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** spoiler alert ** 2015 READING CHALLENGE - A book a friend recommended

I can't even begin to explain how bad this book was.
Since it's all so mixed up and stupid, I'm going to talk about this book by topics.

First of all.
Aristotle.
We see him as an introverted, "unscrutable" loner. That's how he sees himself. He thinks he's different from boys his age and he likes to spend time on his own.
(I'd like to point out that the novel is written in first person. We experience Aristotle's story as he lives it).
He writes some of his thoughts. We get to read Aristotle's feelings and experiences. Because we are living what he lives - through him.

I was certain - up until Aristotle tells he thinks he kinda hates Dante - that Aristotle was in love with his new best friend, but Saénz really wants you not to believe that, so that what he thinks is a plot twist is going to blow your mind. Except that the revelation that Aristotle was in love with Dante only blew.
One cannot start to love someone just because his parents opened his eyes about that person. I mean, Saénz thought he was being so clever by not hinting at all at Aristotle's reactions to Dante. It only makes it a stupid romance.
The saddest part was that Aristotle struggled with loneliness and sadness and some kind of depression (which he compared to his father's), but it was just him unable to discover his love for Dante.
ARGH
Also, most annoying quote: "there are worse things than kissing boys".

Aristotle's brother
We learn that Aristotle's family has gone through some rough stuff.
First, Aristotle's father fought in the Vietnam War (and he came home a different man), then Aristotle's brother got imprisoned. We don't know why.
It's all about that brother. Aristotle's obsessed with him. He thinks he'll feel free if he learns about him.
We start to get the idea that Aristotle's brother had a bad temper - every time Aristotle is 'violent', his parents get really scared and start to say things like "first your brother... now you!".
Then we learn why he was arrested: he killed a prostitute because he didn't understand she was a transvestite. He didn't respond in a bad way to something, he was batshit crazy.
So he went to prison, he didn't write back to his mother and he refused to meet his father (he also killed another person).
What made me mad is that they said he always tried and found trouble... I mean, come on, it's obviously worse than that.

Parenting
Where do I start?
Fathers who don't speak to their offspring that suddenly become heroes, because they decide to share some sappy, trite war story.
Parents who behave inappropriately with their son's best friend.
At some point they completely forgot that Dante's mother was pregnant.
Parents who basically lie to their children because they can't cope with reality ("oh, yeah, your aunt lived with another woman, who loved you and always sent you presents... she passed away five/six years before your aunt (you haven't seen her in years, even though you lived with her for nine months when you were a child and you loved here...), we didn't tell you because we don't know how to speak to you or to those evil twin sisters of yours, who are total bitches, but don't worry, we only love you!!").

Also, Aristotle gets away with a lot of stuff, only because he did it for Dante.
Of course, his parents only care if he's becoming a crazy person, like his brother.



I want to wrap this up. This is written poorly. I didn't like the plot, I didn't care for the characters. There was no timeline, no logical connections.
It was just ugly.