Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a young adult novel by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. This book was different compared to what I normally read, but it was different in a great way. I haven’t read a lot of LGBTQ+ books, so it was great to see the representation in such a sweet novel. As I’ve mentioned before, I am trying to read more young adult books and this one was a perfect choice. It’s definitely inspired me to find more LGBTQ+ fiction books for me to read, especially some with bisexual representation. I’ve heard rumors of there being a movie in the works but I’m not sure how much of that is really true.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is about the relationship between two Latino boys, Aristotle and Dante. They meet in the middle of the summer at the pool where Dante teaches Ari how to swim. They lead very different lives but as they get closer, their positive relationship changes into a loving one as they slowly become young men. There are some traumatic experiences, many letters exchanged, and a coming out story for both of them.
A part of the book that I loved was the display of positive masculinity. When the book starts we see Ari as a very angry young boy. But as the story continues and his relationship with Dante grows more and more, we see him slowly overcoming his angry and impulsive tendencies. There were some parts where Ari would want to have a violent outburst, but he’d control himself. Those little moments showed his growth as a character, though sometimes it was obvious he restrained himself so he wouldn’t end up in jail like his older brother. Dante was also a very open and soft-spoken teenage boy, you could tell that he and Ari were very different when it came to how they reacted to conflict. Dante was more of a cool and collected teenager and would sometimes panic when something like a fight presented itself. With Ari, he’s more of a punch first, think of the consequences later. Dante, in general, is more gentle compared to even the other boys his age. We see him crying over a dead bird and just wanting to help others. It’s obvious to tell that he’s been sheltered from the violence of the world.
Sáenz wrote the relationship between Ari and Dante beautifully. One problem that I seem to have with a lot of LGBTQ+ fiction books is that sometimes they don’t write the relationships authentically. You can tell that it’s just a straight person trying to get diversity points by writing a gay relationship or they’re fetishizing a mlm relationship. With this story, it’s pure though. This story focuses on the fact that they’re gay because it’s set in the 80s and Ari obviously struggles with internalized homophobia. It went above and accurately portrayed the fear that a lot of LGBTQ+ people struggle with when they’re first realizing that they’re not straight. It also explores the two sides of that, we see Ari and his struggle but we also see Dante and how free he is with himself. He talks constantly with Ari about boys that he’s meeting with or how he’s been exploring his sexuality. Sáenz does a great job of exploring the process of coming out to yourself and to those around you in an authentic way.
There was also no rush to the relationship between Dante and Aristotle. They got to their relationship when they were ready. It wasn’t rushed into or anything. They also don’t automatically go for the other. We see Dante is exploring with other boys and he’s sharing these experiences with Ari. And Ari, he’s struggling with hearing about these experiences. He’s a little jealous at first, but he doesn’t recognize it as a fit of romantic jealousy but more of a platonic one. This was great to see because usually the two gay characters in a book are automatically thrown to one another just because they have the same sexuality. But with this story, we see that though this relationship is the endgame, they have to work themselves up to it. Ari still needed to struggle and come to terms with his sexuality before being put into a relationship. It wasn’t a forced relationship, it was one where they found themselves, and then they found each other.
Overall, the themes in this book are some of my favorites. And the fact that it’s directed towards a younger teenage audience is great. Sáenz explores so many themes like identity, sexuality, ethnicity, and masculinity. He portrays these themes with the struggles that Ari and Dante are going through and how they’re looking to others in their lives to help them to adapt and overcome the struggles.
This book is one that I recommend. I did enjoy the story, it was sweet and romantic while still showing the struggles that many LGBTQ+ kids go through. I love how accurate the portrayal was and most of the characters were ones that I could connect with. I can see myself re-reading this and if a movie or a sequel was made, I would be checking it out. Check out Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s website
here.
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