Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

this book. oh boy, this book.

“I mean, when do we start feeling like the world belongs to us?” “I don't know,” I said. “Tomorrow.”

as anyone who knows me in the slightest can tell you: i have terrible memory. doesn't matter if it's concerning my favourite book, i'll have forgotten half of its details within the week. it's horrible, i hate it, i'm working with brain trainers to fix it but y'know, sometimes it is what it is.

anyway, point is: i knew i loved this book when i first read it - i'd given it 5 stars, put it on my special bookshelf, all that jazz. but at the same time it felt a little distant, that love. it was there but it wasn't really tangible, if that makes sense?

rereading this book was like coming home to an all encompassing comfort. i felt like crying for half of it, but in the best way. the immense love for these characters, their relationships, their story that benjamin alire s??enz has worked into this book are palpable in every word, every piece of dialogue. this is a story that came from the heart, and that's why it's made a place in my heart so effortlessly.

it's just in everything: he extreme gentleness s??enz adopts to describe complicated, conflicting, feelings, the rarity of seeing teenagers in (ya) literature have a set of wonderfully understanding and still complex parents, the way the narrative is allowed to unspool and the characters are allowed to find their way without any rush.

this book meant something to me in a very intrinsic way that's difficult to explain but easy to feel. i genuinely think it meant more to me this second time around. it hit me in all the right places. it made me want to lie down in the desert and watch the stars and wait for the rain. it made me feel understood and less alone.

(ps. i highly recommend listening to this wonderful playlist while reading)