"SMILES ARE LIKE THAT. THEY COME AND GO"

1 Feb 2016

ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE 


The second book of this year and I loved it. What a great start to the reading year! Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe; a book I've been meaning to pick for a bout a year now and finally I have. 

Apart from good reviews, my knowledge of the plot was limited and if I was judging it by the cover, I was expecting some sort of adventure but instead I found myself delving into another contemporary YA novel; my favourites! 

Following the personal story of the friendship between Aristotle and Dante, it's a simplistic plot if it even has a plot. It's almost just the written memories of the friendship of two polar opposites as they experience life together. What I loved about their friendship was how different they were but yet they still fitted together as if a jigsaw. 

Reading about and watching the relationship between them grow was almost an honour to be able to see so closely the details of how their friendship came to be. I loved how real it was and how they had their ups and downs like any friendship. I related to Aristotle a lot in feelings towards frienship and how he sometimes felt it was best to take a step back. 

One major point I loved about this book was the parents. It's far too often in YA where the parents are either awful or non existent. In this story, however, the parent played an important and prominent role in the story and I really loved that element, showing how not all fictional parents are messed up. The relationship the two had with their owns as well as each others parents made it feel like an average story of friendship and that's what I loved about this book; no big plot twists just a story of new relationships and discovery. 

There's not much I could fault about this book as all elements were executed beautifully. However, the reason I did give it 4 and not 5 stars was due to the ending not finishing as I would have hoped. I obviously don't want to spoil this book for you as I do urge you to give this a quick read but, for me, I think more good could have come from this by following another path. Having said that, I really did like how everything came together at the end as we discovered, ourselves, the truth or Aristotle and Dante.

Overall the tone of the book and the writing style was the kind I love and it reminded me a lot of Where Things Come Back and, being my favourite book, it's obviously a very positive comparison to make. Also, if you enjoyed The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, this is another book you should check out covering some similar issues and, again, a slightly similar tone. 

If you don't mind a book that lacks a real storyline, love stories surrounding relationships as well as looking for a book surrounding LGBTQ+ issues, I would definintely pick this up!
Have you read this book? Have you got any recommendations?
Hope you're doing great,
Sarah x

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