A review by bluelien
Aristoteles en Dante ontdekken de geheimen van het universum by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really loved this book - it has become my favorite coming-of-age story! All the characters were complex, which made the story nuanced and more interesting (had only Dante's and Ari's characters been developed, the book would have lost much of its impact). I loved Ari's POV a lot, it was my favorite thing. He feels so intensely, and he's an overthinker too, and although, it can be hard, this mix is something beautiful. I appreciate it when a book makes me reflect on life (society, relationships...), which this book managed. And lastly, the most beautiful of all was seeing their relationship develop and bloom. Seeing the beginning of their friendship was precious, seeing them become close friends was lovely, and seeing that beautiful relationship grow into something romantic was sweet. Although I hesitated a lot on picking this book up, I'm glad I did, and I guess I have to thank my ex-friend for that. It's interesting how, even though we're not friends anymore, and even though our ending hurts, I still feel like we're connected by reading this book. 
Update 1: I initially gave it 4.5 stars, but since I kept thinking about the characters and missing them, I upped the rating to 5 stars.
Update 2: Rereading 2 months after the initial read haha. 
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