Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

I can see why so many people love this but for me, it was just okay. Loved the character development and the families' dynamics. Loved the coming of age storyline and discovering/acknowledging/accepting of one's self but it didn't totally grab me or wow me or leave a big impact on me like it has for others.

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secre's review

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reflective slow-paced

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

1.5

Urgh, I'm on the unpopular opinion road show again. The first ten percent of this was good. Then it fizzled until the last ten percent, which was absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, the eighty per cent in the middle was repetitive, slow, meandering and mostly without purpose. And it's obvious from the get go that we're meant to be building up to the big romantic reveal, but there's very little build up and it's just chucked at you in the last few pages instead.

I think my biggest issue throughout the novel was that it wasn't interesting, wasn't engaging and felt flat. The dialogue felt stilted, the characters didn't feel fully dimensional and there was almost no plot for the vast majority of the novel. You might get away with one of those flaws, but all three is a triple whammy without hope of reprieve. I was bored and that is one of the most fatal criticisms of a novel. It's better to make me angry than apathetic as at least I felt something.

It's a pity, because there's a solid kernel of excellence in here and the author can write, as demonstrated by the final ten per cent of the novel. It's just the bulk of this said very little in a whole lot of words whilst failing to build dynamic characters. There are some gems here, but they are floating in the dross.

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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

Book was recommended to me by a colleague. I can see the appeal for young people, and I think it’s important for them to have access to books like this one. I might’ve loved the book more if I was the target audience.

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