Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

516 reviews

secre's review against another edition

reflective 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

1.5

Urgh, I'm on the unpopular opinion road show again. The first ten percent of this was good. Then it fizzled until the last ten percent, which was absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, the eighty per cent in the middle was repetitive, slow, meandering and mostly without purpose. And it's obvious from the get go that we're meant to be building up to the big romantic reveal, but there's very little build up and it's just chucked at you in the last few pages instead.

I think my biggest issue throughout the novel was that it wasn't interesting, wasn't engaging and felt flat. The dialogue felt stilted, the characters didn't feel fully dimensional and there was almost no plot for the vast majority of the novel. You might get away with one of those flaws, but all three is a triple whammy without hope of reprieve. I was bored and that is one of the most fatal criticisms of a novel. It's better to make me angry than apathetic as at least I felt something.

It's a pity, because there's a solid kernel of excellence in here and the author can write, as demonstrated by the final ten per cent of the novel. It's just the bulk of this said very little in a whole lot of words whilst failing to build dynamic characters. There are some gems here, but they are floating in the dross. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Hate crime and Car accident

himpersonal's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-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

3.0

Book was recommended to me by a colleague. 

I can see the appeal for young people, and I think it’s important for them to have access to books like this one. I might’ve loved the book more if I was the target audience. Young adult books are hit or miss for me, and this one was a miss.

That said, it was used for an internal book club for one of our Pride chapters in the Midwest. I'm told there was a high degree of impact on those who read it together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Car accident, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

sweetrosegirl76's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

I liked this! It was sweet, easy read. Lin Manual was a good audio book narrator. I like the characters, they are both really sweet. Idk what the story graph question means if the cast of characters is diverse, do they mean many characters? Then no. If they mean are there racially diverse characters, yes bc it's about 2 Mexican boys and their Mexican families.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident

Moderate: Homophobia and Violence

Minor: Transphobia

henry10's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

Minor: Violence

lonelylooper's review against another edition

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Blood, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

coldsoup13's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Car accident

books_and_fairy_lights's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-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

4.25

It was finally time I got around to reading this book. It did not disappoint. The characters are incredibly well written. It's funny, I feel like every gay person would relate to either Ari or to Dante. Maybe sometimes a mix of both. I definitely related to Dante. Maybe some of Ari too, not gonna lie. I loved how it pictured love (both romantic and familial) as that deep caring feeling. It showed that the world can be hard and complicated, but that with people who love you and stand by you, maybe you can make sense of things a little, and you can bare things you couldn't bare on your own. The importance of letting people in. The importance of kindness.
I was on the verge of tears so many times through that book. Good tears, but damn.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, and Car accident

Minor: Cancer and Murder

jooniethemoonie's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense 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

5.0

the tale of boy discovering himself in a world where nothing makes sense and he's lagging behind. an inspiring journey!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

oweatherwax's review against another edition

challenging emotional relaxing 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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Violence, and Car accident

Moderate: Sexism, Transphobia, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Toxic relationship and Transphobia

juliatsang's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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? Yes

4.0

I would have loved this book as an emo teenager on tumblr. As an adult, I still enjoy some of the twee writing and feel emotional at *the* moments, but alas, I can tell I have grown. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Car accident, and Abandonment

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Violence