The Inexplicable Logic of My Life: A Mesmerizing YA Novel of Adoption, Love, and Belonging

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz can be described in one word: beautiful. This coming of age novel is a brilliant portrayal of love and family. Logic is the story of Salvador Silva. Salvador has a life surrounded by warmth and acceptance–a life filled with family, but during his senior year, his predictable life is thrown off kilter by heartbreaking news and Salvie struggles through the change. Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s novel is dynamic, moving, uplifting, and so lovely that it’s nearly incomprehensible. It’s a piece of art and I so enjoyed reading it. More so, I enjoyed feeling it. I’ve been in love with this author since I discovered his masterpiece Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. That novel is a level of perfection that I’ve rarely experienced, one that still leaves me speechless and incapable of adequately descibing its magic. Like A&D, The Inexplicable Logic is filled with wonder. It’s magic is unique and long-lasting, and one I vigorously recommend. This novel gracefully touches on themes of self-discovery (of course), love, grief, and meaning in life. This novel is Sal’s story, and is told entirely from his perspective, but it’s also his family’s story. I don’t think I’ve ever read a story where love bursts from the seams. It’s big, bright bold, and yes, beautiful. The characters are dynamic and oh-so lovable—I felt their joy and their pain. I feel like Sáenz’s writing is made for me. His prose is stark and impactful, simple and meaningful. I could live in his mind forever and ever, because he shows me just what I need to see to understand what is important. His writing envelops me and makes me feel safe, even as he breaks my heart, because I know that he writes with love. The Inexplicable Logic of My Life is fiction that shows us the reality that we should strive for. Yes, it’s a novel for young adults, but we all need to learn the lessons Sáenz teaches. Whistle in the dark, love, love love, forgive, rage, be heartbroken, but have faith and hope. In this novel, Sal’s connection with his father is impregnable and a force of nature—all the characters’ connections are. When Sáenz writes he makes you feel as if you belong, and that he’s pulling you into this wonderful world he creates. The same world we live in, we see through his eyes and start to believe in all the good he sees once we’ve turned the last page and look up in wonder. That makes Benjamin Alire Sáenz a force of nature and The Inexplicable Logic of My Life a phenomenon that all should experience.

This story very much reads like a boy spilling his thoughts into a journal or a diary. The prose is somewhat simple and straightforward and yet the story is beautiful. The characters in this story are some of my favorite ones in any story that I've read. The most poignant of emotions expressed in this story is grief. Of course it is sad, but the moments of happiness, contentment, and reassurance of being love are the main take aways. This story will sit with me for a long time and I know I'll come back to it.

“THE INEXPLICABLE LOGIC OF MY LIFE” delves into the profound themes of loss, belonging, and self-discovery amidst the absence of significant others. While the characters may seem somewhat one-dimensional, this doesn’t diminish the overall enjoyment of the read. The narrative spans from adult to young adult, making it a captivating and relatable experience for readers of all ages. In my opinion, this book should be a must-read for most young people. It is something special.

With The Inexplicable Logic of my Life, author Benjamin Alire Saenz returns to a theme of his first novel Carry Me Like Water: the idea of what makes a family. I loved his exploration of that in the first novel, and I love that he again tackles the subject in this beautiful novel for young adults. While many think that blood determines family, I have long believed we make our own family, quilted together from those that we love and that love us, blood-related or not. The Inexplicable Logic of my Life tells of high school senior Salvador; his best friend Samantha; his father Vicente—the man who adopted him; his friend Fito; and his loving grandmother Mima, Vicente’s mother. There is not even a tiny bit of blood connecting Salvador to any of these people, and yet they are his family, bonded more tightly than any family ever. The novel is a tale of love and loss. There is plenty of death in this book, but there is no drama. Saenz writes of life, in all its simplicities and complexities, and life includes death. But one thing I particularly liked here is that the author makes clear something I’ve long believed: nobody ever dies; they live on in our hearts, guiding us and comforting us when we need them. And this is a powerful message to teen readers who, mostly, have not experienced much loss in their young lives. It is also a truth that those who have had loss need to hear. And Saenz makes his point quietly, beautifully, and with evocative poetry. This is the kind of great writing that teen readers need to experience. The narrative flows, the characters are true, and all the while, there is an underlying current of song. Saenz also speaks of the duality of the human spirit. He pointedly has Samantha call Salvador by the effeminate nickname Sally, while Salvador calls Samantha Sam. Through this suggestion, we see that these are full rich people, embodying stereotypical traits that we associate with both sexes. Sam is tough, yet tender. Salvador is sweet, yet combatant. And we, as readers, know that this is what makes people full and great. The Inexplicable Logic of my Life is a lovely achievement, a novel of power and beauty. It proudly takes its place on the shelf with its author’s other fine novels, for Benjamin Alire Saenz is one of our best.

My nephew needed this book for school as our local library did not have it. Thank you for getting it here sooner than the expected time frame.

Perfect for fans of Aristotle and Dante. A different take on coming of age in El Paso. Saenz is a master storyteller and creator on wonderful characters.

It is weird that just today I read a tweet about people rating 5 stars books that are sad and deal with difficult topics, but I cannot see rating this book less than 4 stars. Benjamin has such a way to create beautiful images from so "horrible" places. A dessert is more than just a place to die or that symbolizes death, in his novels they mean much more. Dealing with death, personally, is not something we confront willingly or with open arms, and this book emphasises that. It will come and it will make us suffer, but that suffering comes from love. Benjamin's novels become stronger by the minute. Not only a coming of age story with queer representation but it also tightens the conception of family and real friends, helping your loved ones, and defining who you are. As someone from Latin America who has study literature, I can relate to the struggles of language as part of your identity and the love for Latin people for their mothers. If you wish to know a bit more about what is to be Latino this book is a great help. Names have a lot follower in who we are or who we become. Names in Spanish are strong and define us.

I liked this book a lot as a quick read, but if I could go back, I probably wouldn't spend 10 dollars on it. I'm a big reader and have read a lot of YA novels. This one was a solid "like." I enjoyed the plot and the characters are strong and likable. I love that the book is really entirely centered on family and friendship, which is unique for a YA novel, because most that claim that tend to end up being more about romantic love. It felt like I was missing the second layer of what I love to find in books- I understood the characters' pain and love, but I didn't feel it myself. All around, I'd say a solid 3-3.5/5.