Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Aristotle and Dante)

by Benjamin Alire Saenz

[nannah]

Eek, beware of reading this book during a major depressive episode. :S That's not to say this book isn't good; it's Really, Really Good, but the protagonist and PoV character's (incredibly relatable) inner dialogue really worsened my depression. I didn't expect it to be so melancholy!

Book content warnings:
in-book homophobia
in-book homophobic violence

Aristotle and Dante (etc.) is a coming-of-age book about Aristotle (Ari), a lost, angry, teen who feels like he'll never figure out who he is, and Dante, a quirky swimmer who wears his emotions on his sleeves. When the two boys meet at a swimming pool, their fates cross and intertwine.

After reading the back flap, I found out Benjamin Alire Saenz writes poetry, and it didn't come as a surprise. The entire book reads like prose poetry, to be honest, especially the way the dialogue is crafted. Though the book is fairly long, it has almost a minimalist effect, the way the words and chapters are actually laid out on paper.

Despite all this, the book (for /me/), was very difficult to read. Mostly, I believe, because the PoV character had a very gloomy and almost depressive inner narrative that can really weight you down. Most of the book definitely carries on that gloomy feeling and doesn't really change until the very end, where things are mostly resolved. That might not bother you, but it really affected me (being depressed myself).

Anyway, a really emotional read with an extremely satisfying ending. :)