toastloop

Generational Trauma with a Side of Love

I appreciate that instead of a simple boy meets boy story, Aristotle and Dante choose to frame around a complex Mexican American family from El Paso. There's a lot here that I was able to relate with, being former military, being married into a Mexican American family, and currently living in El Paso. I liked the story the most when it was discussing Ari's relationship with his distant Vietnam-veteran father and how he felt about his brother who had been locked up since he was a little boy. It felt like a real family dealing with real issues. Even Dante and his family had their moments of familial growth and I really liked Dante's dad and his relationship with Ari's dad. What I didn't love specifically was Ari. I understand he and Dante are teenagers and are likely to act out of anger on occasion. But Ari was one bad poetic line away from a My Chemical Romance song. When he wasn't acting out of anger, he was depressed and self deprecating. I'm down for a character who isn't sure of himself, but it was over the top to the point I thought we were about to venture into self harm. Ari was also pretty neglectful of Dante and what he wanted. There is some irony that he got so upset over Daniel leaving Dante when they get attacked, but Ari barely even wrote to Dante the nine months he was in Chicago. Moving off of Ari, I also thought the dialogue, especially between the two boys, was very stilted. It didn't flow organically and didn't really feel like teenagers talking to each other. Also, there's a weird mention of masturbation in one of the letters from Dante to Ari, I get they're teenage boys but that felt kind of out of place. Other characters I wish had more to do in the story included the lesbian aunt, who I feel like was there just to add a queer relative, and Dante's mom, who I felt like had a lot of her own struggles that I wished had been explored. Although the family not showing up to the aunt's funeral really hit home for me. Finally, Ari's mom is the best character in the entire book. I could feel her pain about her son who was locked up and her love for Ari's dad even if she doesn't know how to help him. I could tell she was trying to hold it together to keep the family together. I came for the love story, unfortunately that was the worst part of the book, however it was slightly redeemed by the complex relationship drama of Ari's family. I'm glad I managed to get something out of this, but it probably won't be in my reread pile anytime soon.