Reviews with content warning for Blood - Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

A really cute story about a boy falling in love with another boy, what more could you want???

For some reason I absolutely LOVE the parents in this story, they’re amazing. I may even love them more than Dante and Ari themselves.

The start was a little slow, but I swear this book just got better and better the further in I got.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

“Dante. I really liked him. I really, really liked him.”

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triangular_pascal's review against another edition

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lighthearted tense 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

3.5

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jasmineslibraryy's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

ari was so incredibly relatable. i love best friends to lovers. i love slowburn. this book was perfect for me. alexa play midnight rain by taylor swift <3

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journey2's review

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is one of the most beautifully written books. I loved the characters deeply, despite the earnestly struggling melancholy that Ari, our mc was feeling. Being 15 is hard. Being 15 with a brother in prison who no one will talk about, a father with PTSD, struggling with anger issues and discovering who he is supposed to be, all while traversing a new and exciting friendship that challenges him in every way?? That's a lot. This book is gorgeous and moving and beautiful. I loved it so much.

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anxieteaandbiscuits12's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

4.25

I did enjoy the book overall but I did find it a little difficult to get into for the first 100 pages, but that could be because this had been sitting on my shelf for about a year before I made myself read it, I felt that the beginning was quite slow and a little repetitive as we were introduced to Dante and Ari’s friendship, thought the characters were established quite well. I did struggle with the time transition between sections and sometimes having to double check who was speaking during long periods of dialog. However, after a ‘incident in the rain’ I found that both grew a little more and matured and I found it easier to invest myself in the book and by the end I was wishing I had brought the sequel so I could read more about Ari and Dante’s new relationship as it was such a beautifully written transition and I loved how the change between relationships was written.

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moonheavn's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

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greek_book_wanderer's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

This novel managed to capture my heart. I read it in less than 24 hours and from the first page, I knew that I would like it.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the book tackles various themes, like family dynamics, ethnicity and identity. I expected to read a novel that would focus more on the romantic aspect of the book, but it was more complicted than that. The relationship between the two protagonists and their parents was an aspect of the book that I liked. While Dante's relationship with his parents is more open, Ari's relationship with his parents is more complicated, especially with his father who is “inscrutable” and he deals with his own demons. Their parents are by no means perfect, but they love them and their support was so heartwarming. It's really important to see parents who accept their children the way they are and they continue to love them no matter what.

I became very attached to Aristotle and Dante and I enjoyed seeing their growth, especially Ari's and their relationship's progress. I liked Ari as a character, he is very complicated and throughout the book, he was feeling self-doupt and was struggling with his feelings. In the end, he managed to explore them and discover himself and I felt really proud for him.

The writing was simple, quotable and sweet. I enjoyed the dialogues and I found it cute that sometimes Ari and Dante repeated the phrase the other said. Due to the writing and the short chapters, the book was very fast paced and I could hardly put it down.

However, even though I loved the book, I didn't feel like giving it 5 stars. As much as I enjoyed the writing, sometimes it was too repetitive and some dialogues were kinda dull. In some conversations between them, the characters seemed like robots when they communcated with each other and that made the dialogues seem unrealistic. In some chapters, the plot seemed messy and all over the place. I got the impression that the author wasn't sure about what he would write about and sometimes the book would get from one topic to another in a very sudden way. But my main issue was the ending. While I was reading the last chapters, I couldn't help but think that the plot was rushed. There was room for more development and the way Ari realised his feelings was very absurd.

I didn't like it that his parents had to point out that he was in love with Dante in order to realise his real feelings for him. That was really undeveloped and I'm not gonna lie, I was disappointed to see that.

I still liked the way the book ended and I teared up during the last page.

In my opinion, this novel can be loved by young and older people. It's touching and I believe that many people will connect with it. It's perfect, but it's still a book that can make many people come in terms with their sexuality or identity.

Content Warnings

purplepenning's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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