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Reviews tagging 'War'
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
65 reviews
diana_raquel's review against another edition
emotional
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
2.75
*2.75 stars*
"I thought he was only going to teach me how to swim in the waters of this swimming pool. Instead, he taught me how to dive into the waters of life"
I really wanted to like this. When I read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, I knew I was going to love that book from the first paragraph. This one? Not so much.
Thematically speaking, this book follows the same themes that its predecessor, which makes sense, since this is a sequel. We continue to see the internal struggles of the characters regarding heritage, friendship, their relationship with family, the future, and their sexuality. In a few ways, this book, just like its predecessor, challenges the notions that society has about ethnicity, family, friendship, and love but, most importantly, it challenges the idea of what makes and means to be a man.
So, if this is a continuation of a story that I absolutely adored, why this rating? Well, this is why coming-of-age stories shouldn't have a sequel. At least, in my opinion. Because, how do you follow that? With another coming-of-age story? Haven't the characters come of age, yet? Look, I understand, the first book left enough space for more character development. And, for the most part, there's strong character development in this book. The problem? If the first book was the most perfect movie ever made in Hollywood, this was the cheap Walmart version. It's boring. I only enjoyed the last 30% of the book. And, honestly, I didn't like the ending. I think that Ari and Dante shouldn't have gotten together in Paris. I think it would make more sense, within the setting of a coming-of-age story, when the character is clearly entering a new phase in their life. Yes, it's cute and romantic! And also predictable. And boring.
I absolutely recommend the first book. This one not so much. It's boring. It tries to capture the essence of the first one but it fails. I'm only giving a 2.75-star rating because I do recognize the strong character development.
"I thought he was only going to teach me how to swim in the waters of this swimming pool. Instead, he taught me how to dive into the waters of life"
I really wanted to like this. When I read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, I knew I was going to love that book from the first paragraph. This one? Not so much.
Thematically speaking, this book follows the same themes that its predecessor, which makes sense, since this is a sequel. We continue to see the internal struggles of the characters regarding heritage, friendship, their relationship with family, the future, and their sexuality. In a few ways, this book, just like its predecessor, challenges the notions that society has about ethnicity, family, friendship, and love but, most importantly, it challenges the idea of what makes and means to be a man.
So, if this is a continuation of a story that I absolutely adored, why this rating? Well, this is why coming-of-age stories shouldn't have a sequel. At least, in my opinion. Because, how do you follow that? With another coming-of-age story? Haven't the characters come of age, yet? Look, I understand, the first book left enough space for more character development. And, for the most part, there's strong character development in this book. The problem? If the first book was the most perfect movie ever made in Hollywood, this was the cheap Walmart version. It's boring. I only enjoyed the last 30% of the book. And, honestly, I didn't like the ending. I think that Ari and Dante shouldn't have gotten together in Paris. I think it would make more sense, within the setting of a coming-of-age story, when the character is clearly entering a new phase in their life. Yes, it's cute and romantic! And also predictable. And boring.
I absolutely recommend the first book. This one not so much. It's boring. It tries to capture the essence of the first one but it fails. I'm only giving a 2.75-star rating because I do recognize the strong character development.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Hate crime, Outing, Transphobia, War, and Mental illness
babsi_222's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Finally done with this book and i have to say one thing: I loved ‚Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe‘ I really did. But after reading the sequel, this book- and not really liking and enjoying it, I don’t think I can like the first book as much anymore. I’m sorry for it.
Maybe you ask yourself why I didn’t enjoy reading this book?
- While I like lots of sentences and chapters of the book, so many words/sentences and topics where frequently repeated but not in a new breeze kind of way which made the book bland and uninteresting to read for me. I wanted to scream „YES I KNOW THAT AND HE DOES TOO BECAUSE Y‘ALL TALKED ABOUT IT 400 TIMES ALREADY AND IRL YOU CAN IDC BUT IT‘S SO BORING TO READ UGHHHHH“ but I just said it in my head.
- I don’t need to hear „Ari, when have you become a man?“ or „Ari you‘ve changed“ from every person he meets.
-btw the book has no plot whatsoever and it only contains moments where one of the characters says something intelectual and the other say „how are you so sophisticated?“ and then the talk about the word sophisticated.
- the dialogue writing is incredibly unrealistic. Nobody would say these things at once.
- i saw someone else’s review and they said how much they hated the word „gay“ just being thrown around. I know what they mean because you don’t get one conversation without a „because I‘m gay(?)“. It seems like the author, Benjamin thinks Ari‘s only personal trait is being gay. The whole racism, homophobia, talking about that and about AIDS, queer stereotypes and gender and sexuality-Problem in this book would be too much for me to try and write it out here. But i can so much day that it’s not great at all but you can read @kthedestroyer‘s review and opinion which is veryyyyy similar to mine and where they covered these topics.
Maybe you ask yourself why I didn’t enjoy reading this book?
- While I like lots of sentences and chapters of the book, so many words/sentences and topics where frequently repeated but not in a new breeze kind of way which made the book bland and uninteresting to read for me. I wanted to scream „YES I KNOW THAT AND HE DOES TOO BECAUSE Y‘ALL TALKED ABOUT IT 400 TIMES ALREADY AND IRL YOU CAN IDC BUT IT‘S SO BORING TO READ UGHHHHH“ but I just said it in my head.
- I don’t need to hear „Ari, when have you become a man?“ or „Ari you‘ve changed“ from every person he meets.
-btw the book has no plot whatsoever and it only contains moments where one of the characters says something intelectual and the other say „how are you so sophisticated?“ and then the talk about the word sophisticated.
- the dialogue writing is incredibly unrealistic. Nobody would say these things at once.
- i saw someone else’s review and they said how much they hated the word „gay“ just being thrown around. I know what they mean because you don’t get one conversation without a „because I‘m gay(?)“. It seems like the author, Benjamin thinks Ari‘s only personal trait is being gay. The whole racism, homophobia, talking about that and about AIDS, queer stereotypes and gender and sexuality-Problem in this book would be too much for me to try and write it out here. But i can so much day that it’s not great at all but you can read @kthedestroyer‘s review and opinion which is veryyyyy similar to mine and where they covered these topics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Misogyny
Moderate: Racism, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Violence, and War
talasterism's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.75
oh how did you manage to fuck up a book like this ... the plot is lacking a lot to begin with but its the cringy writing that gets to me/neg. just, the whole repeating of a quote he thought was pretty four times TAKES EVERYTHING AWAY FROM IT! i really hated it but wanted to see what happens in the end and okay. sure. good for them. the whole??? breaking up bc u love them trope? Hate it. the whole women are great thin? SO FUCKING FAKE OH MY GOD. Also, Sophocles, really? и наверное что хуевее всего, это что я себя вижу в отражении иногда этих двух. И Я ПРОСТО ВОТ НЕ ХОЧУ но они говорят вещи которве я не так уж и давно и думал, для моего комфорта. ugh
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Death of parent
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Violence, Pregnancy, Murder, and War
luananki'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
3.75
some books don’t need a sequel and this one might have been one of them.
don’t get me wrong, it’s a good book and i very much enjoyed the poetic and emotional writing. ari‘s thoughts were often times relatable. it was easy to follow his train of thoughts - that‘s one of the reasons why i appreciated the letters so much.
i also liked that it adressed a lot of things that were left unsaid in the first one.
after reading both books i was sad that we didn’t get to find out more about dante’s feelings and thoughts. i’m not sure if ari understood some of his decisions and it would’ve been nice to get to know him better.
i hate the ending. it felt rushed in every way and honestly like the bit of drama that can be found in every romance novel. it was comforting to see dante supporting ari after his father’s death and how they were able to work through so much trouble. breaking up and getting back together right after without any communication (one of the reasons why i’m sad we don’t get to see anything from dante’s pov) felt very out of character.
the deadnaming and misgendering was painful to read and made me uncomfortable in a lot of ways.
all in all, i enjoyed their story and how ari felt in their relationship. i’m still glad i picked up the sequel even though it could’ve been kept shorter.
all in all, i enjoyed their story and how ari felt in their relationship. i’m still glad i picked up the sequel even though it could’ve been kept shorter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Homophobia
Moderate: Deadnaming, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Cursing, and Racism
Minor: Biphobia, Bullying, Hate crime, Murder, and War
lunep's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Deadnaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Homophobia, Bullying, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Pregnancy
Minor: Outing, Domestic abuse, Murder, War, Sexual content, and Death
dilettiert's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, and Outing
Minor: Death, Alcohol, Deadnaming, War, Misogyny, Racism, and Transphobia
skudiklier'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? It's complicated
5.0
Oh I loved this book. I think it might have been even better than the first one--it certainly made me more emotional, and touched me in deeper places. I looked at the content warnings partway through the book because I wanted to be prepared for if a certain thing would happen, and those made me realize a different thing would happen. Even knowing that, it really got me and I was so wrecked by it. Overall though this book is beautiful and hopeful and real.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Death of parent, Homophobia, Grief, and Outing
Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Sexual content, Racism, Biphobia, Cursing, Bullying, Pregnancy, Hate crime, Deadnaming, and Child death
Minor: War, Animal death, Slavery, Murder, and Infidelity
moonchildshine's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
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? N/A
3.5
I love the prequel so much it made me drive myself to the bookstore at night just after I finished the prequel so that I can immediately buy and read this book. That's how much I anticipate it.
It was more than a week ago. And sadly, this sequel isn't like the first book of this series--which I pretty much devoured in two sitting.
I read this slowly, because there were times when I felt it dragged too much.
Ari and Dante are still two precious boys who deal with things and try to learn about life together. The writing is still as beautiful as the first book. But there's just something lack? (Besides the lack of description, of course). It's just... It's not as magical as the first one, that's all.
However, I still enjoyed this read and I still find myself loving the characters. The friendship Ari and Dante's found, the love they discovered in each other's family, the grief they had to bear and the way they handle it... It's all important and just as heartwarming as the first book.
It's just my expectations, I guess. I expect too much and I didn't quite find my expectations were met after reading this.
3.5 stars, for me.
It was more than a week ago. And sadly, this sequel isn't like the first book of this series--which I pretty much devoured in two sitting.
I read this slowly, because there were times when I felt it dragged too much.
Ari and Dante are still two precious boys who deal with things and try to learn about life together. The writing is still as beautiful as the first book. But there's just something lack? (Besides the lack of description, of course). It's just... It's not as magical as the first one, that's all.
However, I still enjoyed this read and I still find myself loving the characters. The friendship Ari and Dante's found, the love they discovered in each other's family, the grief they had to bear and the way they handle it... It's all important and just as heartwarming as the first book.
It's just my expectations, I guess. I expect too much and I didn't quite find my expectations were met after reading this.
3.5 stars, for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, and Transphobia
Moderate: Pregnancy, Transphobia, and Deadnaming
Minor: Racism and War
bennispizza's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Gun violence, Alcohol, Hate crime, War, Transphobia, Violence, and Homophobia
onemamareads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Child death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Transphobia, Biphobia, and War