Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Ratings566
Average rating4.2
I'm not crying, you're crying! (...I'm definitely crying)
This is a beautiful Bildungsroman, showing how discovering ourselves is every bit as difficult and mysterious as understanding those we love, and who love us. The language is so simple, yet captures the complexity of those relationships — to family, friends, ourselves. And without spoiling it, I'll just say that we need a lot more young-adult books like this one.
Am not crying, you are.
Maaaaan was this book worth the long wait?
Oh yes it was. Wanted to listen to this for so long! But just couldn't get my hands on it.
Narration is by the brilliant Lin Manuel Miranda.
The book follows the lives of two boys Aristotle and Dante, just two loners, who happen to become the best of friends.
Even though this was meant for a younger audience, age should not be a restriction to listen to this one.
Full of profound ideas, and a story that tugs at your heart strings, this has easily been the top 3 books I've read this year.
Would recommend to listen to the audio book, as it contains some Spanish words, which should be heard in Lin's perfect voice :)
Eh. I had heard a lot of great things about this book, so I may have come into it with too-high expectations.
There were some parts that I loved, most specifically the descriptions of healthy family relationships, including those that were still in progress. The writing and narration were also good.
However, my one-sentence synopsis would be: moody teenager spends 98% of the book being moody, and then ✨the magic of love✨ magically fixes his entire life.
Not my thing. I can't really figure out the critical acclaim, and have to wonder if it would be as widely praised if the main relationship was heterosexual.
To be clear, my gripe is not with the gender(s) of the main characters or their relationship in the abstract, just the magical-fixing. I suspect if we were talking about a girl getting a boyfriend who was perfect and suddenly made everything perfect and fixed all her insecurities, it wouldn't have made it out of the slush-pile, good writing notwithstanding.
4/5
Captivating prose and story is unfortunately sidelined by the ending; I didn't find Ari's attraction to Dante believable after an entire book where he doesn't feel it. “I lied”? Come on...
An easy read but relied too heavily on dialogue for first-person narration. I don't think it would have gotten so many accolades if there were more books which deal with boys struggling with thier sexuality and identity (as there should be, and will in time.)
I want to rate this more than 5 stars. Where are the extra stars, Goodreads? I demand extra stars!
I want to tell everyone I know to read this book. The writing was flawless, the characters were well developed, and I absolutely loved them all. The friendship, love, laughter, heartache, tears... All of it just hit me so hard but I love the feeling that this book left me with.
Very well written! It's easy to become attached to the characters. Their dilemmas and feelings are heartbreaking and complex.
Lovely book that felt very genuine in it's Young Adultness (the characters felt like real teenagers who were trying to figure things out instead of wise little adults). Lost a star for the abrupt ending.
Parts of this I really liked. The family dynamics were great. Lots of quippy dialog and great writing. Dante and Aristotle are incredibly likable.
There is a lot of teenage angst along the lines of “No one understands me. I don't understand anyone. My parents are weird,” that the protagonists thankfully grows past. They go through a phase of reading intense manly literature (Heart of Darkness, War and Peace, etc.) I feel like it needed either a longer ending, or an epilogue. There is a long lead up to Aristotle and Dante becoming a couple, but then they kiss, and the story ends rapidly. There's also a pretty strong characterization of Aristotle being asexual - the way he hesitates to describe his feelings toward Dante as romantic, the way he talks about kissing and masturabtion, how he feels alienated from other boys who have seemingly bizarre feelings towards girls and sex. It would have made a great addition to further explore that and how it would affect their relationship, but instead Ari's parents literally tell him that he is in love with Dante, and then there is a tidy kiss scene that closes the book. Feels like a missed opportunity.
Over all I enjoyed it, it is also an excellent audio book narration.
Começando o ano com o nível lá em cima! Não leio tantos YA quanto poderia ou gostaria, mas quando pego um livro como esse, me dá vontade de sair lendo tudo pra encontrar histórias tão bem contadas quanto essa. Todo o sentimento e o relacionamento entre os personagens é bonito, sensível, carinhoso, verdadeiro... muito bom!
I Can't process how much i love this . i've listened to the whole audiobook of 8 hours in two days . last night i fell asleep listening to it and i woke up and re-listened to the parts that were playing while i'm asleep .
cute.emotional .beautiful.
i am absolutely in love with it .
im in love with it.
im in love with it .
Quote :
“I wished it was raining,” he said.“I don't need the rain,” I said. “I need you.”
Quote :
This was what was wrong with me. All this time I had been trying to figure out the secrets of the universe, the secrets of my own body, of my own heart. All of the answers had always been so close and yet I had always fought them without even knowing it
Quote :
How could I have ever been ashamed of loving Dante Quintana?
I Will definitely re-listen to this . many times . i know it.
Deux adolescents qui n'ont pas grand chose en commun se lient d'amitié, ça commence de façon très classique, mais les personnages sont attachants et le récit est plaisant. C'est mignon !
This book is gonna be the first book I write a full review for, simply because it affected me that much. I knew I was going to like this book before i read it, it just seemed like the kind of thing I would like. But oh my god, how can I even describe my love for this book? It was beyond my expectations.
Aristotle.
I have never read a book where I felt connected to the main character, I've never read a book where my personality and my feeling were literally laid out in front of me to read. It was scary how alike me and him were, it was also amazing. To have someone describe the way you feel about the world is so enlightening and I'm so glad someone could just understand those feelings enough to write about them at all.
I read books for the plot and for the characters, mostly becuase they aren't like me. To experience someone else's world is one of the reasons I love reading, but this book made me realize that I love reading about people that are like me too.
I loved being apart of Dante and Aristotle's journey of discovery, I loved seeing them grow up and discover who they were. Their story was one of the most sweet and pure things I've ever read and honestly reading about it just made me happy really.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe has become my all time favourite book by far. I have never read anything that laid my emotions so bare and I don't think I will ever read anything like this for a long time, if ever.
Proof that there doesn't have to be a ton of teen drama in order for a book to be good and lovable :)
LOVED IT!
“There are worse things in the world than a boy who likes to kiss other boys.” It was never boring. I recommend this to every boy and girl who wants to know without hurting anyone. :)
Read Harder: Read a YA or middle grade novel by an author who identifies as LGBTQ+.
Damn I like Lin-Manuel Miranda narrating this audiobook. There's a lot to like about this book: the theme of how things are better when you're open and honest, even if it's just to say you don't feel like talking or that you'll break the rules when your parents aren't paying attention; the parents being real people who have flaws and also full and fulfilling lives outside of their kids; the realistic struggle with growing into your identity as a teenager; LMM and his rolling his Rs on those Spanish words ... what? I'm originally from Texas and I miss hearing Spanish spoken! ... I loved his portrayal of Ari, I loved both Ari and Dante as characters, and their friendship. I loved the setting on the Texas border, El Paso, out in the desert. Sometimes I worried that the language was too simple, even though this is a work for young adults, but it worked okay overall in the audio format. I wondered if I would have liked it less if I had the physical copy of the book in front of me.
My only big complaint about this book is something that happened pretty close to the end, when Ari's parents sit down with him and basically define his sexuality for him and it made me wonder if the author didn't trust his teenage narrator enough to tell his own story. Is that even a thing? The incident seemed too convenient, and felt inauthentic to the whole rest of the book.
Overall enjoyable, though, and I'm glad I read it.
I really enjoyed this book. It didn't have a lot of plot but instead focused on the inner lives of two teenage boys trying to figure out who they are and define their identities. The characters were very like-able and the author did a great job of capturing the angst that often accompanies this time of life. I listened to the audio book and thought that the narration was well done. Highly recommend for older teens and adults!
I can't believe I've waited so long to read this. I adore these characters. All of them.
Lovely book, with interesting characters. Mostly I fell in love with the two sets of parents, who were amazing. This book was for the 2017 Reading Challenge category “Read a YA or middle grade novel by an author who identifies as LGBTQ+.”
I think this book showed me a new perspective about life, family, friends and sexuality. This book was and it is one of my fave books.
4.6
This book is surprisingly good! I knew I should've read it back then. This book is so sweet, romantic, and harsh, all at the same time. I felt way too many emotions while reading this. The story was a well-developed piece of realistic fiction. Should we be ashamed of loving someone of the same sex? Should we be ashamed even if we really love them? Should we love someone and not think about the consequences? Those are some questions you just can't outrun if you “truly” love someone. I commend Sáenz for writing a controversial, yet, very relatable literature that will probably hold much meaning today and the foreseeable future. It's one of those stories that are so pure and raw, it will touch every single person it comes contact with. This book is a gem that shouldn't be overlooked. Highly recommended for readers who loves thought-provoking books. This will change your perception of the world.