Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

367 reviews

kirsten_marie's review against another edition

2.25

I had so high hopes for this one because I loved the first book so much. It had this special atmosphere to it, and I couldn't keep myself from caring deeply for those boys and their story. sadly, I feel all that is lost after reading the sequel. 

From the beginning, the writing felt awkward and as the author has tried to compose some beautiful text, but completely missed the mark in the process. It is an extreme case of tell and not show. It felt like watching a bad play. The characters only play their roles and never feel like fully developed souls. There is little to no emotional build-up in serious scenes either. It lacks subtlety and depth. Only on a number of pages I could count on my fingers did I feel invested in the story. I would also argue that there are several very illogical choices and events. 90% of it's entirety is also direct dialogue, which I find unbearably dull. 


Should have DNFed this one, but I'm too f*ing stubborn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Murder, Violence, and Transphobia

carterm00's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Deadnaming, Homophobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Murder, Sexual violence, and Transphobia

tacoshark's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• 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? No

2.25

Sigh. I’m mad at this book for existing. I enjoyed the first book but this one - utterly unnecessary and so sentimental that it tipped over into self-indulgence. There were several points where I was literally talking back to the book, usually saying “wtaf?!” It desperately needed editing or at least some sense of purpose. If you liked the first one, maybe stop there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Death

booknerdz28's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Grief, and Homophobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Minor: Deadnaming and Hate crime

fatalisticshrug's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Not bad, but not great either. There’s a little too much character development/self reflection going on for it to be “believable”. A few revelations too many for a 17 year old. I really enjoy when a character broadens their horizon and realizes new things about life and people, but somehow it’s more beautiful when some of these learnings are found between the lines and not spelled out in so much detail. Plus the book is at least 100 pages too long.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Hate crime and Transphobia

nina_readsbooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Homophobia

lambclown's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

• 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

3.0

Not everything has to be so profound and i found it really unrealistic the way everyone talked to each other. too poetic. but im also a jaded old bitch

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racism, and Death of parent

Moderate: War

Minor: Murder and Transphobia

3amonline's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Death of parent

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

annesophie01's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Death

babyleo's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Deadnaming, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and Death of parent