This review originally posted at More Than Just Magic 
 Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is the story of two unique, but totally relatable boys. Ari. A quiet, average Mexican-American boy. His older brother is in jail and he feels the weight of the pressure from his parents to be a "good boy." He's reserved and isn't a big sharer. Except when it comes to his best friend, Dante. Dante on the other hand is full of life and full of questions. Always asking why and trying to learn everything he can. Fiercely loyal and guided by his emotions. You wouldn't think they would be friends. But they compliment each other so well! 
 This is a fantastic book about the power of friendship. Both boys challenge each other. Because they have different personalities and home lives they force each other to look at the world in different ways and take risks they otherwise wouldn't. And I really appreciated that it wasn't always easy to be friends with one another. Every friendship is going to have its ups and downs no matter how close you are. Ari and Dante have to work at maintaining their friendship but in the end I think it's worth it. They end up better people - and better friends - on the other side. 
 It's not just the friendship that makes this story special, but the role of family as well. Both Ari and Dante have strong relationships with both of their parents - though very distinctive relationships. I really liked that you could feel the love in both households. So many YA books have absent parents or neglectful parents so it was nice to see more positive familial relationships. And it was nice to see different representations of how families might interact with one another (Dante's more affection family vs Ari's more quiet household). 
 Esentially this book is about two boys in that time of life between being children and men. They're having a bit of identity crisis, gaining more responsibility as the book goes on, but not always able to cope effectively with these changes. A lot of this books raises questions of identity. Their age. Their sexual orientation. Their ethnicity. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a story of coming to terms with yourself and embracing love in all its forms. It's an absolutely beautiful book with simple but touching prose. If you're like me and you like to mark/sticky note your favourite passages make sure you have lots of Post-Its ready when you start reading. Some noteable examples: 
 "Words were different when they lived inside of you." 
 "Another secret of the universe: Sometimes pain was like a storm that came out of nowhere. The clearest summer could end in a downpour. Could end in lightning and thunder." 
 "And it seemed to me that Dante's face was a map of the world. A world without any darkness." 
 BookLove 
 Recommendation: I highly recommend this book to all readers. Young and old alike. Beautiful prose, fantastic characters, universal themes. What's not to love?