I think the book annihilated the remains of my aversion to young adult genre. I used to treat the genre as a sort of wild teenage party. It is surely fun, but only for a certain age which I have already left behind. With this book, though, I discovered that the genre can be fine with me too, especially if I read it somewhere between observing Patrick Melrose’s drug abuse, and unraveling the prose of Sarah Perry. (In case you don’t know who they are, Patrick Melrose is the main character in several novels about his very complicated life, and Sarah Perry is an amazing author whose writing is so intricate that to read ten pages of her book takes about the same time as reading this young adult novel.) Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (boy, this title is long) is a great break from everything hard that sometimes happens in literature.

I don’t mean though that the book is on easy topics. It’s just written in a way that doesn’t overload you. All the hardships of the book are slightly blurred, so you don’t get to witness anything really graphic. More than that, one of the main big dramas of the book eventually acquires such an angle that a reader can almost feel relieved that it did happen, because when something bad happens to a bad guy it’s justice and everybody should be happy [sarcasm].

What’s the book about

It’s about a teenage boy called Aristotle whose family has a complicated history. Aristotle is not very close to his parents, especially not to his father who has his own traumas. Aristotle meets Dante, who’s a complete opposite of him. Dante is open, friendly, full of love and art. Even Dante’s father is a nice, friendly guy. The book is about the relationships between the two boys, and about the way people of all ages grow to understand and express their own feelings.

What I liked about the book

Its construction

Even though I understand that the main treasure of this book is how it addresses the topic of diversity, love and acceptance, and the way it shows the world to a younger audience, I mainly liked how easy it was to read the book.

Just look at this! It’s a chapter!

And it’s a dialogue!

The writing

It is simple, but not unpleasant. Taking into account that it’s written for younger audiences with (presumably) a shorter attention span, it’s probably a perfectly-written book.

It’s so quickly to read!

It took me just a couple of hours to finish the whole book!

What I didn’t like about the book

It was hard to follow the dialogues

As you can see in the photo above, there’s no indication who the lines belong to. Besides, sometimes the characters echo each other’s lines. That’s why it’s easy to mix them up by the end of the page.

Naiveness

Some things are slightly too naive or convenient, like all-knowing parents advice at the right moment, or big important conversations that finally happen. But I guess it’s the quality of the genre, and it will feel right for someone younger.

Redundant characters

I really don’t know why some characters happened in the book. Their presence was not necessary even as extras.

Aristotle is a drama queen sometimes

I understand that he’s a teenager with unbalanced emotions, but some of his reactions didn’t seem natural even through this prism.

Slightly empty plot

I expected there to be more adventures, taking into account that it’s a book about teenagers, with a part of the story taking place during summer holidays. There are a few highlighted events, but they would comfortably fit into a much shorter book.

Overall impression

It’s a great light read on deeper topics. If you like young adult novels, or looking for something easy to read, you will most likely enjoy Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.

You always know when you are reading a good book. It doesn’t feel like a book. You see no traces of backstage manipulations, no tricks, no author. The story is alive on its own.

The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles feels so real I had to double-check it’s not a memoir. Even when I already knew the characters were fictional (although they were partially based on real people) I was still googling for them. I wanted to see what they looked like even though I knew they never existed. That’s the closest I could find.

According to the interview with the author, these two singers, Carmen Miranda and Chavela Vargas, were the inspiration for some of the characters’ traits and stories.

In some sources The Air You Breathe is called a saga. It does indeed cover a lifelong story but it doesn’t feel unbearably huge. Reading it is like listening to a person who is speaking about her love for a person and for music.

The music is so palpable it gives the book a new dimension. I now know samba without having ever listened to it before.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76R6O1va9iM?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

At first, I was thinking the book would make a great movie. There are so many amazing visuals, really good songs. But the more the story developed the more I understood a movie might turn this story into another postproduction amputee. There are too many depths and precious moments for a movie to handle. I just hope that if the story is ever picked up for an adaptation it will be preserved as it is.

Such books are not born overnight. I don’t even mean all the research that went into The Air Your Breathe to show the readers Brazil in the 30s and Hollywood in the 40s. I mean the maturity of the book. It feels like classic even though it was published just three days ago. Such quality requires not only skill and talent but time to brew. I contacted Frances de Pontes Peebles, the author, for more information and found out that my perception was right. Frances said it took her 9 years to write the book.

I feel lucky to have found this book and to be living at times when I could get it with one click. I also feel a bit envious of those who haven’t read it yet. They have yet to meet the characters, whom I already miss, and to enjoy a really good book.

Genre: lgbt romance
Stars from Goodreads: 4.3
Stars from me: 4

Call Me by Your Name is the best book about love that I have recently read, partially because I have little to compare to. I don’t hunt for books about love, because it’s close to impossible to find a good one, one that wouldn’t make you feel idiotic for reading even a few lines from it. Call Me by Your Name is also about the biggest love that I have ever read about. It’s the love between two men so I’m sure this book will seem less conventional for some. Luckily, I was gay friendly even before I knew there was a term for it, so I was able to just enjoy the feelings in the book, without being distracted. I’ve never seen an author dissect the feelings so elaborately, lay them out, hold them against the light and watch them so closely. If you are more into action stories, you will get bored. If you see treasures in things expressed beautifully and precisely, you’ll find your gems. If you like keeping feelings even after the characters who had them are gone, this book is also for you.

My biggest disappointment with the book was its sex scenes, again too graphic for my prude self. This time though, I can’t even say they were unnecessary. They conveyed a lot, but I would still prefer not to know it, even if that meant losing some depths of the book. Because of those graphic scenes I’m giving the book only four stars (which apparently still excited Kindle search engine, it has been offering me gay romance ever since).

There’s a movie based on the book. I tried to watch this semi-eaten skeleton of what once was a shining story, but couldn’t finish it. The actors were chosen perfectly, though, as if someone outlined them from the book. If you are interested in the story, I would strongly suggest you would read the book and ignore the movie.