Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe: The multi-award-winning international bestseller (Aristoteles & Dante, 1) Paperback – 27 May 2021

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a coming of age story set in El Paso, Texas in the late 1980s. It's a story of a fifteen year old boy who wants to find out who he is but doesn't really know where to start. I'm more than a little bit in love with this book. It's almost divine.Aristotle, known generally as Ari, is miserable. Its summer and he doesn't have any friends. He's the sort of character who chooses to be aloof and distant from people. He doesn't seem to want any friends. But one morning he goes swimming and meets Dante Quintana. Dante offers to teach Ari to swim and perhaps because they share "weighty" names or perhaps because of Dante's laugh, Ari accepts. It's the beginning of a friendship which fills the book.There is drama in this book. Great big, undeniably huge plot turns. I don't want to give too much away about those but for a book which is essentially about getting to the heart of a character, it really does surprise you with action. That being so, it is a reflective book. Ari succumbs to bouts of melancholy. He's in limbo. He's no longer a boy but not yet a man. He lacks control of in life - his mother is often telling him what he should be doing. He still has to go to school and at a later stage he gets a job. He's also divided by cultures - he's Mexican living in America and although Ari feels he is truly Mexican, Dante is constantly seeking to be more so.This novel is in part about growing into the person you want to be or rather realising who you are and being happy about it. But it's also about communication. Ari's father is a war veteran and keeps his son at a painful distance. Ari desperately wants to know more about his father and to share his pain. Ari also wants to speak about his older brother who is not around. But neither his mother nor father is willing to do so. In contrast to this fragile code of silence, is Dante. Dante who never shuts up, who is stubborn as hell, who lives with his heart on his face, who is impulsive and wonderfully alive.The relationship between the two boys is touching. It's complicated but it's meaningful.The chapters of this book are really short. I read this book in two days and I am so glad that I bought it. The title captured my attention and it won an award in the US recently so I figured it was worth taking a chance on it. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a rewarding, heart-warming read. The writing is exquisite. Yes, I am definitely more than a little in love with this book. I can't wait to read something else by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.

I’ve really tried to like this book, and I have almost finished reading. But it’s been a heavy, arduous struggle. The writing style is completely wooden, you can never tell who is talking, the characters are cardboard, and there are so many grammar mistakes and formatting errors that make understanding who is talking a chore (the author starts new paragraphs when the same character is speaking, and have no distinction between them…), and the plot is supposed to be a love story, but the love interest is hardly present for a third of the story. It is repetitive.I wanted to enjoy it. I’m trying to. But sadly, I think it has not been very well written. How anyone can say this is ‘beautifully written’ really does not understand beautiful or lyrical prose. This was more like the author wrote 200 scenes and just threw them together with no connective tissues.And to top it off, the characters personalities are dreadfully flat. There is no description of how they talk. It is almost literally, “she said, he said” and that’s if the author even chooses to say that, which is also very inconsistent.Overall, I feel this book was extremely poorly edited, and honestly, I’m sad to say, poorly written at times. I will conclude reading it, but that is just to to see the story ends. It is painfully slow at times.Having said all this, I must admire some statements the author writes, and some beautiful moments really can be quite memorable. I love the relationship between Dante and his father. And I felt the strength of the story was honestly how genuine it feels, despite everything I’ve critiqued.I do hope the sequel is written a little more cohesively. [Edit: It already is and I’m only a few chapters in.][Edit: I concluded the book, and honestly, I do not regret a second of reading it. I wish there had been a little better editing, but at its heart the story was a wonderful prelude to the second book, which I consider already to have superior writing. Do read. Persevere. It is worth it for the last few chapters alone. It got much better towards the end. I upgraded my review to 4 out of 5 stars. Not perfect, but wonderful all the same.]

I really did not expect to like this book never mind love it as I do. Aristotle was such a fantastically engaging protagonist: I adored his thought processes and the way he articulated his feelings. I was so prepared for this book to come across as pretentious--for it to be try-hard and obnoxious--that relating to Ari as I did kind of shocked me. Everything about Aristotle and this story is perfect.If you're looking for a story which is heart wrenching and true I wholeheartedly recommend this! You will laugh and cry and fall in love with Ari. Ari's interactions with his family and friends (and of course Dante!) were all wonderful. His attitude and perspective towards life really resonated with me and I hope I can read more books with such a unique narrative voice. Every single word felt necessary and although I would have loved for the book to never end it ends in a way I'm more than happy with.I can't even begin to explain how thoroughly I enjoyed this book. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down until it was done. When it was done? I felt overwhelmed by how much I cared for Ari and his proud I was of him.