Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz – SPOILER FREE REVIEW

Title: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Genre: Contemporary/Young Adult
Publication Date: February 21st, 2012
Pages:359
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis:

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

This review will be spoiler free!
Overall I enjoyed this book. It didn’t amaze me like I thought it would but I think that because I have seen so many fabulous reviews and I had high expectations because of that. Don’t get me wrong it was a beautiful story but it wasn’t my favourite.

Writing:
I did really like the writing style! It was a very smooth and quick read for me. I loved that the chapters were so short but it still got a lot of information across in those short paragraphs. I don’t quite understand what the point of the mini stories and why it couldn’t be just one story and have one chapter count rather than restarting it 3 times. I didn’t understand that, but not a big deal.

Plot:
I enjoyed the plot too. The coming of age, trying to find yourself story was interesting and I liked that it was a male protagonist rather than female as I feel that I don’t read many books with a male as the main. So that was interesting. The plot had a few twists and turns and I really enjoyed that as it added a bit of action to the book, which is what I like in any book. I also liked how the book ended, it showed a journey that I usually wouldn’t think about as I’m not in that situation, nor do I know anyone who was. So it was defiantly a bit of an eye-opener for some of the things that were discussed.

Characters:
I really enjoyed the characters. I liked that Aristotle and Dante were nearly opposites. The contrast was really nice to see. I also really liked the parents of both Aristotle and Dante. They were fun, interesting and loving characters. I also liked the back stories and that both Aristotle Mum and Dad were fighting their own internal wars.

Overall:
I did enjoy the story but it wasn’t as amazing as I was expecting. It was a beautiful book, though!

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