Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
For some reason I thought this was a roadtrip book...maybe because of the truck on the cover. But anyway...it's not! And once I got over my disappointment (I have a thing for roadtrip books) and confusion as to when they were going to get moving, I really enjoyed the book.
It is about two boys who meet one summer at the local swimming pool. We follow their friendship over a year or so, as they discover who they are and come to terms with these discoveries. We follow Aristotle, or Ari, as he builds this new friendship with Dante and explores his own feelings and thoughts on the cusp of adulthood. It is a moving and tender book, that has won a whole slew of awards, but I didn't love it as much as I thought I would based on the hype on Youtube.
It was a little slow-going for me, especially in the beginning when I was still waiting for them to take off on a roadtrip. And that is all down to me and my random expectations as to the plot. But still, once I realized that this was not a roadtrip book, but more a coming-of-age story, it was still a little bit slow for me. Even so, I think the slowly developing plot gave the book its special atmosphere, and it would not have been the same if the story was more rushed, or some of Ari's reflections had been edited out. So I think the book is as great as it would ever be (and it has the awards to prove it), but maybe it just wasn't for me. You know, some books are like that. You can sense that they are good, and you can't really put your finger on why, but it just isn't for you. And I think this book was that for me.
I gave it 3 stars out of 5 on Goodreads.
It is about two boys who meet one summer at the local swimming pool. We follow their friendship over a year or so, as they discover who they are and come to terms with these discoveries. We follow Aristotle, or Ari, as he builds this new friendship with Dante and explores his own feelings and thoughts on the cusp of adulthood. It is a moving and tender book, that has won a whole slew of awards, but I didn't love it as much as I thought I would based on the hype on Youtube.
It was a little slow-going for me, especially in the beginning when I was still waiting for them to take off on a roadtrip. And that is all down to me and my random expectations as to the plot. But still, once I realized that this was not a roadtrip book, but more a coming-of-age story, it was still a little bit slow for me. Even so, I think the slowly developing plot gave the book its special atmosphere, and it would not have been the same if the story was more rushed, or some of Ari's reflections had been edited out. So I think the book is as great as it would ever be (and it has the awards to prove it), but maybe it just wasn't for me. You know, some books are like that. You can sense that they are good, and you can't really put your finger on why, but it just isn't for you. And I think this book was that for me.
I gave it 3 stars out of 5 on Goodreads.
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