Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz - ★★★★

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AUTHOR: Benjamin Alire Sáenz
SERIES: Aristotle and Dante, #1
GENRE: YA M-M Romance.
PUBLICATION DATE: February 21, 2012
RATING: 4 stars.

Reading YA is always a risky business when you are...well... not a Young Adult. 😅 A good author can create magic with YA, depicting the intensity of the teen/youth years with accuracy. However, if written badly, YA comes off as an immature writing attempt with unrealistic characters. Where do you think this book lies? Let me keep the suspense going for a few moments more. 😁

This book, which has a mouthful of a title, is quite simple in its essential premise. It talks of two 15 year olds, Aristotle and Dante: best friends with opposite personalities, each struggling with a different personal problem. That's it. The entire book is a journey we see through Aristotle's perspective: his attempt to be strong while alone, his struggle to distance himself from emotions, his anger, his uncertainty,... All indicate a young man struggling to come to terms with something, but he doesn't know what until the very end.

Both Aristotle and Dante are very well-sketched characters. Benjamin Alire Sáenz wrote this book in 2012, when he was 58! So it is absolutely astounding to me how he could portray youthful angst with such precision when I can't even remember my feelings and thoughts from a few years ago. 😬 The only issue I had was with the way the ending was written. It seemed quite abrupt, quite "Bollywood-ish". The sudden, almost overnight change was a bit unpalatable to my middle-aged head.

Unlike in typical plotlines, both Aristotle and Dante are blessed with wonderful parents who have their own demons to battle and yet are always there for their children. I loved the parental relationships as depicted in the novel. It is such a pleasant change to see supportive, friendly, open-minded parents rather than the usual overbearing or careless ones.

This book isn't just about friendship and self-discovery; it is also about family and trust. It is about seeking help when required rather than trudging through the darkness alone. The boys' struggles with their Mexican-American identity, their sexuality, and their family relationships is heart-touching. It is fitting that the secrets they are trying to discover in the universe are ultimately realised in their own hearts. After all, isn't it said that our souls are connected to the universe?

Don't go for it when you are in the mood for a fast-paced read. It simply won't connect with you. Pick it up when you want to unravel the threads of a book slowly and relish it page by page.

Audiobook lovers: I've heard that the audio version narrated by Lin Manuel Miranda is fabulous.

Sáenz had announced in 2016 that there will be a sequel to this book titled "There Will Be Other Summers". In 2020, Sáenz tweeted that he had finished the sequel and changed the title, but has not yet revealed what the title is. So that's a book that is definitely in my TBR because I want to see how the journey continues after Aristotle and Dante have discovered the secrets of the universe.

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