outstanding, put it at the top of your too read list; the audio was superb too ( )

Salvadore ("Sal") is just beginning his senior year of high school. He's typically been a pretty grounded guy and lives a good life. He lives with his single gay father, he's got a wonderful Mexican-American extended family (he's especially close to his grandmother), and he's got his best friend and partner-in-crime Samantha ("Sam"). But for some reason this year feels different -- he's questioning his place in his family and wonders why he's feeling so restless.

This is mostly a coming-of-age novel within the span of less than a year. On the one hand, not a lot happens in this novel. But on the other hand, a lot happens in this novel. And at its core, it's a feel-good story, despite the fact that a lot of bad things occur. I have mixed feelings. I liked the character development -- each character had his/her own unique voice. In some ways they were very authentic, but in other ways, they seemed almost too good to be truly realistic in today's world, sadly. Sal's father was awesome, but I kept thinking to myself, "Is this guy for real?" It was mostly a good story, geared toward a young adult audience. ( )

https://www.blossombooks.nl/blossom_books/de-onverklaarbare-logica-van-mijn-leve... boekpagina
428 p., vertaling Elise Kuip

DNF @10%

This was painful.
- Writing is choppy, stilted and repetitive.
- Nothing actually happens. This is a huge non-event.
- Sam is a terrible person. Why would ANYONE keep her as a friend?
- Sal is a doormat. He lets Sam walk all over him and is okay with being forever and always insulted like nobody's business. Who does that???
- The wise-man father of Sal's makes me want to punch him. Droning lectures in a calm and soothing voice are thoroughly infuriating.
- Glossed over attempted rape is enraging. Why bring up a serious topic like this and just throw it away? Why not use something else as a plot device? This makes me SO mad!

I skimmed the book and it does not get better.
Do yourself a favour and run like hell from this book.

FINAL VERDICT : AVOID LIKE PLAGUE. APPLY GASOLINE AND FIRE ( )

Another Wonderful Book

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life is moving at times, sad at others, frequently funny, incredibly honest and believable and fully demonstrates the talents of an author who understands his characters. Throughout this book, the redemptive power of love flows, seeping into the lives of others whose only choice is then to pass it along. In this book, there are characters who have experienced love their whole lives, others who should have been loved, but who were mistreated by those who should have loved them, and others wounded and damaged by abuse. The father of the central character, a gay man, took in everyone who was hungry for love and shared his own, demonstrating that “love is only love when you give it away, and that in giving love both the lover and the beloved are enriched.
I usually give my star ratings much more because of the quality of the writing than for the excellence of the story line. In this case, the book would receive high ratings by any measure.
It is the second book by Benjamin Saenz that I’ve read, a small inroad into the number of them that I hope to read. ( )