Author: Benjamin Alire Saenz
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT
Goodreads | The Reading Room
A lyrical novel about family and friendship from critically acclaimed author Benjamin Alire Sáenz.Review by Nara
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.
Well....I was planning on writing a review for this book, but now that I get around to it, I'm not quite sure what to say. Not because it was mediocre in any way, but because I really, really liked it, and now I have no idea what aspect of the book to talk about.
Was it unique? Yes. It's about the (possible) love between two "loners". How has that not hooked you yet?
Was it feels inducing? Yes. Not going to say why, because SPOILERS (yes, this is my attempt to blackmail you into reading the book)
Was it an excellent coming of age novel? Yes. Ari's acceptance of his own identity is something that he struggles with throughout the entire book, and I think it's quite a relief for the reader when he's finally able to understand his emotions, as well as his identity as a whole.
Was there a ridiculously relatable protagonist? Yes. Heck yes. Well, apart from the being male and (possibly) gay part. BUT YES TO THE INTROVERT PART.
Was there a solid and true friendship? Yes. I sort of went into this book expecting a romance type of novel, but it really wasn't. Sure, it was about the development of the relationship between Ari and Dante, but this relationship was most definitely, at heart, a friendship. A best-friendship (yes, that is now a word).
Well now, after writing this "review", I feel the need to bump up this book from a 5 stars to a 5 stars + incredible. I just realised that it's that good. Do yourself a favour and give it a read. If you haven't read too much LGBT (as I haven't), it's a great introduction to the genre.
Incredible
Ratings
Overall: 9/10
Plot: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 4/5
This post is a part of LGBT Month, hosted by Laura Plus Books and Fighting Dreamer
