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.

Have I just read a young adult story and liked it?!  Not only was it a young adult book, it had fairytales and love stories in it! And yet I still enjoyed it! This book made me think I should probably let go of my genre purism and venture to other genres too.

General information about the book

The genre

Bone Gap is described as magical realism but I wouldn’t say that. Unless you also call The Nutcracker magical realism. In this case Bone Gap would qualify too. I’d say this book is a contemporary story about the way we see people, about beauty, and about emotional abuse and getting free from it. All these ideas are presented via a dynamic young adult story with elements of a scary fairytale.

A spoiler-free description

A teenager called Finn lives in a small town which has all the habits and peculiarities of a small town. Everybody knows everybody. Everybody gossips. The quote in the beginning of the book nails it:

The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don’t know what you are doing, someone else does.

People think Finn is weird but in a small town everybody is still a family, even though it means some members of this family occasionally bully others.

The town is called Bone Gap and this place is also strange. People, animals and things mysteriously appear and disappear in the town. Thus, nobody finds it strange when Roza disappears too. But there’s a spooky, complicated story behind her disappearance. The book tells you about her disappearance, what caused it and if anybody is going to do anything about it.

Why I liked the book

The ideas

I see the main villain in the book as a metaphor for all toxic people who objectify others and feel entitled to their lives. The treasure of this book is that it gives a form to such evil and demonstrates it in action.

I also liked how the book focuses on people’s perception of each other.

Animals!

There are so many cute animals in the book! Unlike in many other stories, these animals are not there to be simply culled for the sake of the plot. They are there to be admired and adored.

Normal romance

There are love stories in the book, but they are not overly romanticised. Nobody speaks in a silly language or faints at unexpected moments. Everything is very realistic, but sweet.

Dialogues

They are dynamic and sharp. Here’s an example:

“What have you got against Chicago?”
“Too big.”
“Since when?”
“Too many people.”
“What have you got against people?” <…>
“Too many opinions.”

Writing

The book is written with some humour. Had I read this book when I was a teenager I would have probably laughed even more. Here are some examples:

Finn froze up like a monument to cowards everywhere.

The Rude boys walked as if they were permanently saddle sore.

It’s a very fast read

My edition looks quite big but the font is large too. Although I didn’t hurry, I managed to read this book in one day.

What I disliked about the book

Misplaced linguistics

Roza is a Polish student who has spent a year in the US. She’s clever, witty, independent and strong, and yet her language skills are so primitive, she talks as if she had learned about the existence of English language only yesterday. She cannot form even basic sentences! I found it quite disrespectful to Roza herself. It also makes her rather mute when she’s interacting with main characters which wastes a lot of potential for the scenes. I understand that it might have been planned as a touch to show her origins but it is definitely overplayed. Her use of random Polish words also feels redundant and out of place. There are a few untranslated Polish phrases. They are not decisive for the plot but I think it would be good not to leave readers guessing what the phrases mean. I managed to understand them but I don’t think people who never studied Slavic languages would.

Camouflaged clichés

There’s a trick to cover up a cliché when you are writing a book. You point at the cliché yourself. For example: you spook people by corn stalks and then you reference Stephen King. You create a bearded character who looks like an old magician and mention Gandalf. I personally always notice the trick and it inhibits my immersion into the book.

Final thoughts

I can definitely recommend this book. It’s a fast-paced and entertaining story but there’s also a deeper meaning to it.