Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Ari is a loner who doesn't talk about his feelings and Dante is a relative loner who does nothing but talk, nothing is off limits. They complement each other in a perfect way, it's part of what makes the book great. The book also shows what kind of effect our parents have on us. Their parents modeled them, what they said or didn't say shaped them into who they were, it's what made Ari flawed. This flaw made the book go about a bit slow paced with his reluctance to initially even admit him and Dante were friends, but it gave readers time to truest process what the book was saying.

Overall, it was a great book that I found relatable on a smaller scale through the characters.

This is a beautiful book. I wish I'd written it.

MY THOUGHTS
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book. I decided to pick it up solely based on the large amount of great things I've heard about it. I'm glad to say that this was a great book.

This book is from the point of view of Aristotle, who goes by Ari. He's a bit of a loner and doesn't really have any friends. That is until he meets Dante at the pool one summer. Ari and Dante don't have much in common, but they become the best of friends.

This was a very slow-paced story and that's my only major problem with this book. Although, the pacing makes sense. This book is entirely real. The characters are flawed and their lives, in general, are very realistic. The writing and the narrative is also very real and might bother some people, but I loved how real it was.

This book is a friendship story, a coming of age story, and a love story. I think the first two is most prominent in this book. It's a beautiful story about friendship and growing up. The love story involved is, again, very real. It is slowly added into the mix. It was one that I expected, as I knew that this book featured a gay romance, yet was still shocked by. I knew it would happen, but Ari never even hints at playing on that team. The love story portion does not come until the very end and it made me so happy when it did! I also have to mention how much I loved how the parents were very supportive of their sons. In fact, Ari's parents knew about it before Ari himself did.

This book also has a theme with family as well. Ari's brother is in jail and Ari doesn't even know why because his parents never mention him. There isn't even a single picture of his brother in the house. Throughout the book, Ari continues to question about his brother. There is also a little bit about Ari's dad, who hardly ever talks. In this book, Ari also grows closer to his family.

IN CONCLUSION
This was a really great book. It was beautiful and very realistic. I loved the friendship and the eventual love story! I recommend this book for pretty much anyone, especially if you love contemporary.

I found Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets to the Universe while browsing Goodreads late at night, trying to find a good book to get at the library. I didn't think much of it as I added it to my gigantic book bag...but boy, was I surprised!

The story is told from Aristotle's (AKA Ari's) point of view. Ari isn't exactly your average teenage boy, and his speaking style reflects as such. It was refreshing to read a story that wasn't told from the perspective of a superficial, sex-obsessed jerk. By no means was Ari a perfect, innocent angel; he was a guy growing up who wasn't exactly sure what he wanted. I liked that. Dante, who we'll call Ari's friend for simplicity's sake, was also a character I enjoyed acquainting with over the course of 350+ pages. He was unusual, quirky, and totally lovable...I'd hang out with him in a heartbeat. Ari and Dante's parents brought an additional intrigue to the book, making the cast of characters even more appealing.

This plot wasn't very original. The book took me a couple days to plow through; I wasn't sneaking peaks at it in French class to find out what happened next. That wasn't the point, though: I knew what was going on and what to expect, so I could then pay more attention to understanding Ari and Dante. Not a big issue.

If you're looking for a touching, thought-provoking story of maturity, I highly recommend Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. If you're one of those people that needs lots of action and drama to get through a book, I'd look elsewhere.