Most of the time I don't go in expecting much from books. I don't want to get my hopes up and then while reading watch them crash and burn in the desert. It's a good thing I don't do that because my hopes would have exploded upon landing in the Sonoran Desert after reading this book.

Sal has always had a place in his adopted Mexican-American family. However, his history is reaching out and encroaching on his mind, all the while life-altering events force him and his best friend Sam to confront head on issues of family, friendship, love, loss, and grief.

Sal is confused. Who he was before, looks like a stranger. If the person he was before, wasn't who he truly was, then who is he?

I want to get this out there - I liked what the book was about, but I didn't like how it was executed. For a lack of better words, it could have been better.

It took some getting used to, but I eventually liked Saenz's writing style. This book is character-driven so it warranted a more introspective and thoughtful voice. Sal's thoughts and feelings and his difficulties coming to understand those thoughts and feelings was shown quite well.

A prominent subject and theme of this book was relationships: family, friendship, and romantic.

Family is very important to Sal and everyone, particularly his father and Mima, are held in special regard. They love him and he loves them. Their care and affection was displayed throughout the novel and it was really lovely to see/read.

His relationship with them and how their love is felt made him question the Nature v. Nurture aspect he had been juggling with throughout the story. What makes him, him? The family who raised him or the DNA he received from people he doesn't remember and doesn't know.

It's why he hates being called a "white boy" so much. The phrase is thrown around as an insult, because it makes him feel alienated from the only family he's ever known.

The friendships in this book was also touching (but only barely). His relationship with his best friend, Samantha, is questionable at best, but they love each other a lot (supposedly). Their friendship circle extends to Fito, a fellow classmate with a bad home life. What I thought was interesting was how Sal's father, and by extension the Silva family, take in Sam and Fito as well, making them a part of their extended family.

Now onto the things I disliked. Much of my dislike for this book surrounds the character, Samantha Diaz. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why Sal is friends with her. Sam is rude, mean, nosy, likes to be in everyone's business, dramatic (in a look at me kind of way), insensitive, bossy (not the "leadership" kind of bossy). She's literally the worst. She calls other girls "bitches" and she doesn't have any other friends except Sal, and I'm here thinking, "well, it's cause you're a crappy person."

Sal and Sam have a thing for words. You'd think since they have such an appreciation and fascination with words, that they'd be more careful with them. Particularly, Sal. However, Sam flings words around willy-nilly, and Sal lets her, despite his feelings toward it. Calling people, "bitches" and "schizophrenic dorks" is not cute or quirky, it's insulting. It doesn't make sense to me that these two teens, who have such a thoughtful father-figure, and know the power of words, are okay with saying phrases like that.

For instance, she calls him "white boy" even though he's expressed to her that he dislikes when anyone calls him that.

Another issue I had was how Sam never allowed Sal to feel and express himself. He's hesitant to share things, particularly about his anger, because he worries she'll think differently of him or stop loving him, which is reasonable in a sense, but I fear it stems from Sam's own actions of dismissing his feelings. One time, she got angry at him and he simply told her to calm down and she called him an "emotional anorexic". There again, with the poor use of words, and dismissing him.

Sal is going through a lot of introspection and emotional changes. Sam tells him he's beating himself up to much. It's not who he is. He asks, "How do you know?". Apparently, she just knows and he goes along with it.

There are just a lot of issues that could have been challenged throughout this book. And with plenty of pages to do it. In a 400+ page book, you'd think Sam (and Sal) would learn to remove stereotypical words from their vocabulary, refrain from degrading others, but no. There was also plenty of room to examine the issue of sexual assault, but nope.

In the end, I disliked The Inexplicable Logic of My Life more than I liked it. It's a touching coming-of-age novel, that focuses on a barrier/stepping point in an adolescent's life. Senior year, college, a change in family dynamics. However, I can't get over how poorly "best friend" Sam treats Sal and how he never challenges her to be a better person (relationships go both ways people).

Reader's Discretion is advised for: mentions of drug use, domestic & familial abuse, sexual assault (& attempted rape), deaths in the family.

I really enjoyed this book, and it was beautifully written, but there were a few things that kept me from absolutely adoring it. I almost wrote a bite-sized review for this one, but then I decided I just couldn’t talk about it concisely enough for that because there were a lot of points that I wanted to talk about. My feelings about this book are complicated!

What Fed My Addiction:

Gorgeous writing.
Sáenz has a way of putting emotion on paper (or, you know, digital screen) that that is utterly captivating and beautiful. If I were rating this book on writing alone, it would easily get five stars.

Characters you can’t help but love.
Because of the depth of the emotion in this book, it’s hard not to get wrapped up in the lives of these characters. It’s a very character-driven book, so it’s a very good thing that they’re people you can love, even though they’re all (well, mostly) flawed. A lot of trauma befalls Sal and his friends, so be prepared to hurt for them.

Sal’s father.
If there was ever a perfect YA parent, it’s Sal’s dad. He handles every situation with grace and love, but he still steps forward and sets boundaries. I absolutely loved him (though, if you head down to my negatives, you’ll see that I thought maybe he was a teensy bit too perfect?)

Diversity.
This book is all about the diversity. With three gay characters, and a white boy raised in a Mexican family there are plenty of diverse themes to explore. And Sáenz explores them in a thoroughly honest and thought-provoking way.

Adoption portrayed positively.
This book explores the issue of adoption and shows how family can be forged in many different ways.

Religion portrayed positively.
The book also explores religious themes in an incredibly balanced manner. Sal isn’t sure how he feels about religion, and he has people in his life in various areas of the spectrum, from his devout Catholic grandmother (who he adores) to his father who believes in God but doesn’t actively practice his religion much, to his best friend who isn’t at all sure about God. I loved that Sal’s exploration was personal and there didn’t seem to be any judgment on any side.

No romance.
There’s no romance in this book, but there is an incredibly strong male-female friendship. It was refreshing to see this!

What Left Me Hungry for More:

Lack of plot.
This book is incredibly character-driven. So character driven that there almost isn’t a plot at all. It’s basically just a book about some teenagers and how they feel when traumatic family life happens to them. For a 464 page contemporary, surprisingly little actually happens, and it took me a while to get through the book because of that. It definitely felt like it dragged in some places.

Textbook parenting?
Okay, so I said I love Sal’s dad, and I do. But in some ways he almost seems a teensy bit too perfect. Like he’s literally a parenting book come to life. At one point, Sal even protests that his dad has never tried to be his friend, even though they get along incredibly well. It didn’t seem like something realistic that a kid would say about his dad—it seemed like the parroting back of popular parenting advice. Sal’s dad responds to every situation perfectly. He never raises his voice and he always knows the right thing to say. And (this is hard to even mention because of my own privilege), there was a teensy feeling that I got that maybe the gay dad was being portrayed as too absolutely perfect to contrast with the horrendously terrible, horrible straight parents (and, wow, were they horrible) in order to make a point? There’s validity to this, since we need to see positive portrayals of gay parents, but I have to confess that there was a little part of me that felt like the depiction of absolute perfection was maybe a little too over-the-top and therefore didn’t ring true, which watered down the message a little.

Sal’s sudden fits of violence.
So, in the book Sal suddenly finds himself getting angry often and punching people (or really wanting to punch them even when he doesn’t follow through—but he does follow through several times throughout the book). He always does it in defense of someone he loves, so the sentiment is admirable, but I couldn’t help but feel like this was kind of odd. I get that Sal is confused about his life and sad about his grandmother’s illness, but it seemed odd to me. The thought goes through his head that maybe it was a case of nature vs. nurture (like maybe he gets his violent tendency from his biological father), but then when there is a chance to explore that at the end of the book, it isn’t really mentioned. And Sal’s grandmother tells Sal that it’s just him growing up, as if it’s completely natural for boys to start punching people when they’re becoming men. Um … no?

So, like I said, my feelings are complicated when it comes to this book. It’s beautifully written and there are aspects of it that I adored, but the slow pacing and the lack of plot made it hard for me to truly love. Those things, along with the other more nit-picky issues I had with the book, lowered my rating a bit. In the end, I gave it 3.5/5 stars.

How do I even describe how beautiful this book was?

If I actually hugged you and sob on your shoulder, you still wouldn’t know how deeply it moved me! Because there are not words beautiful enough to describe this book! And…

How do I EVER get over the fact it’s over??? I read it. The end. [sobs loudly]

These characters are so diverse I just want to sit and cry of joy [sobs even loudlier]

How come I want to be adopted by a man that doesn’t even exist??? And be BFF with three kids [Salvy, Sam and Fito] who don’t exist either??? I’m in such state of despair over the fact their are all FICTIONAL characters!!! [wuahhhh]

I kid you not… It took me forever to read this book because it’s so DAMN poetic that I would read a paragraph and then I would go on a philosophical marathon idiotically sighing-mussing-gaping-day-dreaming about every possible beautiful or ugly thing in life: family, traditions, friends, loneliness, isolation, sickens, grief, loss… you name it. I thought of it.

I especially thought about my wonderful family, my yaya and mami [my grandma and grand-grandma] who gave me the most wonderful childhood anyone could ask for and and how it made me who I am today. I thought so much about my upbringing, my family, my childhood friends, my siblings…. or… the mortality of crabs, for that matters! I got all philosophical about EVERYTHING! At the end I was just hoping I was half as good friend, sister, mom and daughter as this characters were.

Because Salvy and his dad had the most beautiful father son relationship! And Sam and Sally have the most splendorous friendship! And Mani was the most wonderful grandmother! And… And… And… she gets very sick… And… And let’s stop here because I need to keep it together if I want to finish this review.

And… You know what else I loved?? ALL THE FOOD AND THE COOKING! I really love family cooking and they cooked MEXICAN food, which I can’t get enough of, and so much cooking and so much family and friends cooking together, and all wonderful things that touch your souls… and so much love!

THERE IS SO MUCH LOVE IN THIS BOOK! SO MUCH!

If you need a mood lift, go get this book and treasure it! Here is my VERY LENGTHY Goodreads summary. Hope you enjoy it

A book about everything and nothing. I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, it is beautifully written. Characters are dynamic and complex with distinct voices. And Saenz has a fantastic command of language. He writes with a kind of poetry about the mundane and the profound. On the other hand, the plot is reliant on a surprising amount of coincidence and random happenings. Its not a clear, linear plot, but rather a series of reactions to outside influences. Read this one in order to appreciate the writing, not for the plot.

My first reaction to this book was this:

THIS BOOK IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT REFUTATION OF TRUMP'S AMERICA.

And also simultaneously this:

THIS BOOK IS SUCH A DISAPPOINTING AFFIRMATION OF TRUMP'S AMERICA.

I'm more inclined to support my first reaction to this book than the second, because it really does contain some things that are vital to staying sane in America today.

Sal is a straight white boy who has an adoptive gay Mexican-American father. He considers himself Mexican, since he grew up in a Mexican-American family, surrounded by Mexican culture, and with a Mexican-American best friend, Sam (who just so happens to be a girl with whom he doesn't fall head-over-heels in love with). AND ALL OF THIS IS NORMAL. Every person in this book is a person, not a stereotype.

Also, Sal has an actually great relationship with his parent (!!) which you never see in YA. Like, ever. Sal and his father are honest and open with each other, and when they're not, that dishonesty is condemned. I've read so many books where the child tries to hide the drugs and the problems in their life from their parents and that's considered a "good thing." But if Sal drinks? He tells his father, and they discuss it. If Sal has done something wrong? He goes to his father and talks to him about it. If Sal's friend happens to have a bad family life? Sal doesn't hide it from his father. He actually takes the problem to his dad, and they talk about it. A++++++++.

And finally, Sal's a senior in high school! Which means he's applying to college! So many YA novels I read depict senior year as a year of blowing off school and partying. It's not.

But then there's this:

Fito shook his head. 'Don't think so. All three of us put together don't make one real Mexican.'
I guess he was right.
Then Sam said, 'And all three of us put together don't make one real American.'
Fito cracked up laughing. 'Well, gringo over here had a good chance at being a real American. Only he wound up in the wrong family.'"
Gringo = the insult Fito (another Mexican-American friend of Sal's) and Sam use to tease Sal about the fact that he's actually white. So basically what they're saying here is Sal COULD HAVE been a "real American" because he's white and Fito and Sam can't be "real Americans" because of their Mexican heritage?? That is totally, completely, utterly wrong. Not being white or celebrating a culture that isn't American does not make you "not a real American." At a time when our own President is mocking nonwhites, calling us "un-American" just for the color of our skin, empowering others to tell us to "go back to your country" when we've been born and raised in the United States of America, this is inexcusable. Especially in a book for young people. Perhaps it's a joke. An exploration of identity. But that still doesn't make it okay.

Other than that implication, I loved this book. I loved the relationships, the writing style, and the fact that it has no real plot but keeps you wanting to read more anyways. On the whole, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life (1) needs a shorter title and (2) needs to be in your hands stat.

Going into this book I wasn't entirely sure if I would like it, because I dislike Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, but I <b>tried to give the author a second chance</b>. It worked, because I <b>liked this novel much better</b>, as I would have expected. The characters worked better for me in this one, even though a few things I disliked in his earlier works of course also show up here! Luckily, I have a handy list of likes and dislikes!

<b>LIKES</b>
• <b>The Diversity in this book was really great</b>! That’s really a very important Like for every book from the author, as there are always gay characters and PoC included! The author himself is Mexican American as well as gay, which also makes his works ownvoices. In this novel the main character is straight and white, but since he was adopted by an Mexican American family, he identifies identifies as Mexican as well. However, every other character is Mexican American in this novel. Marcos, Fito and Sal’s father are also gay.

• <b>I like Sal’s background story, aka being adopted by a gay American Mexican Man and his family</b>. I honestly loved the family element, because everyone treated Sal like he was their own and it was super adorable and heartwarming! Sal however does struggle a little bit with his biological parents and the fact that he is after all adopted. Still has family has always loved him and they meant the world to him, because at the end this is where Sal truly belongs! I also liked that Sal did cry sometimes and did not fulfill the “guys don’t cry” stereotype! Despite having my issues with him, Sal is very caring about his loved ones and wants to protect them - they really do mean the world to him and he’s a very loyal person!

• <b>Obviously the dog was the secret star of the novel</b>! I’m all here for animals being included, especially as Maggie was always there to give comfort to the characters, as she’s a very good dog.

• <b>Fito was actually a sweet, enjoyable character</b>. My heart really broke for his situation at home and how difficult he had it. Still, despite all this hardships in his life he was kind and very hardworking. Fito tries to come by and sometimes struggles to accept help. He further blames himself so much and cannot fathom why people would be nice to him, which made my heart break all over for him, because he definitely deserved the world. Luckily he had the support of his friends as well as Sal’s father!

• <b>Sam – though not always easy – was a complex character</b>. I really think that she was among the most complex characters in the novel, because we get to see her a lot through Sal’s eyes as they are best friends! Every little quirk about her like her love for buying shoes and her ambition in school was noticed. We really learn a lot about her and I absolutely loved her character development throughout the story. Sam really got kinder and made up with Fito, which really warmed my heart and made me happy.

• <b>Sal's father Vincente was really great and the sweetest</b>! He helped Sal’s mother and raised Sal like his own with so much love and devotion that it made me tear up. Vincente was so wise, caring and familial that he was easily the best character in the entire book! I loved him so so so much, as he always supported other people and knew when to say the right words. He always took control of difficult situations and managed to help others. Vincente truly was a gem and honestly the perfect parent, as he was really taking his position serious and only wanted the best for Sal. He was also kind of a Dad for Sam and Fito, which warmed my heart even more.

• <b>The Friendships were really enjoyable and I loved that there was no romance between them</b>! The original duo is Sam and Sal, who have been best friends for ages and are always there for each other. I loved that their relationship was purely platonic and that there was no romance at all! I’m all here for boys and girls just being friends instead of ending up in love one way or another! Later both are joined by Fito and the three of them make the perfect team!

• <b>THERE WERE SO MANY TACOS</b>!! I was honestly hungry the entire time I was reading, because the characters sure love Tacos. Tacos are the best! I have only had store bought Tacos and reading about people making them from scratch made me want to jump into the book and pull one out!

• <b>Mima was a true gem</b>! Just like her son, Vincente, she was very kind and caring. Mima has cancer, which is why everyone is very worried about it, but she’s no afraid of death and instead tries to spend the rest of her time with her family. Her and Sal are also really close! Mima is also always giving good advice and honestly makes the most delicious food.

• <b>I love the concept of the The Word of the Day</b>! In general there was quite some word appreciation here, which I truly loved! Many times there are also Spanish expressions, which made perfect sense as nearly all characters have Mexican roots.

• <b>The writing style is easy to get through like always</b>. I really appreciated this, because it made reading very easy and perfect for anybody who might be in a reading slump. Especially as this was a rather long contemporary, the writing style did help to quickly get through the book.

<b>DISLIKES</b>
•  <b>I didn’t like Sal’s sudden violent fits and did not get them at all</b>. Why do the author's main characters always have to be so violent? Ari was having violent fits, Sal is having them as well. I just don't like violent characters, as I cannot connect to them at all. I also didn’t completely get Sal’s outburst as they seemed to be coming from nowhere. I do know that especially during puberty teens change and nature might be coming through. However, due to Sal’s education and love at home, it made no sense for him to suddenly punch people. It would have made more sense for him to be less patient, more aggressive even more hot-headed. But immediately cross the line and turn to punching someone senseless was too sudden, too much and did not add up. The explanation that his outbursts came from hurt also wasn’t convincing me.

• <b>In general I have no idea how Sal is even like</b>. This may be because he did not know that himself but really … even though this is in first person, I did not connect to him at all. I could not say as much about his character, as I could say what other characters were like. Sal was this weird paradox between being described as “sweet” but also being ticked off so easily and punching people. He might not talk as much as everybody and was familial, but I missed some complexity in his character, especially as he was the main character.

• <b>The names Sal and Sam were tooo similar, really why not chose different names</b>? There’s only one letter differing them and it did confuse me at times. There are so many other names, why have the two most important people almost having the same name? That truly wasn’t the best move.

• <b>The text messages read odd and I had to decipher them all the time</b>. Idk who texts like that, but I sure don’t and sometimes the messages they send each other were really cringy. The abbreviations, the “LOL” ... it just didn’t work for me at all.

• <b>Sam's hate for Fito really annoyed me, as did her character sometimes</b>. Like I hated how she just hated him without having any reason to. She was always like “Sal why do you even hang out with him?”, which annoyed me as she has no right to police him who to hang out with. I also dislikes Sam’s constant cussing and how she was calling every girl a bitch ... like why did she hate other girls so much? Sam was also rather mean,which relates to her cussing. Like ... I would not being appreciated to “shut up” of “fuck off” by my friend. Sam was also constantly pushing people and not respecting people's privacy, because she felt like she had the right to intrude all the time. Not to mention that she always insisted on getting what she wanted.

• <b>Not much happened plot wise, too much kept repeating itself</b>. That’s a problem I noticed with the author’s previous book as well. There is not a clear plotline and too much repeated itself, which meant that at times I felt like nothing was really happening. There were a few plotlines, but still there was no real structure. Towards the end I was also kind of asking myself when this book would end, because things kept going and going and repeating and repeating themselves.

• <b>Many elements were not that creative and kept repeating themselves</b>. Like the backgroundstory of the three friends in here. All have mommy issues and have an absent father - like their story is almost the same. I would have wished for a little bit more variation, especially as this surly would have been possible.

• <b>For a contemporary this was rather long and unfortunately dragged a bit</b>. That may come from the fact that this book did not need to be so long, as it virtually had no clear plot. Why have 460ish pages? This book would have done fine with 100 pages less, if one had cut out all the repetitive scenes.

<b>IN CONCLUSION</b>: I was surprised how much I <b>genuinely like this story</b> and was glad that I had given this author a second chance. This is a great, <b>diverse read with an emphasis on friendship and family</b>, that however could have done better with a clearer plotline!

Sal is beginning his senior year of high school, but all is not well. One of his fellow classmates is continuously taunting him about his adoptive gay father, and Sal is responding with his fists. Although his Mexican-American family has always accepted him, he can’t help be reminded that he is adopted, especially since he is obviously white. Can Sal help his friend Samantha deal with her own family issues while coming to terms with his own? Will he discover a way to deal with conflict that does not include a fight?

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life is a stand-alone realistic fiction book that is easy to read, but unfortunately also easy to forget. I wanted to feel compassion for these teens who have suffered so much, but the story came out forced and not very plausible. The Inexplicable Logic of My Life will appeal to some readers, but is not to be added to everyone’s TBR list.

2.5 STARS I am one of the few who has not read Aristotle and Dante, so I did not have a comparison. Let me say first I need a truly special YA book to enjoy it, I liked bits of this book. It was a very long book, I actually started and came back to it, for me it just felt as if it was a bit plotless and dragged a bit.

OH. MY. GOODNESS! My heart was breaking throughout this whole book!

A coming of age story told in the most gorgeous way. It manges to rip you heart out, put it back and then do it all over again.

I am finding it very difficult to explain why this was so good because I don't want to give any of the story away. I will try...

Sal is having a bit of a hard time. Starting his final year at high school his life seemed pretty perfect. Then someone called his adopted father a name and he snapped. From there on there is tragedy, loss, growing up, looking out for those you care for and embracing a growing family. Looking for answers from his past, trying to decide on his future. Trying to discover how he fits in in the world he lives in.

It is all so complicated, yet it is all so brilliantly done.

I cannot recommend this highly enough.

AMAZING!!!

My daughter has stars in her eyes every time she mentions Aristotle and Dante Discover the Universe. It's one of her favourite books and one she never hesitates to recommend to people. It's with this in mind that I wanted to read this latest one from Sáenz.

The Inexplicable Logic of Life explores what it's like being a teenager on the cusp of adulthood. For easy-going Sal who begins to observe the subtle changes underway during his senior year, that uncertainty manifests itself in violence.

Sal feels a shift has begun after hitting back at a schoolmate who called his father by a gay slur. His uncharacteristic outburst has him concerned and he doesn't know how to articulate it. His father who has to be the most even-tempered person in existence is the steady rock that he relies on. His philosophical approach to life is calming though it's not enough to ease whatever undercurrent of self-doubt he's experiencing. His grandmother's ailing health has him feeling that there's too much changing at once. His newfound anger also makes him wonder if it's a question of nature versus nurture; that he could be becoming more like his anonymous biological father than the loving, patient and kind-hearted father whom he admires and who has raised him as his own flesh and blood. All of these doubts make him question his place in his family and who he is becoming.

Reading about this boy turning into a man made me realize that these changes can evolve subtly without even knowing. Sal doesn't give himself enough credit though. He's actually rather astute about human nature and understands quite a bit. However, he's convinced that he's not ready to face his future because he has been sheltered. He's right up to a certain point. What he has yet to realize is that his big heart has prepared him for far more than he is aware of. Sal is also blessed to have the family he has. I wished that they could adopt me! As a quiet observer he sees how each family member demonstrates their love in their own way, whether it be through art, food or the generosity of giving money. As he ponders more about his own history, he reexamines his relationship with his adoptive father.

This is a special story told with such sweetness. There's a connection there, something that a reader can identify with easily. Even when things are looking bleak there's a strong presence of unconditional love holding keeping Sal from fully breaking. At one point I even paused my reading to text my daughter at school to say, "I get it". It made her so happy. It's a wonderful read that ends beautifully and simply put, you'll fall for this absolute treasure!

A beautiful family and friendship stories that I really enjoy and loving it so much.

All the characters in this book their relationship is so strong and amazing that I do hope having one very best boy-friend. I love how the development of each of the characters. How they help each other to stay strong and their communications always loud and clear, not hiding anything from each other especially between Sam & Sal. Ahh, what a beautiful characters.

The start of the story I find it quite difficult for me to get into it but as soon as I read one after another chapters, I start to get a clear picture of it and what to expect next and I keep on curious on what will happen next. Honestly, there are many feelings that I have with this book.

I do really love the way the author's writing style. It's very easy for me to get to the point. This is will be my 2017 favourite book ever! Thank you for making it amazing to read and I really do enjoy it very mcuh.

Man, this book got me right in the feels. Seriously, it was so beautifully written and it was moving and I cried so many times. My husband said I should start rating books based on the number of tears it causes. This book would get a LOT of tears . . . and typically, the more I cry, the more I love the book. This one is no exception.

Let's talk about how much I loved EVERY single character! Sal is a white guy who was adopted by a gay Mexican guy when his mom died of cancer when he was really young. I absolutely loved Sal's dad. Seriously, LOVED HIM! He was so incredibly supportive and fatherly and he had love for every single child in his son't life. He was the perfect parent. I loved his relationship with Sal. It was so perfectly realistic and loving and wonderful. His dad was stern when it counted, but he wasn't overprotective about it and Sam knew he could talk to his dad about anything.

And here was an amazing thing: NO ROMANCE!! Seriously, the friendship was my FAVORITE part! Sam is a straight girl who Sal has known since he was a child and they are basically siblings. I was kind of worried the author would throw a romance in there somewhere at the last minute, but I am so happy that didn't happen. They had this ridiculously funny banter and they just seemed like regular teenagers. I am just in awe of the fact that a straight girl and a straight guy were best friends with not even a HINT of romance between them. I loved that they could cry in front of each other and they were for each other, no matter what and they were pretty honest with each other. But yes, Sal did keep a few secrets because, you know, realism and all. There were a few times when I thought Sam was a bit too pushy, but she evolved a lot and I still loved her. Oh, and there was food in this book. SO MUCH FOOD! Sal's grandmother showed her love by cooking for her family and I loved that. She made these homemade tamales that had me drooling on my Kindle and they ate SO MANY TACOS! Now I need a taco . . . desperately!

I think the ONE issue I had with this book is that the plot was kind of . . . non existent. Sal had questions about his biological father and his grandmother gets cancer and he starts punching people at random but I didn't feel like none of things really moved things along in the book or even got resolved successfully. It felt like it was basically a year in the life of Sal where a bunch of bad things happen. Basically, there is a lot of tragedy in this book and I don't think all of it was necessary. But the characters and the food and the friendship and the family were all so amazing that I STILL loved this book to pieces.

Posted to Goodreads:
For a more in-depth review visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZPbuzjrHbI

Sal's life is changing: his best friends' are both going through issues with their parents, his father's ex-boyfriend has returned and may becoming part of their lives, and his beloved grandmother is slowly losing her battle with cancer. However, Sal himself is going through the biggest change. HE is experiencing new emotions and reactions that make him begin to question who he is and where he came from. Sal must decide if he needs to connect with past to be able to understand himself in the present and plan for the future.

There were parts of this book that I really were beautifully done. Saenz is a master at telling lyrically, beautiful stories. The wonderfully well crafted non-romantic friendships were refreshing. Plus, the depiction of death and mourning felt true to life. However, I wasn't completely won over by the narrative voice. Sal is a senior in high school but his voice feels much younger. Plus, the emotional trauma the friends endure feels a little too convenient.

UGH. I have such complicated feels about this book. First off, I’ll admit it: I went into The Inexplicable Logic of My Life with HIGH expectations. I couldn’t help myself. Some of my best friends raved and raved about it in their early reviews, and I expected to love it every bit as much as they did. In some ways, I think I did, but in others…

There isn’t really any kind of a plot. I can’t say for sure if that’s a pro or a con. For me, it made the book pass by very slowly. I just didn’t feel driven to race through it. So I spent a loooong time reading this not-very-long story. But, on the other hand, I think there are a lot of things to appreciate about Sal and his story when you don’t rush through it, so maybe forcing you to read slowly is purposeful? For the most part, I didn’t really mind that there wasn’t a plot because the relationship are very beautifully constructed, and I did fall in love with pretty much every single person.

Seriously, all of the characters were perfect. This was probably one of my absolute favorite things about this story – I fell in love so deeply with these people. Sal is a little angsty and Sam can be kind of annoying, but in the end, I still got attached to them both. I wanted the best for them. I ADORED Sal’s grandmother and his father, because they’re both just freaking awesome. I mean, Sal’s dad just goes around basically adopting stray teenagers and helping them get through the mess that is high school, and I just thought he was wonderful in every way. Oh, and don’t let me forget Fito for even a second. Of the three teens, Fito was by far my favorite – I wanted to adopt him and take care of him myself, because he’s just this hard-working, grief-stricken, hopeful person who shoulders everything life throws and him and still managers to keep soldiering on. His story arc may have been the best one.

Benjamin Alire Saenz really knows how to turn a phrase. I loved how lyrical the prose here is, though I think that the choppy stream-of-consciousness style threw me off a little bit. Again, I got pretty hung up with the first half of this book, and I think the style had a lot to do with that, because I loved the characters but still couldn’t really lose myself in their story. Honestly, I’m still trying to puzzle out why.

This was a beautiful book about friendship, family, and finding oneself. It’s definitely a story that will stay with you, and one that deserves to be savored.

Rating: 4/5 stars

**Live 3/24**

I really hate the title of this book. Trying to remember it is killer, I don’t know why. It doesn’t really roll off the tongue with ease, which means I always have to look at the physical book to remind myself.

Anyway, The Inexplicable Logic of my Life was an interesting read. There wasn’t a heavy plot, just a family of teenagers trying to figure out where their lives were going. The story had a philosophical tone to it I think may have rubbed some readers the wrong way, but this reader loved it. I love reading about characters who are introspective, I love plots that are thought provoking. The Inexplicable Logic of my Life was definitely both.

Sal, Sam, and Fido were an interesting group to follow. They had a really easy banter that made me chuckle, and it helped the story flow pretty quickly. Supposedly the book is over 450 pages, yet I feel like I blew through it. I didn’t even have a favorite between them. Each of them was an individual, yet somehow together they were like one. I should also mention there wasn’t really a romance in the story at all. Normally I like a romance that’s appropriate to the plot, but in this case it was perfect without a love story at all. This story was about friendship and family, a romance would have overshadowed everything. It would have detracted from the story.

What I loved more than the kids was Sal’s family. The entire family was incredible, but Uncle Mickey, Mima, and Sal’s dad Vicente were outstanding. Of course, since I’m a sucker for parental roles in books, Sal and his dad’s relationship was my favorite part of the story. I loved how they were as much of a focus as the friendship was. I’m drawn to healthy parent child relationships, and Vicente and Sal’s was remarkable. I loved Vicente.

Despite all that love, the book wasn’t without flaws. My rating fluctuates between 3.5 and 4 stars, which I rounded up for my review. My biggest issue was too much happened to the kids, and it made the plot feel unrealistic. For those of you who’ve read it, I’m talking about Mima, Sam’s mom, and Fido’s mom all dying in the same 6 months. (Highlight the above if you want the spoiler.) In my head a plot needs balance. It can’t tip too far into the heavy before I start to doubt what I’m reading. The Inexplicable Logic of my Life definitely tipped the scale too far for me.

Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I only have one gripe. While it is a rather large one, it makes me feel more secure in my 4 star rating. My final thoughts: I liked this one more than Aristotle & Dante, but I’m not 100% sold on either of them. Maybe I’ll be blown away whatever he writes next. I have a feeling I’ll be reading that one too.

I hate DNFing books. Especially if they're:

a) ARCs
b) Written by someone who can come up with something as beautiful as Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (please go read that if you haven't already)

But I just can't continue with this book, even though it falls under both these categories. How Benjamin Alire Sáenz managed to write a book so boring I fell asleep in the third chapter, I don't know. Hats off to him.

• There is absolutely no plot - I haven't even reached the 50% mark, but I've read reviews that reiterate this
• The writing is boring
• So are the characters??
• I'm beginning to think Ari and Dante was a one off success because this is now the second book by this author I've DNFed
• Basically it's about this guy who has a lot of useless thoughts because that's all I can figure out
• I mean?? I don't care about Sam's preferences for shoes??
• I don't care if your grandmum would've gotten along with Sam
• I definitely don't want an entire chapter of why Sam would've gotten along with your grandparents

GOODBYE DISAPPOINTING BOOK.

3.2 of 5 Stars.

Hmm, it took me awhile to finish this book. It’s a beautiful story about family and friendship (Sam, Sally, and Fito) and how much they need each other through a hard time like grief.

Salvador/Sally/Sal, our narrator had been too much in his head. He couldn’t manage his temper and he likes to throwing punches to everyone that hurt him, I mean not physically but more like anyone that call his father or his friend Fitho, faggot. But maybe it’s just a part of being a man, and fortunately, he has a very kind father (perfect father would be not exaggerated even thought he is gay), a lovely grandma, Mima, and best friend Sammy and Fito.

This book is more like a character driven, there’s not much plot here. There are things that make me love this book. Wotd (word of the day) I think it’s really helpful and a great idea to begin a communication in their relationship. Everything that they talk about would have a humor tone even the complex and sad thing like grief, and I really enjoyed it that way.
The thing that I didn’t enjoy is the crying, it’s just too much for me, also I thought four hundred and sixty would be too long, there are moments that I think just a repetitive and would be better to cut off.

But in the end, I would thank Mr. Saenz for the beautiful story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clarion for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first Benjamin Alire Saenz book that I read, having somehow missed the "Aristotle and Dante" frenzy. I can't speak for that book but just from these one I can tell he's got a very particular style, lots of dialogue without many tags, short chapters, beautiful sentences juxtaposed with grating teen speak. It might not be for anyone. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it.

So I'm going to do this review in three parts: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Just for fun.

The Good:

- Diversity. This book has LGBTQ characters, Mexican characters as main characters, and a lead who while born white was raised Mexican. Such diversity is, sadly, unusual still and deserves to be commended.

- Great reflections on identity spurred by the fact that the protagonist, Sal, is adopted and as mentioned before white but raised in a Mexican-American family. So, what makes your identity? What makes you White or Mexican or whatever it is that you are? Nurture or Nature?

- A solid father role model. I feel like in YA there are often less than solid parents, perhaps because that creates drama. There were a few crappy parents in this book too but Sal's father, Vicente, is one of those great, Sandy Cohen-esque fathers that is good to see in literature.

- Mima! Sal's grandmother was adorable and such an accurate, in my opinion, portrayal of a Mexican grandma. Always feeding people, always seeing beyond the surface. Always getting dressed up for mass.

- The friendship between Sal and Sam. It never turns into romance, they are basically siblings actually so it'd have been icky. It's odd to see a male-female friendship without any underlying sexual or romantic tension so I was happy to see this.

The bad:

- I know the author is Latino and not being from El Paso myself (but still Latina) I might be completely off with this but some of the Spanish was so terrible. No self-respecting Latino I know would ever say "no bueno" without it being ironic/mocking. "Popo" is the nickname of Sal's deceased grandpa... that's poop in Spanish. Other times the grammar was off in Spanish speech from supposedly bilingual characters...

- Very little plot. I understand that this was more of a "day in the life" sort of book but sometimes, especially at the beginning, it all felt a little too adrift.

- We're somehow supposed to believe that these characters are Ivy league bound when they don't have any noteworthy extracurriculars or anything of that sort... come on. Don't give readers false expectations of what it takes to get into a top tier college.

- Sal and Sam's names. I don't know how those passed any good editor's review. They are so incredible similar that it was annoying to read/ could lead to confusion.

The ugly:

- This is what really, really bothered me and here be a SPOILER: Sam is assaulted by her date, the assault stops short of rape but while right after it happens the event is handled with some care, afterwards it's like nothing at all happened. She even talks to her would-be-rapist. Like, what in the world? And why was the author so afraid to say the word rape? She was almost raped. That's what happened. Even if the guy was her date, even if she originally liked him/was attracted to him. She was almost raped. The sooner we learn to say these things as loud and firmly as they deserve to be said, the better.

- Another thing that bothered me: mothers were generally crap in these book. All 3 kids' mothers had some background of addiction, abuse, or something of the sort. And, again, SPOILER: they all end up dead. Wow, way to punish women who don't fit into the cookie cutter mold of perfect mothers and saintly women.

So yeah, some good things but for me the bad and ugly tipped the balance more. I didn't hate the book but I didn't love it either. If someone asked me if I recommend it, I'd probably give a somewhat reluctant sure, if only for the things listed under "the good."

Wow. Just, wow. There is so much about this book that is just beautiful. Inexplicable Logic shows, but never tells, what a true family is, from start to finish. While blood may bind many into a family, Mr. Saenz has demonstrated, once again, we are bound one to another by character. Fito, Sam, Salvador, Mima, and of course, Dad (can I call him that, too?) are a group that appreciates life, from raining yellow leaves, to making tortillas.
Salvador (Sal) and Samantha (Sam) are best friends growing up. Sal is being raised by Vincent who adopted him at 3 when his mother died. Vincent's family is supportive of the two, and Grandma (Mima) becomes Sal's surrogate mother. Sam and her mother are "no bueno", despite the basic love between mother and daughter, theiir demonstrative love lacks. And Fito, ah, Fito. He is raising himself amidst a crack house. The three youth struggle in their senior year with difficult, life altering situations. Once again, Mr. Saenz has written a book of poetry in prose.

Wow... I really do not know what to say. This book is beautiful. It is written in such a way that I feel like I have never read anything so precious before.

This book talks about REAL life, it deals with death, grief, abuse, and identity with real consequences, even if the characters act older than they really are. So, while this is real, it is also somewhat utopian... a little. There are bad things that happen, but the main characters are so mature or above the world.
Even so, it is interesting.

Honestly, it really is hard to review this, because I don't want to break it down to its parts. I want to bask in its beauty and the feelings it installs in me. I'll give a few good points before ending:

*Some diversity -- although the main character has white skin, he has grown up in a Mexican-American culture. He has non-white friends and family.
----Also, has hetero and homosexual relationships.
*Deals with real-life issues in a good way.
*Healthy relationships are shown in a good light and unhealthy relationships are proven to be bad. This is done very well.

I also loved how the chapter lengths varied, sometimes only being a paragraph long.

I would recommend this book to literally everyone. There is so much to learn and so deep I cannot appreciate it as well as someone else could.