By: Benjamin Alire SaenzPlot: Two teenage boys, Aristotle and Dante (obviously), meet in the summer of 1987 and become fast friends. The book follows their relationship over the course of the next year.
My Thoughts: I really loved the writing in this book. It really drew me in and made this a really easy read. I liked Ari as a character, even though he is full of teenage angst. I also really liked Ari and Dante together. I thought their summers together were better then the school year they were apart. I also loved both of their parents, and the way the author wrote about their different family dynamics. Ari's conflicting feelings about his parents seemed so true to life. The plot is... just ok. This isn't an action packed book and focuses mainly on Ari's musings about life. Also, some of the dialogue was weird. Why does everyone repeat each other all the time?
*SPOILERS*
I don't know that this is a romance. Things just didn't seem romantic between them at all. At least from Ari's perspective. The ending honestly didn't seem to fit the whole rest of the novel. Ari never believes that he is in love with Dante, so I didn't either. I felt bad for Dante, but I honestly thought that Ari only saw him as his best friend. So that 360 at the end felt forced. I mean there's nothing wrong with it, but he just spent the entire book convincing himself (and me) that he had no romantic feelings for him and then BAM he loves him.
Favorite Quotes: "The problem with my life was that it was someone else's idea."
"I wondered what that was like, to hold someone's hand. I bet you could sometimes find all the mysteries of the universe in someone's hand."
Rating: 3.5 stars. The writing in this book is the best part.