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

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz 
Published by Simon & Schuster on February 21st 2012
Genres: contemporary, romance, coming-of-age, LGBT
Pages: 386
Goodreads

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a coming-of-age, contemporary novel written by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. It follows the Mexican Aristotle Mendoza, who prefers to be called ‘Ari’. Ari is a 15 year old boy who does not have friends, cannot swim and likes to use a little violence every now and then. The only people he actually talks to are his parents, until he meets Dante. Dante is the opposite. He can swim, he doesn't like violence one bit, but he doesn't have friends either. Or so I believe. When they first met at the pool, Dante offered to teach Ari how to swim, which Ari gladly accepted. From there on, the two became friends and maybe something more between the two best friends will establish...


Characters: 

I can't just explain to you how much I enjoyed reading about these characters. Every single one of them had something unique that I can't quite put to words. It is ineffable.

Aristotle / Ari: I loved reading about Ari. In fact I loved reading about everyone, as I stated above. He was so magnificent, kind of mature for his age and not afraid of many things. He also seems like/is a loner most of the times. Before he met Dante, he only talked to his parents even though he has one brother, who's in jail, and two twin sisters who are a lot older than Ari. His life hasn't always been the easiest and still isn't. Ari's dad is really closed off since he got back from fighting in Vietnam. Ari tries to act tough all the time, or most of the times, but he's actually a sweet boy who was in desperate need of a friend. Also, Legs, his dog, kept him good company when Dante was gone. I love Legs.
At the end of the book, I think he found out who he truly was.

Dante: Dante Quintana, a boy with Mexican roots at his mother's side and has a teacher as his dad. Dante is so innocent and so Dante. He loves nature and he hates his tennis shoes with a passion. Dante doesn't like being Mexican, he told Ari. His mother's family doesn't like Dante that much because he looks too not-Mexican in their eyes. Dante is so sweet and cares about people. He risks his and Ari's life to save a bird, I still don't know if the bird made it or not. He doesn't run away when he gets beaten by people. I don't know how to describe him that well, but he is a sweetheart.
I also liked both of their parents.


Plot:
And once again, just like any other contemporary book, I did not know what to expect except that everyone was raving about it. I was now expecting something marvelous, something wonderful and exceptionally beautiful. Reading the first 30 or something pages, I didn't really get that feeling. But slowly I was just mesmerized by the writing and the beautiful storyline that I couldn't put it down. It is absolutely one of my favorite books ever and I can't wait for my friends to read it so they can enjoy and cry about Ari and Dante.
Another thing that I loved about this book was how this was focusing on a different culture: the Mexican culture. It was refreshing to read about something else, other than your typical American characters. It also deals with LGBT issues. One book that concentrates on more than just one subject that everyone needs to learn/read more about (different cultures and LGBT issues) is just fantastic.

So back to Ari and Dante. You see in the beginning of the book that offering someone help, can mean making new friends.
Friendship is something important and something that needs to be cherished because not everyone can have great friends or even friends at all. Friendship is also something special. It's a bond between two people that will accept each other no matter their differences.
When Dante left for a year to Chicago for his father's job, they promised each other that they'd stay friends, and real friends keep their promises and that is what they did. Their bond might have not been as strong as it had been before Dante left, but they were still friends.
I don't think Ari realized how much he actually cares about Dante seeing that he pushed Dante away when he was about to get hit (Ari almost died in the process) and he beat up the person who beat up Dante for kissing a boy. I still hate that scumbag Daniel for being such a coward and running away without taking Dante with him.

My copy was missing 4 chapters and I found that so stupid because I wanted to read about his school experience and how he met Gina, Ilona and that other girl I forgot the name of. But oh well, nothing seriously wrong I guess.

This book won so many awards and definitely deserves all of them. I can't describe to you just how much I love everything about ‘Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe’. It was so beautiful, in so, so many ways. The writing style, the characters, the storyline, everything. Benjamin Alire Sàenz did such a great job creating 2 of my favorite fictional characters and writing one of my favorite books. I cried of happiness at the end because I was just emotionally unstable at the time. THEY ARE MY OTP. (I have a lot of OTP's okay. I know I say this every time, but they are my OTP and will forever be my OTP.) I'm still speechless...even thinking about it makes me smile. And oh my god don't get me started about the cover. It's so pretty! I could stare at it for days (okay, maybe not days but you know what I mean). To end this review I want to say one more thing: READ THIS BOOK IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY. Read it. Just do. I recommend it to every single person in the whole wide world because it is just that great in my opinion. Read it.

“I got to thinking that poems were like people. Some people you got straight off the bat. Some people you just didn't get--and never woul get.”