Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Coming out sometimes happens slowly. This book is about two boys who meet over one summer and become best friends. Although they’re different, they find the pieces of themselves that fit together.

Throughout the story, it felt as if they were meant to be together. The Universe made it so. All Ari had to do was believe. 

Set in 1987 Texas, this sweet coming-of-age story has so many of my favorite things: A slow-burn romance, opposites attracting, and characters so beautifully drawn that you won’t want to let them go when you get to the final page.

Dante is artistic, sensitive and wears his heart on his sleeve. Ari is fiercely loyal, tough on the outside but on the inside is still finding his way. When an accident changes the dynamic of their summer friendship, they both need to come to terms with what they really mean to each other.

I love that this story unfolds at… show more.

This book, along with its recently published sequel, are beautifully crafted stories. Ari first meets Dante in the summer. Dante offers to teach Ari how to swim and from there an unlikely friendship blooms. Ari with his quiet moods and his desire to remain invisible, and Dante, quick to love with his large personality and confidence. Their bond runs deeper over the summer and they are both faced with what they truly want, and how to live in a world that won’t accept them. I love both of these books, how Ari and Dante lift the other up, and how… show more.

As a Texas native, the setting of Aristotle and Dante really resonated with me. I don’t read much YA these days, but I found myself in Ari and I think many others can too. I fell in love with Dante through him. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the slow burn of a first love, coming out without being a typical ‘coming out’ book, where they both live at the end. The audiobook is also fantastic, and narrated by Lin Manuel Miranda. Bonus points for POC main characters.

This is a book that is brutal and tender by turns; a beautiful love story and one of the best LGBTQI coming-of-age novels that I’ve come across. I fell in love with the characters, Ari and Dante, and by the end felt as though I knew them. The prose is lyrical and poetic; the story one of fortitude, hope, and the power of human connection – because really, isn’t that what life is all about?