A review by linnea0221
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

3.5

I was torn between 3 and 4 stars but I really enjoyed the Hispanic representation and how it was clear to everyone but the protagonist what was going on. I enjoyed it overall but there were some parts that I thought were poorly dealt with in-text. Most jarring was that the reason that Ari's brother ultimately went to prison is barely touched upon and then Ari still wants to reach out to him? It just didn't seem right to me and also the only trans rep. is a prostitute who gets murdered? I'm sure that's supposed to show how different Ari and Bernardo are but I just felt like it came out of nowhere a little bit. Otherwise I feel like all of the other important characters were extremely well-written and fleshed out and I enjoyed reading how Dante and Ari's relationship develops.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings