Reviews tagging 'War'

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

65 reviews

roefrancis_'s review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? No

5.0

I have never cried so hard reading a book, I love these characters so much having read both books back to back you realise how well formed they are and by the end of the second book you feel that you have grown up with them. 

I’m going to leave this review basic but I know this duology is going to be my new comfort books and comfort characters and I am so excited for the film release so we can see these characters again
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lilycantchoose's review against another edition

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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

3.5

I was really looking forward to this book, but unfortunately there were a lot of things that didn’t do it for me— there were a lot of typos, and the dialogue felt pretty bland, unrealistic. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but I like book 1 way better. That said, there were so many beautiful and inspiring quotes, messages, and themes throughout the book :)
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angrybred's review against another edition

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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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vvsaadig's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

this book is so incredibly beautiful. it addresses such important topics like sexuality, war, trauma, religion, racism, tolerance and love, amongst others. it is so wonderfully written, the main character grows up vividly on the pages of this book. this book hurt me, it made me cry, because it discussed things that have happened and still happen in our society. the search for happiness is endless, but if 'aristotle and dante' has taught me anything, it is that even if the waters of the world are deep, we should not be afraid to dive into them. I could not recommend this book enough, I adored the first one but somehow the second one is even better. I think everyone who is struggling with idenity and who is trying to understand the world will find a companion in aristotle and will enjoy what he has to say and how he says it.  
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mosaicbrokenhearts's review against another edition

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challenging 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

4.0

Here we go. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is my favorite book of all time so i was obviously extremely excited for the sequel. I even decided to reread the first book before reading the second which was a big mistake. As we all know, the writing in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is absolutely gorgeous and my first thought while reading this book was: "what am i reading and who are these characters". I absolutely hated it at first if i'm being honest. The narrative and the relationships in the book just felt so forced to me, just like many things the characters said, specially Ari's parents. And unfortunely this feeling stayed with me for most of the book. But there were some parts that almost left me breathless. Sometimes i would just stare at a page and think: "yes, these are the people i know, this is my Ari, and everything feels right". 

One thing i absolutely loved in this book were the new relationships we got. Cassandra, Gina and Susie are the best girls in the world and i love them so much. Ari's relationship with his father was my favorite thing and i'm so glad we got to see them grow closer and start to understand each other.
 
Ari starting to accept the love people have for him was absolutely beautiful, and seeing him get the closure he deserves regarding his brother was very much needed.

I did miss Dante a lot though. As important as those new relationships were, when the went back to school it felt like Dante completely disappeared.

I honestly have so many thoughts on this book that i can't exactly put into words but overall this book was a rollercoaster. It doesn't even come close to the first one and while i have so many things that didn't exactly please me, i did like it a lot. I've been thinking about that last chapter nonstop ever since i finished the book because GOD!!! It was gorgeous. 

Please!! ignore any mistakes since english isn't my first language lol thank u <3
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lucinotlucy's review against another edition

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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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megplant's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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saraordnez's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This book disappointed me. While the first one felt natural and mostly realistic this one tried too hard to be philosophical and most of the dialogue just felt so forced and unreal. It's like the author wanted to have edgy sad boy inspirational quotes EVERY PAGE. Like sometimes people would say things that felt out of character just for the sake of having another deep quote. It was just too much. The only things I liked were the friendship of Ari with Susie & Gina and some scenes of Ari & Dante and Ari & his mother. Also it was super weird how this books just starts with Ari being horny. And that's basically the theme of the book in its first 150 pages. Like I get they're 17 yo and they're horny but you could have waited a little... Or even better you could have made their sex scenes a lot less explicit taking into account that you're a 67 yo man writing about teenager boys. It just made me uncomfortable. 
The book has its sweet moments but they just weren't enough to make the sequel feel good or necessary. 
And this book is transphobic just like the author so if you're going to buy it do it second-handed please! But I wouldn't even read it, if you want to know how it ends I'll spoil it for you:
They end up together and living in Paris and Ari's dad dies. Also Dante's brother is born and they name him Sophocles Bartholomew, no it's not a joke.

Btw, if you're going to read it (against my recommendations) and English isn't your first language, this book wasn't hard to understand at all! Spanish is my first language and I had no problem reading it. 
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butyougotmysoul's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

Devastatingly beautiful. Lyrical and yet easy to understand. This was a gorgeous novel written so wonderfully and so engagingly. The audiobook was perfection. 
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nextkt's review against another edition

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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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