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Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
248 reviews
gyulachan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Transphobia, Murder, and Death of parent
marker_yippee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Death of parent, Homophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Transphobia and Racism
stormeno's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, and Racism
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Transphobia, Alcohol, and Deadnaming
sweetrosegirl76's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Some parts made me cry, esp the teacher letter. Wow. It was so beautiful. This book feels like a love letter I think that's why I rounded to a 4 on goodreads
Idk about you, but you know how you can tell a book was written during covid? 😂 after the awakening of america? Idk how to explain this; my only other example coming to mind is The Extraordinaries book 1 and 2, but I think I did read another that gave those vibes. I don't know how to explain this because it's such a weird vibe, but what I mean by this is that the we talk about race, social issues, racism in books taking place in America is such a different way pre and post 2020. I don't think it's a bad thing because these are conversations that we should be having. I can just tell when the author realizes it should have been a part of the book from jump and that they want to suddenly include this in their work bc it does feel forced or too much when i read it after the fact. I can't tell when the author themselves has changed, which is, of course, a great thing. It's just something I notice, and I noticed it here. This book is supposed to take place in 1986? 88? If it wasn't included in the first book, so it's presence is very much noticed. Again, it's not a bad thing to include, I'm purely speaking of a technical writing perspective.
There was a lot of wisdom in this book reguarding the topics I just mentioned and honestly about life too, which is why I want to give this book a little bit of a higher rating, but then when I think about the plot I'm kind of like was there one? I didn't really know the direction where this book was going VS I felt like with the first one. There was a little bit more of a journey, but at the same time there is a journey that's happening here, I guess it was just kind of harder to see? I feel so conflicted because I feel like even this is not a good or fair thing to say because Aristotle went through such a journey when it came coming out of a shell and allowing himself to be loved like there is definitely some great character development here, all because of Dante and Aristotle's love for him. That is beautiful.
There are beautiful and poetic lines, its a soft book, its a loving book, with loving characters, and loving relationships. There is so much wisdom, love, heart, and soul in this book which is why I wanna give it a 4, but then I think about just the story itself and I think about doing a 3 bc of previously mentioned points about post 2020 writing and what is the plot. The running metaphor and theme about the cartographers of the world was kind of overplayed and tired imo it was getting SLIGHTLY annoying bc it's just not how teens talk.
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying and Homophobia
Minor: Hate crime, Racism, Cursing, and Transphobia
eveofthestars's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: War, Transphobia, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
heidipretzel's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Homophobia and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent, Bullying, and Alcohol
Minor: Transphobia, Violence, and Deadnaming
d00rframe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Racism, Grief, Cursing, Abandonment, Death of parent, Homophobia, Dysphoria, and Bullying
Moderate: Violence, Transphobia, Murder, Hate crime, Chronic illness, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Gun violence
kjm9773's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Moderate: Death, Cursing, Homophobia, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual content, and Racism
Minor: Murder, Suicide, and Transphobia
sammymilfort's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Vomit, Bullying, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Medical content, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death of parent, and Misogyny
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Car accident
I love Ari and Dante so much! I am conflicted how I feel because this series and story means so much to me, and it felt like a 5 star to me. Ari’s growth was so beautiful to see. Benjamin’s writing will always tug at my heartrings At the same time, I understand there is a nuance and problematic aspects to these characters that make it questionable and uncomfortable for people to read To me Ari and Dante are imperfect people who can learn from their views and our curious about the world I wish Saènez took from a note of compassion and love that he imposed on his characters into his own world view. The hate he has shown towards the trans/gender nonconforming community is honestly unacceptable and goes against many of the themes he writes about in his book. I am not part of this community but I stand with the community, who has given this author many chances to change or apologize and learn from his behavior, but he has shown no heart to some of the harmful damage he has has done After this I am no longer reading any books by this authoryasidiaz's review against another edition
- 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 Discover the Secrets to the Universe will forever be my favorite one between both books, but this sequel is so much more than I could have asked for. I cried so much with this book, perhaps more than the first one. Seeing the internal struggles of Ari, especially while being a gay teen at the height of the AIDS pandemic, broke me but felt necessary.
I love the way we see Ari grow, how he matures as a person, and how he learns to love himself and be loved. I love the emphasis that just because he and Dante love each other, doesn't mean they are or have to be perfect, that they will always be learning and growing as men. And as much as I love romance, I love a story that puts as much emphasis on the friendships and familial relationships, as much or more than the romantic ones.
Most importantly, the love their parents had for Ari and Dante will always be dear to me. I am glad this never turned into a story where the gay kids had to deal with homophobic parents. Those things happen and we have many stories touching those lived experiences. But the reminder that not every parent, even in the 80's, is going to turn their back on their children is revolutionary. And as a Latine person, who had to grow up with media portraying Latine parents as unsupportive and downright abusive, representation like this is even more needed.
Graphic: Homophobia and Death of parent
Moderate: Transphobia