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Reviews tagging 'Death'
ARISTOTELES Y DANTE DESCUBREN LOS SECRETOS DEL UNIVERSO by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
176 reviews
minervacerridwen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I also didn't like the intervention of the parents telling Ari that he Had To Be In Love with Dante for a number of Logical Reasons that would perfectly have been explained by friendship. I'm sorry the author didn't have close friends he would have jumped in front of a car for. If Ari had been ace, that type of amatonormativity would have been confusing as hell (and so it may be for young aromantic or asexual readers who pick this up). I wish Ari would have gotten a chance in the story to figure out his identity in his own time. It really is a beautiful example of boys loving boys, but in terms of specifically romantic love, it had definitely felt one-sided up to that point. Surely you don't want the message of a coming-of-age book to be that your parents are right about everything and need to point everything out to you, including your own very personal feelings that you might not even be ready yet to study closely?
Coming-of-age stories set in the real world are not my preferred genre, but if a little more thought had been put into the ending, I'd really have appreciated this one.
Moderate: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Alcohol, Death, Hate crime, Outing, Transphobia, Drug use, and Murder
juliaaaaaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Murder, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Medical content, Hate crime, Bullying, Car accident, and Death
bluebreex's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Violence and Homophobia
Moderate: War, Animal cruelty, and Mental illness
Minor: Death
vr_alyssa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Those five stars relate to plot. It really got to me. Just a story of two teenagers, best friends, and life in 1987. It's heartbreaking because it's easy to relate to (no matter your gender, race or sexual preference). I really loved this book.
2023 review:
I decided to re-read this book on a whim. I honestly don't know why. I mean, I already had a pile of books I'm currently reading. Simultaneously, I had forgotten how much I love this book. Not because it's eventful, or fast-paced and action packed (like most books I read these days), but because it's so incredibly human. I don't know if I appreciated how beautifully it depicts the teenage condition last time I read this novel, or how it demonstrates how complicated unconditional love can be. But man. I ugly cried a couple times near the end, which caught me off guard. Because I honestly did not remember how much I love this book, just that I loved it.
Graphic: Hate crime, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Car accident
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Homophobia, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Murder and Death
redheadorganist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Lesbophobia, Outing, Pregnancy, Transphobia, War, Animal death, Death, Homophobia, and Sexual content
jamiinx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Death
marleysclassics's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thus, Aristotle and Dante definitely made me think and feel quite a lot. Here too, I somehow feel pathetic because I guess that's exactly what the author wanted to achieve. But I have to admit: it worked. I certainly experienced a wide range of emotions, from feeling seen to being angry to being shocked to feeling touched to being annoyed to smiling at the pages in front of me. And at all times there was a certain dullness, a thing lingering in the air.
I'm not sure if it is that thing that was resolved on the last, very last page(s), I don't know if I want it to be. Because I feel like it would make everything that is so deep and entangled and there in this book unauthentically simple. But also ... it wouldn't. And even if it kind of seems like this in the end, I think it might be exactly what the story needed. These last to pages, this last sentence - I was just happy. Okay, maybe not just. But quite a lot.
Moderate: War, Hate crime, Homophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Bullying, Car accident, Cursing, and Violence
Minor: Lesbophobia, Murder, Transphobia, Medical content, and Death
twilightfanboy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Only thing I would say is
Moderate: War, Homophobia, Car accident, and Animal death
Minor: Transphobia, Death, and Murder
xandry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Transphobia and Car accident
Moderate: Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Homophobia, Hate crime, and Violence
Minor: Death and War
kenzieb8's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Car accident, Homophobia, War, Death, and Murder