Book Review: Ari by Cheryl Headford

I am not easily moved to tears, but Ari…wow…there are moments in this book that are infectious. That will make you laugh right along with the characters, that will make you smile, and sweep you along and be grateful that Benji and Ari had Arthur there to help smooth over the rough patches in the beginning and generally look out for them like a loving dad.

And then there are the moments when you will cry for them, and with them and those are the truly beautiful moments, because it shows just how much depth of character and emotion and heart and spirt and just real personality have been woven into all of the characters that make up this wonderful book.

Benji and Ari are flawed in the best possible ways, because it is their flaws that being them closer together and allow them to connect so deeply. They each have their own insecurities to work though, and it is beautiful to see a story where each of the characters also has a support cast of characters who love and accept them for who they are. Even if it takes a little bit of time to really show.

Seeing how they all rallied together in the end, forging bonds through such adversity was beautifully done. I don’t want to give anything away, so I will simply say this. Ari was REAL. I was sucked in from the very beginning. I cared what happened to all of them, wished with them, hoped for them, got outraged on their behalf, and aside from wanting more of them, I found myself hoping to someday read more about Arthur too. Ari gets the first Five Dancing Hamster rating of the blog.