Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

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

60 reviews

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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

Aristotle and Dante give me hope, make me laugh, make me cry. Rarely does an author so clearly understand and intimately describe what it means to be human and more importantly, what it means to love and be loved. This book made me feel so many things. I can’t express how important this book is — for so many people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Homophobia, Hate crime, Murder, Outing, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

smrj's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: War, Transphobia, Death, Bullying, and Murder

bbellabeee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

I beautiful end to Ari and Dante’s story. It wasn’t all happy love, it had the harsh reality that can come with it. The length was daunting compared to book one, but it’s one of those books that had a natural division between each section of pages that made reading it very easy and relaxing. Overall: gorgeous, but a one-time-read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Outing, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and War

menomica's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

I think this book was a chronology of the life a gay teen boy growing up in the 80’s.  It was really sweet to see Ari’s life develop how watch him connect more with people. It was pretty clear that a lot of the thoughts and reflections in the book were thoughts of Sáenz. Idk. Very much enjoyed this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia, Pregnancy, Racism, and Bullying

Minor: Religious bigotry, Child death, Murder, Transphobia, Violence, and Hate crime

rosita's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

I will add a longer review later, but this books deals with the aids pandemic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Hate crime, Xenophobia, and Grief

Minor: War, Child death, Bullying, and Vomit

angrybred's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective sad 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

Graphic: Homophobia, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: War, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Racism

Minor: Bullying, Deadnaming, and Misogyny

lucinotlucy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

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

Minor: Cursing, Bullying, Deadnaming, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Violence, and War

nextkt's review against another edition

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

Benjamin Alire Sáenz isn't a perfect writer. His prose is achingly beautiful and often funny in a way that makes you want to cry, but the plots of his books often err on the side of melodramatic and to enjoy them you must have a soft spot for bible-esque affirmations reflecting on life and how to live it right. Despite this: his writing is kind. Kind and honest. And both of these qualities are so prevalent in this book it almost made it difficult to read. It's an earnestness that makes you want to avert your eyes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, and Violence

Minor: War

callikat's review against another edition

reflective slow-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

2.75

I really don't think this sequel held up to the first book. It seemed like every chapter was just a set-up to have someone make a big, maudlin speech about something. And while the subject matter was always good, it just didn't feel very organic - like I don't know anyone who talks like this in real life, let alone EVERY CHARACTER. It's also very slow, nothing major happens until 350 pages in. I guess I was expecting a book about more of the ups and downs of their new relationship, but that part felt very underdeveloped actually. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, and Homophobia

tahsintries's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, Racism, and Transphobia

Minor: Bullying