First off, I would like to introduce myself since this is my first post. I’m Chelsea and I’m a sophomore who is obsessed with books. For my first review I wanted to do one of my favorite book. This book is the wonderful young adult story called Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. It was published in 2012 and has won many awards since, as you can tell by the cover of the book.
I gave this book 5/5 stars with absolutely no hesitation. This is one of those books that caused me to get bad grades on tests because I stayed up late the night before reading it. This is one of those books that I skipped meals for because I couldn’t put it down. This is one of those books that I curled up with in my bed and cried both tears of joy and sadness. Both Dante and Aristotle have a unique personality that the author does a brilliant job in making them seem human. Sometimes as you read books, they are painfully fictional, but the characters seem so genuine and real. They have just the right amount of flaws. In Young Adult literature, there is not enough LGBTQ+ representation, and in the circumstances where you do see them, their daily struggles are not expressed and instead romanticized. The author of this book does a wonderful job showing the struggles in teen lives as they experience the confusing feelings of same sex attraction and how they learn to cope with these feelings. They are not portrayed in a negative light either, but it does show the hardships that come with being openly gay. Another beautiful part about these characters is how it shows that teenage boys, specifically Dante, have emotions and should not be afraid of showing them. In multiple occasions when Dante cries he is not ashamed of his feelings. In my personal opinion, boys today should look and aspire to be like Dante because there should be nothing wrong with expressing your feelings. Aristotle, on the other hand, has a hard shell and is bitter and angry. While this typically gets annoying with characters, Aristotle does not get annoying because of the roots of his feelings. His brother, whom he was very close to, was arrested and no one will tell Aristotle why. This is heartbreaking to see a character like Aristotle crumble over this situation, and it really grabs the readers heart and keeps them engaged.
Another amazing touch that this book has is the memorable and inspirational quotes. The way Benjamin writes this novel allows the reader to learn a new and beautiful perspective on life. Here are some of my favorite quotes for the challenging and unique perspectives it allowed me to think about:
“I had learned to hide what I felt. No, that’s not true. There was no learning involved. I had been born knowing how to hide what I felt.”
“I wondered what that was like, to hold someone’s hand. I bet you could sometimes find all of the mysteries of the universe in someone’s hand.”
“To be careful with people and with words was a rare and beautiful thing.”
… Aren’t these just beautiful and thoughtful? Sometimes I just pause in the middle of my day and think about these quotes.
Many people get a little freaked out to read books in the LGBTQ+ category of the bookstore because they do not want to read a whole romance novel about two boys/girls making out. I am here to say that this book is a romance, but I think it fits better under the Young Adult/ Coming of Age category. I personally do not like romance novels, but this book is just perfect. I genuinely love it and will reread it many times in the future.
Lastly, I would like to talk about the beauty of the book’s cover. It has a brilliant design in the night sky as if revealing the secrets of the universe. The symbolic red truck is the center of attention with the breathtaking view of an empty space. It vividly describes one of the beautiful scenes in the book with accuracy.
I hope I did all right for my first review and I sincerely hope I convinced you to read this book. Everyone should experience this book at some point in their lives.
Love Always,
Chelsea Caplinger
Chelsea's Books 