. The lyrical novel follows their relationship over the course of about two years as they move from childhood into young adulthood and confront all the challenges that this brings.

Ari and Dante are in many ways opposites. Dante is outgoing and endlessly curious, where Ari is reserved and keeps mainly to himself. They bond over their unusual names and shared struggle to fit in among their peers, but their relationship becomes complicated when one of the boys develops stronger feelings for the other that aren’t reciprocated.

Aristotle and Dante deals with the struggle to distinguish your own identity from the demands of the world around you. As Ari repeats on several occasions, “The problem with my life was that it was someone else’s idea.”

Full review here: https://aislinghamill.wordpress.com/2021/08/06/aristotle-and-dante-discover-the-secrets-of-the-universe-by-benjamin-alire-saenz-a-review/