Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

One of my grad school colleagues asked for recommendations for reading over winter break and she already had a list of non-fiction that would be my entire list for a calendar year, but one of our other colleagues admitted that all she read in her free time was LGBTQ YA fiction and she proceeded to name a bunch of books in this genre that I'd never heard of and I immediately added them all to my library hold list. That's just how I roll.

Anyway, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe came in first and I thought it was a sweet story of first love. It's like Sarah Dessen for gay boys.  There's also threads about class differences and race that resonate throughout the novel, just like Dessen will have other threads beyond the true love forever in her books. 

So this was fine and I enjoyed reading it, but I don't actually think that the book will stay with me or that the characters will.  There's something undeniably important about allowing young gay men to see a portrayal of young gay love that is supportive and fun.  There's something undeniably irresistible about a happily ever after story.  But that's where it stops for me.  It's important, fun, and there's a nice happy ending.  If that's your jam, go ahead and pick this up.