Reviews tagging 'Outing'

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

52 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Murder, Outing, War, Abandonment, Gaslighting, and Violence

kate_elle's review

emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Outing, Violence, and Homophobia

d00rframe's review

adventurous emotional lighthearted 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

4.5

I love this book, currently reading the second one :3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Medical content, Racism, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Bullying

Moderate: Blood, Ableism, Body horror, Gun violence, Hate crime, Outing, Body shaming, Cultural appropriation, and Dysphoria

Minor: Self harm

jayden_chancery's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War

Minor: Transphobia, Outing, and Murder

erikagibson126's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Hate crime, and Car accident

Moderate: Drug abuse, Outing, Alcohol, Death, Confinement, Sexual content, Classism, Drug use, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Sexual violence, and Transphobia

thereistime's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Outing, Car accident, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, and Cursing

Minor: Death, War, and Cancer

packedjam's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

4.25

ough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Hate crime, and Car accident

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Transphobia, and Medical content

Minor: War, Murder, Vomit, Drug use, Outing, and Alcohol

genevieve_eggleston's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Homophobia

Minor: Blood, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug use, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Medical content, Outing, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, and Racism

minervacerridwen's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective relaxing medium-paced

• 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

This was a fast read and I enjoyed most of it. It was interesting to follow the experiences of two queer Mexican-American teenagers in the eighties. However, the ending seriously dropped the rating for me.

The whole book had built up to the discovery of who Ari's brother was and how he had ended up in prison. The big reveal was that the brother had killed a prostitute he'd picked up as a 15-year-old because she turned out to be a transvestite. In the same breath, Ari and his parents decide to put up framed pictures of this bigoted brother Because He Is Family After All, and not another thought is spent on that (while thus far, the whole book had been all about Ari's thought processes, so it definitely wouldn't have been out of character or slowing the story down).
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?

And on top of that, Ari had to out Dante to his parents. I definitely do see the value of them talking to each other about those subjects, but the way it was handled just didn't feel right for the type of book I generally had a feeling this wanted to be.

Considering how this was once lauded as a great book with a queer romance, I was surprised that it ended right after Ari acknowledged his feelings for Dante. It made me wonder even more if this really was the right decision for him. Which could have been intentional, but that doesn't quite match the way this book is marketed, which leaves me feeling weird about it all. It felt a little as if the author didn't quite know where to end the story and then just decided to cut it off after a quick tie-up.

I learned there is a sequel, so I could only hope some of these issues are resolved in that, but I don't think I have enough faith in it to pick it up.

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.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Alcohol, Death, Hate crime, Outing, Transphobia, Drug use, and Murder

daringreader13's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Biphobia, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Outing, Racism, Medical content, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Cursing, and Grief