Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

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

359 reviews

kjm9773's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Cursing, Homophobia, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual content, and Racism

Minor: Murder, Suicide, and Transphobia

eaglemask's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

This was very hard for me to get into. I didnt appreciate randomly seeing my deadname in the book. It was not my thing and I was not sucked into the story. It was good but I have a lot of complicated feelings about it

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

vnelkelg's review against another edition

emotional reflective

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Homophobia

sammymilfort's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Vomit, Bullying, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Medical content, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death of parent, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Car accident

I love Ari and Dante so much! I am conflicted how I feel because this series and story means so much to me, and it felt like a 5 star to me. Ari’s growth was so beautiful to see. Benjamin’s writing will always tug at my heartrings At the same time, I understand there is a nuance and problematic aspects to these characters that make it questionable and uncomfortable for people to read To me Ari and Dante are imperfect people who can learn from their views and our curious about the world I wish Saènez took from a note of compassion and love that he imposed on his characters into his own world view. The hate he has shown towards the trans/gender nonconforming community is honestly unacceptable and goes against many of the themes he writes about in his book. I am not part of this community but I stand with the community, who has given this author many chances to change or apologize and learn from his behavior, but he has shown no heart to some of the harmful damage he has has done After this I am no longer reading any books by this author

fiifarts's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Racism, Homophobia, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

melli29_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

holy crap this was written so beautifully. i loved ari's personal development and the newfound friendships. also cried like 6 times haha.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

yasidiaz's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

Ari and Dante are another pair that has made a permanent home in my heart, and I can't be mad about it. 

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets to the Universe will forever be my favorite one between both books, but this sequel is so much more than I could have asked for. I cried so much with this book, perhaps more than the first one. Seeing the internal struggles of Ari, especially while being a gay teen at the height of the AIDS pandemic, broke me but felt necessary. 

I love the way we see Ari grow, how he matures as a person, and how he learns to love himself and be loved. I love the emphasis that just because he and Dante love each other, doesn't mean they are or have to be perfect, that they will always be learning and growing as men. And as much as I love romance, I love a story that puts as much emphasis on the friendships and familial relationships, as much or more than the romantic ones.

Most importantly, the love their parents had for Ari and Dante will always be dear to me. I am glad this never turned into a story where the gay kids had to deal with homophobic parents. Those things happen and we have many stories touching those lived experiences. But the reminder that not every parent, even in the 80's, is going to turn their back on their children is revolutionary. And as a Latine person, who had to grow up with media portraying Latine parents as unsupportive and downright abusive, representation like this is even more needed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Death of parent

Moderate: Transphobia

jnreads's review against another edition

challenging tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Death of parent

Moderate: Transphobia

delisouseyelids's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective fast-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: Death, Medical content, Misogyny, Violence, War, Alcohol, Car accident, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Child death, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug use, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Transphobia, and Cursing

mcfeinics's review

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? It's complicated

5.0

There are very few books that on the first read I know it will be a book I read again and again, this is one of those. Ari's thoughts and letters hold so much in them, so much that could be meditated on even. This may be labeled as a YA but this book holds depth far beyond justa YA audience. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Homophobia

Minor: Drug use and Murder