Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Very sweet book of a teenage boy finding himself. Interesting main character (Aristotle), both for the low-key queer narrative and the family issues. Also finding his Mexican-American identity. There's a nice central mystery about a missing brother. All lovely writing. It's very young adult, and the writing style is awfully simple, but it's a good story.

What I really loved is Dante, the other character. He's not the POV and he's only told in suggestions. But he's compelling and interesting as his whole family. Sort of a fantasy really, a good one.

My main quibble in the story is with the final section. It felt very abrupt. The whole book is about Ari and Dante coming to love each other. But Ari's love seems clearly platonic. I was enjoying the story at that level and the sad tension of Dante's unrequited crush. But then all the sudden in the last pages everyone's like "no Ari you love-love your friend" and they kiss and... It's sweet and felt true enough but also a little unearned.

Not sure if I'll read the sequel. Would love to read more of the story but my head's in a more adult space. In particular the language here was awfully simple which I assume is appropriate for the audience but left me a little wanting.