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5 Brilliant Stars

Talk about being late to the party! I’ve had this one on my TBR for years. I knew I had to read it eventually as its ratings are off the charts, especially amongst my trusted ŷ������ friends. Finally, 9 years after its publication date, I’ve read it. Good for me for waiting however as I only must wait 4 months now instead of almost 10 years for the sequel.

This book is phenomenal! It is a slice of life. Ari Mendoza’s life. When he is 15 to almost 17 years old, Ari is angry but doesn’t understand why. He is also lonely and has no friends. He doesn’t know why, but his classmates just do not interest him. He doesn’t understand his parents. Hell, he doesn’t understand himself. At all. One day he meets another Mexican kid named Dante. They actually become friends. It takes over a year, a very rough year, but finally Ari (and Dante) discover the Secrets of the Universe.

These characters won me over quickly. Not just Ari and Dante, but their parents as well. It was especially gratifying to see the growth, not just in Ari, but also in his father who is suffering PTSD secondary to two separate traumatic events. These people are so real. Their thoughts are real; their actions are real. Ari is so confused about life in general, being in that “ecotone�� between childhood and adulthood. I really “got him,�� having some of the same psychological issues when I was a teen. A book like this back in my days of confusion would have been a godsend.

Ari is our narrator. My heart went out to Ari. To watch him slowly grow in front of my eyes was riveting. To me this book is the mother of all coming-of-age stories. The author writes simply, yet beautifully. He captures the essence of his characters perfectly. This is two books in a row now where I just couldn’t stop reading during the last 75% or so. All schedules be damned. I couldn’t leave my chair. Mercifully, the copy I had from the Libby App contains a couple of chapters from the sequel I could read right away; I didn’t want to leave Ari and Dante quite yet. I was pleased to see the sequel picks up immediately where this book ends and not years into the future. Perfecto!

These characters are criers and they made me cry too. There is so much emotion in this story, yet there is not one ounce of sappiness. This is a strong treatise for all of us who feel different and want to understand why. This will assuredly be one of my very top reads of the year. I highly recommend it for everyone.