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after reading some of the mixed reviews i had to come on here and explain my perception of the book.
the book starts off by introducing the two main characters:

angel aristotle mendoza (ari), 15/16 years old, mexican-american, pretty lost in his thoughts, suffers from knowing a lot, distant father but loving home, introverted and doesn’t approach people his age, doesn’t like injustice and gets into fights because of it tho.

and then there is dante quintana, same age, sunshine, loving home as well, also mexican-american, loves a lot of things, positive outlook on life, contagious laugh, extroverted and not afraid to be himself.

throughout the story of these two boys, who meet each other at a swimming pool in the summer, is told in such a philosophical and beautiful way that i had to read some passages again just because of the beauty that was alìrez� way to describe not only ari‘s thoughts but movement, the weather, dante‘s laugh and other things. his writing style has definitely become one of my favourites because of the attention to the beauty in simple things.

i liked the time this book was set in because as pretty as everything is, it is connected to hard times in the community, as the two protagonists are not only facing struggles because of racism, but they are also gay. and live in texas. during the aids crisis. L. the way all of these struggles were explained really made me empathise with the characters more because i didn’t know much about it at first but i became so much more open and also angry at these problems in a way that made my heart ache for everyone who is still affected by any of this in the modern day.
i also liked that this wasn’t a book just about love, but about friendship, family, summer, school and as the story went on, we saw ari learn new things from dante, not only about swimming but about life and we saw the way it changed hin to be a bit more like dante and search for the light.

since i‘m not delusional, i can tell what could‘ve been improved, even though i loved the book from start to finish. and though i hate to admit it, the other reviews were right. the book really has no plot, except ari and dante becoming friends. there is no quest they have to solve, no task they have, its just two dudes, summer and vibes. but i still think that it doesn’t get boring and i also think the plotless thing was on purpose.

overall, i really fell in love with the book and it‘s characters, also because i saw myself in ari and it taught me to be a little more like dante.