From the Bookshelf of The Toast…

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Aristotle and Dante, #1)

Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Why we're reading this: Lin-Manuel Miranda performs the audiobook. Recommended in comments 10-6-15.
[close] Lin-Manuel Miranda performs the audiobook. Recommended in comments 10-6-15.

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May 19, 2018 Heather rated it really liked it

Oh, I loved this book.

Part of it is I think I loved the *idea* of this book. I want to hand it to every teen boy who struggles with the pressures toxic masculinity. Here. This is not a rule book, but it can be a road map, an expanded idea of what it means to be a young man.

But the other part just loved this book. The writing was somewhat unusual to my experience, and it did take me some time to get into the groove. I wish I'd had a day to set aside to just read it cover to cover, instead of sn ...more

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Jan 13, 2017 Rachel Simone rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-harder-2017

Wow. Incredible book. Likable and interesting characters. Beautiful writing.

Lin-Manuel Miranda does the audiobook and it is perfection!

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Mar 14, 2018 Jessica rated it did not like it

There were parts of this book I loved. Aristotle and Dante are different than a lot of the stereotypes about gay characters, especially in YA lit. Some of the language is beautiful.

But there's some things I can't quite reconcile myself to, and a lot of it has to do with Ari's brother, who is in prison.
(view spoiler) There were parts of this book I loved. Aristotle and Dante are different than a lot of the stereotypes about gay characters, especially in YA lit. Some of the language is beautiful.

But there's some things I can't quite reconcile myself to, and a lot of it has to do with Ari's brother, who is in prison.
(view spoiler)[We don't find out until about 20 pages from the end, nearly 90% of the way through the book, what Bernardo did to end up in prison, because Ari's parents have kept it from him all his life. He killed someone. And the person he killed is a transgender prostitute (the book describes the victim as he, and transvestite, but it's set in in the 80s; I think that from the perspective of 2018 as I write this review, they would identify as female and transgender.) Either way, Bernardo kills someone in a sort of trans or gay panic sort of way, with his bare hands. And Ari's fear is that, because he attacked someone who viciously beat Dante, to the point that Dante's tormentor had to go to the ER, that he might be like Bernardo. And I get that maybe, in the 80s, Ari might not identify with Bernardo's victim; LGBT solidarity is in some ways more modern than that. Certainly it's easier to identify with your brother who you loved, even if he's been out of your life for a decade. We also find out that Bernardo killed someone else in juvie, again with his bare hands. Ari tells Dante this. And then we never talk about it again. And thirty pages later, Ari's parents tell him that he's gay and in love with Dante (which also is pretty messed up; certainly his parents might know before he comes out to them, but the book almost has Ari's realization come entirely from his parents, and that's not great.) And then a few pages after that, he tells Dante that he lied when they kissed earlier, that it did do something for him then, and they make out, and then the book ends. It feels rushed to have his coming out happen like this. It feels cheap and horrible to have Ari's brother be someone who has murdered a trans person and to have that be essentially ignored for the rest of the book. Ari didn't even know his brother had killed someone, much less two people. He didn't know about his brother's homophobia/transphobia. And it never feels like he reckons with it at all, in even the slightest way, or what that might mean about how his brother who he loved, who loved him, would see him now if he knew who Ari was and about his sexuality. It's cheap, and does a disservice. (hide spoiler)] ...more

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Dec 21, 2017 LdyGray rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club, audiobooks, young-adult, 2017

Super adorable and well-written young adult coming-of-age/romance. I loved the characters, although some of it was a little too smooth/coincidental. The audiobook is read by Lin-Manuel Miranda, so that was a big plus!

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Mar 21, 2023 Baanoo rated it it was amazing

There were moments, reading this in the train on the way to work, when my eyes filled with tears for the ache of loneliness and growing up and loss and fear and hope.

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