Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

✨🌈“Another secret of the universe: Sometimes the pain was like a storm that came out of nowhere. The clearest summer morning could end in a downpour. Could end in lightning and thunder.”🌈✨

A bildungsroman about two boys, Aristotle ‘Ari’ Mendoza and Dante Quintana, and their path to discovering their sexuality, Mexican-American heritage, gender stereotypes and family relations.

Narrated from the perspective of Ari, who is a loner and enjoys wallowing in his loneliness. Ari is in a constant state of anger because his family keeps secrets from him, his father is shielded and does not communicate with Ari. And Dante’s character seems to be contrasting- he has a good bond with his family, he is happy and quick to laugh; he is interested in art and philosophy. Upon meeting Dante, Ari is also captivated by poetry and philosophy. Soon, Ari learns to share his feelings and to let go of the pent up anger- this becomes a turning point in the novel and the journey of self-discovery and self-identity begins.

Ari comes off as an unreliable narrator since the reader is enlightened with the fact that he represses his feelings and the fact that he is concealed from myriads of things that happen around him. Therefore the narrative comes off as quite pessimistic.

Written beautifully, Benjamin Alire Sáenz pulls into the book with a simple plot and simple characters, and the story stays with you for a long time. The narrative is slow which is a good thing because the reader feels invested in the story. If this book has fast-paced action and narrative, maybe this book wouldn’t have been enjoyable and prized.

This book is one of the finest queer novels out there because it deals with the realisation of sexuality and the coming out is dealt in two manners- one where the parents are open-minded and accepting upon knowing their child’s sexuality and other where the child is scared to open up due to the lack of communication with his parents. And the actual coming out is not glorified- it is simple and realistic. And the actual relationship between Ari and Dante is not overly dramatised; their relationship grows and flows naturally.

This is must-read queer text, but it is also a book with deals with the coming-of-age theme in a manner I haven’t seen or read before. The best thing about the book that it is simple- its beauty lies in its simplicity.

I would highly recommend everyone to read this. You’ll not be disappointed. 🧡