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

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad 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? Yes

5.0

After owning the book for ages I decided to give it a read and honestly never a better time to read it. I also finally understand why everyone always told me to read this. It really is a beautiful story and honestly it hits really close. Like I made so many notes that just consisted of me saying “OKAY BUT SAME” because Ari and I feel the same way about things. Which says a lot about me which is kind of concerning. 

Ari is just a boy who’s mad at the world and trying to figure everything out and the way it’s written works so well for it. You as the reader are annoyed at times but also understand it because either we’ve gone through the exact same things and issues or just know that it isn’t easy to figure out life/our problems. By then end, even with all the problems still there Ari has figured out that it is his life and shouldn’t let others tell him who he should or shouldn’t be. The character development was done so subtly but in such a great way to show that things are not always what they seem. Honestly I don’t have many thoughts about it except that it is a really beautiful story about self discovery and how to deal with the curveballs life throws at you. I’m just excited to start the second one! 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings