Benjamin Alire Saenz

Fifteen-year-old Ari Mendoza is an angry loner with a brother in prison, but when he meets Dante and they become friends, Ari starts to ask questions about himself, his parents and his family that he has never asked before.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

blue

'Ik probeerde er niet aan te denken. Ik dwong mezelf er niet te veel aan te denken.' Ze lachte. 'Daar ben ik goed in.'

'We doen ons best, Ari, maar we nemen niet altijd de juiste beslissingen.'

'Volgens mij moet je je ouders er gewoon mee confronteren, zeggen dat ze moeten gaan zitten en dat ze alles moeten vertellen. Zorgen dat ze volwassen worden.'

'Je kan niet zorgen dat iemand volwassen wordt. En al helemaal niet als het om volwassenen gaat.'

Het probleem met mijn leven was dat het een idee was van iemand anders.

Ps: ik wil ook zo'n iemand zijn, zorgvuldig met mijn woorden, zorgzaam voor anderen en mezelf en daarom soms zwijgzaam. Ik hoef niet alles altijd uit te spuwen. 

Ik bewonderde mijn vader ook, vanwege de zorgvuldigheid waarmee hij zijn woorden koos. Ik begon te begrijpen dat hij een zorgzame man was. Zorgzaam voor andere mensen en zorgvuldig met woorden, en dat was mooi en bijzonder. 

Zoals ik tegen je zei, Ari, we nemen niet altijd de juiste beslissingen, snap je? We zeggen niet de juiste dingen. Soms doet het te veel pijn om iets onder ogen te zien. En dus kijk je liever niet. Je kijkt de andere kant op. Maar het gaat natuurlijk niet weg.

Het enige wat jij hoeft te doen, is trouw blijven aan de briljantste jongen die je kent - en dat is zoiets als op je blote voeten over het gras lopen. Ik daarentegen mag de geweldigste jongen van het universum niet zoenen, en dat is zoiets als met blote voeten op hete kolen lopen. 

Hij keek zo blij en het verbaasde me opnieuw, dat talent voor geluk dat hij had. Waar kwam dat vandaan? Had ik die blijheid ook in me? Was ik er misschien alleen maar bang voor? 

Da's een goeie lol...Maar in iedergeval, ik denk dat meisjes het gewoon beter weten te verstoppen, ze zijn goed in rolspelen. 

Maar misschien hadden meisjes het wel makkelijker.

het schilderij: Nighthawks van Edward Hopper

Soms denk ik dat iedereen zo is als op dat schilderij; iedereen is verdwaald in zijn eigen universum van pijn, zorgen of schuld, iedereen is gesloten en niemand kan elkaar kennen. 

Soms denk ik dat ik mezelf niet toesta om te weten waar ik echt aan denk.

this is so cuteeee (even though i'm pretty sure ari is going to reject him)

'Ik hou van zwemmen,' zei hij nog een keer. Even was hij stil. En toen zei hij: 'Ik hou van zwemmen - en van jou.'

'Van zwemmen en van jou, Ari. Daar hou ik het meest van.'

als ik me goed herinner had ari de indruk dat dante hem het schetsboek alleen maar gaf uit dankbaarheid en ari vond dat kut. Nee, maar, wat als dat schetsboek (en ari's portret) nu dantes manier is van de liefde verklaren aan ari? Ze zeggen toch dat je kunst je gevoelens reflecteert. 

Hij vroeg me nooit wat ik van zijn tekeningen had gevonden. Gelukkig maar. Ik had zijn schetsboek zonder erin te kijken onder mijn bed geschoven. Volgens mij wilde ik Dante straffen. Hij had me iets van zichzelf gegeven wat hij nog nooit aan iemand gegeven had. En ik nam niet eens de moeite om ernaar te kijken. Waarom niet?

'Ik weet waarom onze moeders zo streng zijn. Ik heb een theorie bedacht.'

'Misschien. Maar ik denk dat ze ook zo streng zijn omdat ze het liefst willen dat we altijd klein blijven.' 

hij had hiervoor gezegd dat dante de beter debater en de beter lezer is; ik denk dat het neerkomt op passie. Dante heeft er passie voor, en daarom juist doet hij het goed. ik vraag me dus af, hoeveel dingen doe ik wel niet omdat het moet of omdat ik niks anders te doen heb? 

Ik kreeg de indruk dat Dante las omdat hij het fijn vond. Ik las omdat ik niks beters te doen had. Hij dacht erover na, ik las gewoon.

this gives you something to think about; moet je gemeen worden omdat de wereld gemeen is? In ieder geval, ik lees niet vaak boeken met commentaar op jongens, zo ver is de commentary erg interessant

Hoe kon een jongen overleven zonder ook maar een beetje gemeen te zijn? 

dit ging over het gedrag van jongens; met name objectifying girls & women

Maar eigenlijk geloofde ik niet echt in de fase-theorie van mijn moeder. Het klonk niet als een verklaring maar als een excuus.

Luca

“I love swimming,” he said again. He was quiet for a little while. And then he said, “I love swimming—and you.”

See, the thing about guys is that I didn’t really care to be around them. I mean, guys really made me uncomfortable. I don’t know why, not exactly. I just, I don’t know, I just didn’t belong. I think it embarrassed the hell out of me that I was a guy. And it really depressed me that there was the distinct possibility that I was going to grow up and be like one of those assholes.

He laughed. “What do you have against adults?”

“They too have many ideas about who we are. Or who we should be.”

Man loneliness was much bigger than boy loneliness. And I didn’t want to be treated like a boy anymore. I didn’t want to live in my parents’ world and I didn’t have a world of my own. In a strange way, my friendship with Dante had made me feel even more alone.

“For the same reason you can’t tell me about your dreams.”

I was suddenly jealous of him. He could swim, he could draw, he could talk to people. He read poetry and he liked himself. I wondered how that felt, to really like yourself. And I wondered why some people didn’t like  themselves and others did. Maybe that’s just the way it was.

He rolled his eyes and pointed at the crucifix and whispered, “Jesus isn’t wearing shoes.”

The coming-of-age genre is probably not for me. Dreadfully boring reading about teenagers figure out life experiences for themselves… it reads whiny than ‘putting words to emotions’ but i think i need to work on developing empathy.

The writing style, god do i have a bone to pick. It’s so YA it probably leaned middle school. The dialogues were short & shallow it was more disruptive than engrossing. Probably an accurate depiction of the unappealing conversations we had at that age lol

Also, what were with the choice names Aristotle and Dante?? Was the plan some coming-of-age fan fiction of philosophers? That got me proper confused. Nonetheless, something I really enjoyed was the dynamics Ari had with his parents & the reconciliation at the end. But that’s about it unfortunately, it really wasn’t that deep. 

Desyre Foo

The coming-of-age genre is probably not for me. Dreadfully boring reading about teenagers figure out life experiences for themselves… it reads whiny than ‘putting words to emotions’ but i think i need to work on developing empathy.

The writing style, god do i have a bone to pick. It’s so YA it probably leaned middle school. The dialogues were short & shallow it was more disruptive than engrossing. Probably an accurate depiction of the unappealing conversations we had at that age lol

Also, what were with the choice names Aristotle and Dante?? Was the plan some coming-of-age fan fiction of philosophers? That got me proper confused. Nonetheless, something I really enjoyed was the dynamics Ari had with his parents & the reconciliation at the end. But that’s about it unfortunately, it really wasn’t that deep. 

“to all the boys who've had to learn to play by different rules.”

this was such a beautiful book. a very touching and sweet story. i saw myself in both characters, more in dante, but there were scenes in which ari was very relatable. dante is such a sweet boy, and aristotle too. even if at first he was a jerk, i started to understand him. i think i need such a person in my life. i need my aristotle.

i didn't really like the writing style at first. the sentences were too short and not at all complex, but i got used to it. this is the way most teenagers talk to each other.

i really related to this book, to the characters, and i'm glad there is a second part so i won't miss reading about the two boys so quickly.

victor

“to all the boys who've had to learn to play by different rules.”

this was such a beautiful book. a very touching and sweet story. i saw myself in both characters, more in dante, but there were scenes in which ari was very relatable. dante is such a sweet boy, and aristotle too. even if at first he was a jerk, i started to understand him. i think i need such a person in my life. i need my aristotle.

i didn't really like the writing style at first. the sentences were too short and not at all complex, but i got used to it. this is the way most teenagers talk to each other.

i really related to this book, to the characters, and i'm glad there is a second part so i won't miss reading about the two boys so quickly.

elinabel hidalgo 

What am i supposed to do now? I’m NOT well 
I GOT A LUMP IN MY THROAT 😭😭 THIS WAS SO WHOLESOME STOPPPP

i feel like some parts were not suppose to make me cry but i cried anyway :( really beautiful book

natalka

nie zasługujemy na tę książkę, jest za dobra na ten świat

Anna 

Do této knihy jsem šla s tím, že se jedná o gay romantiku podobnou například Já, Simonovi. Ale velice, VELICE jsem se zmýlila. Hned co jsem začala číst, uvědomila jsem si, že styl psaní je až neskutečně podobný Jandy Nelsonové, autorce mé nejoblíbenější knížky Dám ti Slunce. Příběh je nádherně, poeticky pojat, a vtáhne vás do sebe tak, že nevíte o čase. Ariho a Danta jsem si neskutečně zamilovala. Jejich příběh o přátelství a hledání sama sebe mi dal hodně. Druhá věc, kterou velmi oceňuji, je to, že další hlavní postavy byly jejich rodiče. Snad nikdy jsem se ještě v YA knize nesetkala s tím, že by rodiče v celém příběhu řekli víc než tři věty. 
Tato kniha je ale výjimka (stejně jako u Dám ti Slunce, haha). Rodiče zde jsou velice klíčovými postavami, a navíc jsou jejich osobnosti tak krásně vykresleny, že se mi občas chtělo plakat. Takovéto rodiče by si totiž přál mít každý. 
Knížka se odehrává v letech 1987 a 1988 ve městě El Paso, které leží na hranicích mezi Texasem a Novým Mexikem. Dokázala jsem si to místo až strašidelně dobře představit, protože autorovo popisování je jednoduše skvělé. 
Příběh doporučuju úplně všem. Dá vám to něco do života, a navíc, ten styl psaní je prostě tak unikátní, že kniha za přečtení opravdu stojí už jen kvůli němu. 
✩
5*/5* nemám tomu co vytknout; text na středu, takže je ho méně než u klasických knih, kapitoly dlouhé cca na stránku, prostě nádhera.

Chourouk

BEST.BOOK.EVER😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩
1000000 STARS

I really loved this book - it has become my favorite coming-of-age story. All the characters were complex, which made the story nuanced and more interesting (had only Dante's and Ari's characters been developed, the book would have lost much of its impact). I loved Ari's POV a lot, it was my favorite thing. He feels so intensely, and he's an overthinker too, and although, it can be hard, this mix is something beautiful. I appreciate it when a book makes me reflect on life (society, relationships...), which this book managed. And lastly, the most beautiful of all was seeing their relationship develop and bloom. Seeing the beginning of their friendship was precious, seeing them become close friends was lovely, and seeing that beautiful relationship grow into something romantic was sweet. Although I hesitated a lot on picking this book up, I'm glad I did, and I guess I have to thank my ex-friend for that. It's interesting how, even though we're not friends anymore, and even though our ending hurts, I still feel like we're connected by reading this book. 

Update 1: I initially gave it 4.5 stars, but since I kept thinking about the characters and missing them, I upped the rating to 5 stars.

Update 2: Rereading 2 months after the initial read haha

I really loved this book - it has become my favorite coming-of-age story. All the characters were complex, which made the story nuanced and more interesting (had only Dante's and Ari's characters been developed, the book would have lost much of its impact). I loved Ari's POV a lot, it was my favorite thing. He feels so intensely, and he's an overthinker too, and although, it can be hard, this mix is something beautiful. I appreciate it when a book makes me reflect on life (society, relationships...), which this book managed. And lastly, the most beautiful of all was seeing their relationship develop and bloom. Seeing the beginning of their friendship was precious, seeing them become close friends was lovely, and seeing that beautiful relationship grow into something romantic was sweet. Although I hesitated a lot on picking this book up, I'm glad I did, and I guess I have to thank my ex-friend for that. It's interesting how, even though we're not friends anymore, and even though our ending hurts, I still feel like we're connected by reading this book. 
Update 1: I initially gave it 4.5 stars, but since I kept thinking about the characters and missing them, I upped the rating to 5 stars.

Update 2: Rereading 2 months after the initial read haha

Noha Zainal

It started out nice and sweet but as it kept going the cheesy/cringe lines started to get more and more but overall the story itself was cute

Dante became one more mystery in a universe full of mysteries.

Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe is a great story about friendship and discovering the truth. We follow a character through Ari's eyes, and witness how he explores life. He had to overcome problems about being a teenager, the unexplainable-teenager-distant relationship with his parents, and wondering about what happened to his brother. 

He met Dante at a local swimming pool, and there, their friendship developed beautifully. We watch how Dante managed to become Ari's friend and bond over different things, but settle into one topic lovingly. But it was cut too short when Dante moved to Chicago, and he only used letters to communicate with Ari. Inside those papers, we see how Dante found himself while living in Chicago, went through loud parties, socialized, and found out about kissing; afterwards, his sexuality and coming out to Ari. 

I knew that he would never grow up and say stupid things like, “a girl is like a tree.”

It was a great way of telling a story, but it lacked expression and emotions. I didn't enjoy some of the scenes because of the lack of words in some sentences. Sometimes, I'm even left wondering how some characters felt while conversing with Ari. And that's the only problem I've noticed while reading. Overall maybe the lack of words and thoughts were the key to finding out the secrets, how Ari was really underdeveloped about knowing the truth and how keeping it away from him could cause mental health problems. 

I bet you could sometimes find all of the mysteries of the universe in someone’s hand.

I could highly suggest this book if you want to know about a silent person's perspective, who has a lot of silent battles in their minds rather than real-time arguments. 

Words were not things you could control. Not always.

Dante became one more mystery in a universe full of mysteries.


Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe is a great story about friendship and discovering the truth. We follow a character through Ari's eyes, and witness how he explores life. He had to overcome problems about being a teenager, the unexplainable-teenager-distant relationship with his parents, and wondering about what happened to his brother. 


He met Dante at a local swimming pool, and there, their friendship developed beautifully. We watch how Dante managed to become Ari's friend and bond over different things, but settle into one topic lovingly. But it was cut too short when Dante moved to Chicago, and he only used letters to communicate with Ari. Inside those papers, we see how Dante found himself while living in Chicago, went through loud parties, socialized, and found out about kissing; afterwards, his sexuality and coming out to Ari. 


I knew that he would never grow up and say stupid things like, “a girl is like a tree.”


It was a great way of telling a story, but it lacked expression and emotions. I didn't enjoy some of the scenes because of the lack of words in some sentences. Sometimes, I'm even left wondering how some characters felt while conversing with Ari. And that's the only problem I've noticed while reading. Overall maybe the lack of words and thoughts were the key to finding out the secrets, how Ari was really underdeveloped about knowing the truth and how keeping it away from him could cause mental health problems. 

I bet you could sometimes find all of the mysteries of the universe in someone’s hand.

I could highly suggest this book if you want to know about a silent person's perspective, who has a lot of silent battles in their minds rather than real-time arguments. 


Words were not things you could control. Not always.




Anjorin Molayo 

This work of fiction was so realistic and I loved every part of it. The love, all the emotions, the friendship, the family, the diversity! It was just so good!

carolina

this is not usually my genre of book but I must admit I really enjoyed reading this one, I love the characters and the complexity of their relationship, I found the story beautiful interesting and it made me quite emotional.

I love this kind of characters so much. I read it so quickly and yet I was supposed to be in a slump.

Romy

clau☁️

reading this book again after years was like diving into a world i had forgotten but knew by heart. ari and dante will never stop making me feel. it felt like looking at my reflection in a distorting mirror: i recognized myself everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

kitty 

i’m still crying .. let me come back in a few hours

Monicap

4.75 stars

I'd meant to read this book earlier in the year, as a comparison to the Song of Achilles in how women and men write gay relationships differently, but due to a reading slump I had to set it aside.

Now that I've completed it I must say I'm so glad to have read this. I'm not sure it would've been a very fair comparison to Song of Achilles, though, the genres are so different I'm not sure what differences might be attributed to that instead of the author's genders. However, perhaps it is a fair comparison as I found Ari to be quite similar to Patroclus, and Dante to be quite similar to Achilles? Alas.

Instead, I read this book after Ayobami Adebayo's Stay With Me and I find myself comparing it to that book in how it explored much more than I thought it would. I thought the focus would be on Ari and Dante's relationship, but it was truly Ari's story, focusing on Ari's "painful journey to becoming a man". Ari's relationships to his parents and Dante, how he compared his relationship with his parents to Dante's relationship with his parents, and Ari's comparison to his brother. Living in his brothers shadow.

I listened to the audible book narrated by Lin Manuel-Miranda and even as someone who missed the Hamilton craze I can see why he's so popular. He brought this book to life. Amazing listen.

luiza

honestly this book is so beautiful im fucking emo

one of the best coming of age books i’ve ever read. so heartwarming and beautiful. i will be thinking of this forever.

karo

Benjamin Alire Sáenz

This Printz Honor Book is a “tender, honest exploration of identity” (Publishers Weekly) that distills lyrical truths about family and friendship. 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.

Sarah Sammis

maitha mana

A story of two friends whose parents are mexicans and were named after famous scientists. Dante was good at almost everything, talking with people, swimming, drawing and is extremely passionate and caring. Aristotle on the other hand likes being alone and is haunted by a mystery from his past. As soon as the two are introduced, something inside of Aristotle boils up and leads to a love/hate attitude towards Dante. It all starts making sense towards the end and trust me when I say this book will make you fall in love with their friendship. One of the best books I've read this year and I honestly don't think I've highlighted as many lines as I have with this book. It seems like a privilege to have experienced a part of their many wonders and beyond amazing friendship. Truly an eye-opener. This book makes you appreciate the handful of good in this world, whether it's in a smile or a gesture.

Three of my favorite quotes:

'I bet you could sometimes find all of the mysteries of the universe in someone's hand.'
&
'One of the secrets of the universe was that our instincts were sometimes stronger than our minds.'
&
'"We're just like everyone else in the world." I knew it wasn't true. We weren't like everyone else in the world.'

The beloved cult classic about family, friendship and first love, from award-winning author Benjamin Alire Sáenz. This lyrical novel will enrapture readers of Adam Silvera (They Both Die at the End), The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Call me by your Name. Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has a unique perspective on life. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they develop 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 the universe, themselves and the kind of people they want to be. This incredibly moving and powerful Printz Honor Book follows two teen boys learning to open themselves up to love, despite the world being against them. 'A tender, honest exploration of identity' – Publishers Weekly

Lindy

People told me I would enjoy  Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe even if I don't usually like YA, because it's not a typical YA book. They are all wrong; this book is painfully YA. They also hyped it up as something way fluffier than it was. I kept wishing I could read the story from the perspective of Ari's mom. 

I can understand why Aristotle and Dante is popular: the overall feel is like a John Green novel but competent. Even then, though, it still stumbles in many of the same places; Aristotle and Dante is about a hundred pages too long for a plot that relies entirely too much on convenience and lack of specificity, and I could've done without much of the inane banter or the gratuitous literature and fine art references. 

For the longest time I had no idea why this book is set in the late 1980s. There's no reason it couldn't have been set in the present day/early 2010s. As I was reading, I thought the way certain pop cultural phenomena felt more like the way someone who grew up during the 1960s would talk about the late 80s than someone who was a teenager then (like our first person narrator), and sure enough when I read the author's bio I was right. Which means that the author is a contemporary of the teenage protagonists' parents and why they seemed more compellingly drawn.

i breathe for aridante. aridante is a lifestyle. this is the 4th book i owned back when i was in elementary and it’s so beautiful 🥺 my straight elementary ass really loved it

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

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