Author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Publisher: Clarion Books
Publication Year: 2017
Language: English
Format: Hardback
Pages: 452
A warmly humane look at universal questions of belonging, infused with humour, from the bestselling author of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.
Sal used to know his place with his adoptive gay father, their loving Mexican American family, and his best friend, Samantha. But it’s senior year, and suddenly Sal is throwing punches, questioning everything, and realizing he no longer knows himself. If Sal’s not who he thought he was, who is he?
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The Inexplicable Logic of My Life follows Salvador who’s been living a good life with his adoptive father. His mother died of cancer when he was too young to remember. So he doesn’t really know his biological parents. However, senior year just started and suddenly he does things that he doesn’t usually do, like starting a fight and punching people. He feels lost and not only that, tragedy befell his best friends Samantha and Fito. So in their last year of high school they’re trying to deal with the tragedy while figuring out who they are and who they want to be.
Benjamin Alire Saenz is a beloved author because of his book Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. However, I haven’t read that book and I found this book on sale instead. Since it’s written by the same author, I figure why not picking it up. I actually had no idea what this book is about and I have no expectation whatsoever.
Looking back, I don’t think I read a contemporary young adult that much this year. In fact, this book is the first contemporary young adult book that I read in 2020. Considering how unfortunate the situation in the world has been, reading this book is quite comforting. That’s not to say that this book doesn’t deal with heavy stuff. I think I’ve never read a contemporary young adult book with this many deaths before.
This book is mainly about growing up, finding your roots and dealing with grief. It even references Kubler-Ross five stages of grief. Although, sometimes I feel that the tragedies in this book is too much. It’s like bad stuff over bad stuff happening to these kids. What are the chances? Unfortunately sometimes if it’s too much, it could be meaningless.
I like the friendship depicted in this book. It started out with just Salvador and Samantha. Fito was just there. Then a defining event happened that makes them share a strong bond so it grows and becomes the three of them. Individually, I don’t particularly like each of them. Salvador leaves no impression on me. In fact, I think Samantha dominates more. She’s a character that I don’t like at first, then she kind of grows on me. It’s either that or her character grows throughout the book. My first impression of Samantha is she’s this edgy girl who’s trying too hard. As I get to know her better, I come to like her especially her interactions with her friends. Fito on the other hand, is a character that I enjoy from the beginning. Sadly though, he doesn’t appear often.
I also like that this book is split into many short chapters. Because of my schedules lately, I can’t spend a long time to just read. Instead, I read a little here and there whenever I can. These short chapters really helps me to read in bits and pieces without breaking the flow of the story.
The Inexplicable Logic of My Life overall is a heartwarming story. It’s not the best book out there but it sure is comforting in a way. After reading this book, I’m interested in reading Alire Saenz’s other book, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.
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