Tag: genre: coming of age

36. A book set in the decade you were born – The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley

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Finished 07/12/18

About the prompt: I had a hard time with this prompt because not many books were available to me that fit into this category. After many google searches I found this wonderful book. I was born in the 90s and this book takes place during 1993-1995, perfectly fits the prompt.

About the book: After finishing this book and having just read Aristotle & Dante by Saenz, I’ve re-discovered my love of coming-of-age themed stories. I used to devour these kinds of books during my middle school and high school days. This book was everything that I would have wanted to read back then and I’m glad I had the opportunity to read it now. It was a great coming of age story, heartbreaking with an uplifting and hopeful ending. You follow Maggie during her teenage/young adult years, trying to navigate the world as she knows it.

title: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
genre(s): YA, Lgbtqa+, Contemporary, Romance, Coming-of-Age

my thoughts: under the cut for spoilers.

A coming of age story about two Mexican boys trying to find their place in this confusing and complicated world. Ari and Dante are definitely teenage characters with their thoughts and speech, not in a negative or annoying way but in a realistic way. At first I wasn’t sure if they were going to end up together but I hoped because they just fit. The only reason this was a 4 and not a 5 for me was that Ari didn’t come to the realization that he was in love with Dante on his own but because his parents brought it to his attention. Other than that it was a great coming of age story and I haven’t read many books in this category with boys as the main characters. If you love coming-of-age stories I definitely recommend this book and the author is working on a sequel.

Finish date: 07/08/18