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herngraystairs's review against another edition
5.0
such heartwarming book. really precious!!! the way benjamin alire sáenz understands and describes human feelings is something that can be so personal to me
sarful's review
5.0
There was a lot going on in this book and so much of it was about humanity. Humanity at its best, worst, compassionate, angry, humbled, loving and pained. Each character was unique and fully fleshed out. Even the characters that only have moments.
I had put this book on a constant ‘I’ll read it later” shelf because of its size. I’m happy I finally got to it, the size was more daunting only before I started.
This is one of those books that makes you laugh and cry, take deep breaths and think. These people got under my skin and they felt like I knew them as family members not characters in a book. So much of this book was depressing, the death, the disease, the hate. But, in the end, and thank the Lord, life, family, compassion and love ends the book. Not to say it’s a happily ever after with no more pain, but for this set of people, they find a sense of peace.
I had put this book on a constant ‘I’ll read it later” shelf because of its size. I’m happy I finally got to it, the size was more daunting only before I started.
This is one of those books that makes you laugh and cry, take deep breaths and think. These people got under my skin and they felt like I knew them as family members not characters in a book. So much of this book was depressing, the death, the disease, the hate. But, in the end, and thank the Lord, life, family, compassion and love ends the book. Not to say it’s a happily ever after with no more pain, but for this set of people, they find a sense of peace.
itzistory's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
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
3.75
clarrro's review against another edition
3.0
Wish I had liked this more, it actually annoyed. I found it overly sentimental, and improbable at the same time. I don't think it's fair to call it 'magic realism' for one element. Having said that, it did make me cry twice, which is when sentimental became emotional for me. It was tricky keeping track of the relationships, there were so many, and intertwined. The way the deaf man communicated? Didn't buy it, nor did I find the dialogue believable, everything was too 'on the nose'. However, I did not give up on it, found it interesting enough to keep turning pages, hoping for the big payoff scene. It fizzled.
british2197's review against another edition
4.0
All the stickers on the front of Aristotle and Dante belong on this book. A hidden gem, this book was amazing from start to finish (although it could have been a few dozen pages shorter as the last third of the novel seemed to drag on a bit). I really enjoyed how the characters developed and they each had their own compelling stories. They were all relatable but the one thing I didn't fail to pick up was how abusive all of the characters fathers' were. This book was every last bit insightful, touching and non-judgemental.
meganchair's review against another edition
This is just so long and so slow. The description is fantastic, but so long and so slow.
applecor's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? No
5.0
solomonaria's review against another edition
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
5.0