The Inexplicable Logic of My Life

I have received a digital copy of this book through a giveaway hosted by the publisher. This has not affected my rating in any way.

DNF ~ 25%

I'm just so fuckin' bored

Waar Aristotle/Dante een heel lief coming-of-age / coming-out verhaal is over twee 17-jarigen in de grensstreek USA/Mexico, is het in dit boek allemaal een beetje omgedraaid: een 17-jarige gringo (blank, geen Mexicaanse roots) is op zeer jonge leeftijd geadopteerd door een succesvolle homosexuele kunstenaar van Mexicaanse origine.

Door een aantal gebeurtenissen om hem heen komt er nogal wat agressie bij hem boven, wat in het kader van nature/nurture bij hem allerlei vragen over zijn (onbekende) biologische vader oproept. Er is niet een heel concrete plot, maar het is meer een year-in-the-life van hem en twee vrienden. Drama ligt er soms beetje dik bovenop (nogal wat dode moeders)...

Sáenz is ook dichter, en de proza heeft daar regelmatig wat van weg, met veel korte zinnen die in een fijne kadens zitten.

this book was beautiful and probably my favourite by this author. the book was super emotive and the writing was very powerful. would recommend

This is one of those books that is written in such a raw, emotional, and beautiful way that it gives you no choice but to feel every word and put you in an entirely new headspace. I just feel that it was too long for the type of story it was. While I enjoyed the short chapters, I feel it would have been better if it were 100 or so pages shorter given that it was much more character driven than plot driven.

I disliked this book at first, and felt like I was slogging through it. But then, somewhere along the way, I found myself attached to the characters & their grief. The syntax and flow of the writing is a little stilted to me at first, but I eventually felt like it help really capture the narrator's essence.

4.5

I received this book through netgalley, but all opinions are my own

Wow... I really do not know what to say. This book is beautiful. It is written in such a way that I feel like I have never read anything so precious before.

This book talks about REAL life, it deals with death, grief, abuse, and identity with real consequences, even if the characters act older than they really are. So, while this is real, it is also somewhat utopian... a little. There are bad things that happen, but the main characters are so mature or above the world.
Even so, it is interesting.

Honestly, it really is hard to review this, because I don't want to break it down to its parts. I want to bask in its beauty and the feelings it installs in me. I'll give a few good points before ending:

Some diversity – although the main character has white skin, he has grown up in a Mexican-American culture. He has non-white friends and family.—-Also, has hetero and homosexual relationships. Deals with real-life issues in a good way.
*Healthy relationships are shown in a good light and unhealthy relationships are proven to be bad. This is done very well.

I also loved how the chapter lengths varied, sometimes only being a paragraph long.

I would recommend this book to literally everyone. There is so much to learn and so deep I cannot appreciate it as well as someone else could.