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abhishekjain's review against another edition
5.0
If a book makes you feel good then it is a good book. This book has many beautiful lines that I can re - read a million times. I have this kind of a feel only when I read Murakami. I will give more novels a try by Saenz in near future. Some adult fiction probably.
"You can't make anyone be an adult. Especially an adult."
"My mom struggles with that too, you know? She doesn't naturally display her feelings. That's why she married my dad. That's what I think. He drags it out of her, all those feelings she has."
This book covered a very touchy topic. Parents. It is coming of age story and one thing that always puzzled us was the deal with our parents. Why are they, the way they are. This novel explores this quite interestingly. How family dynamics can shape a person in pursuing their love. How they learn to emote. Its all in there. It's all in the family.
Ari and Dante are for sure very beautiful and fragile characters. And it hurts to see nice people suffer. Two decent seventeen year olds suffering. It's hard to know if the suffering comes externally or from within the family. Sometimes it's all in our heads and we just make ourselves suffer. I felt Ari was kind of doing that. Trying to keep up the good guy image while searching for an identity. Well the plot may sound a bit cliché but if you have lines like that, you can forgive the author for that. I mean what would you expect from a novel that focuses on homosexuality. But almost till the end, it felt like a story of a kid trying to figure out his parents. I don't know what made him happier - finding himself or his parents. This remains an 'unknowable'.
It is a good read.
"You can't make anyone be an adult. Especially an adult."
"My mom struggles with that too, you know? She doesn't naturally display her feelings. That's why she married my dad. That's what I think. He drags it out of her, all those feelings she has."
This book covered a very touchy topic. Parents. It is coming of age story and one thing that always puzzled us was the deal with our parents. Why are they, the way they are. This novel explores this quite interestingly. How family dynamics can shape a person in pursuing their love. How they learn to emote. Its all in there. It's all in the family.
Ari and Dante are for sure very beautiful and fragile characters. And it hurts to see nice people suffer. Two decent seventeen year olds suffering. It's hard to know if the suffering comes externally or from within the family. Sometimes it's all in our heads and we just make ourselves suffer. I felt Ari was kind of doing that. Trying to keep up the good guy image while searching for an identity. Well the plot may sound a bit cliché but if you have lines like that, you can forgive the author for that. I mean what would you expect from a novel that focuses on homosexuality. But almost till the end, it felt like a story of a kid trying to figure out his parents. I don't know what made him happier - finding himself or his parents. This remains an 'unknowable'.
It is a good read.
buchopfer13's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
tinysaturn's review against another edition
5.0
Może akcja mogłaby się rozgrywać w trochę inny sposób, co nie zmienia faktu, że ta książka mnie absolutnie poruszyła i mną wstrząsnęła. Ostatnie sceny, a zwłaszcza te, gdzie Ari czując w sobie tyle złości bił chłopaka, który zrobił to samo Dantemu, to chyba moje ulubione. Najbardziej pokazują (łącznie z listami Dantego do Ariego) jak bardzo dorastanie jest dziwne i jak wiele emocji naraz się czuje. Zapamiętam na długo.
obyvenus's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
beautiful
aprilnotmay's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.0
acmarinho3's review against another edition
4.0
"Todas as respostas tinham estado sempre tão perto e, no entanto, sempre as evitara sem sequer perceber."
Acho que o melhor deste livro é o papel da família ❤️ do apoio incondicional, do controlo maternal que transmite um carinho sem fim, do mood brincalhão dos pais e da importância da amizade no crescimento individual
Acho que o melhor deste livro é o papel da família ❤️ do apoio incondicional, do controlo maternal que transmite um carinho sem fim, do mood brincalhão dos pais e da importância da amizade no crescimento individual
superfangirl818's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Thank you Benjamin Alire Saenz for giving me even more character that I want to hug. Ari and Dante and pretty much everyone in this book could use a hug. Also, thank you for making me almost cry in my Government class.
The best part of this book was the characters. The characters felt real, which added so many more layers of emotion to the whole story. You can't help but feel what they're feeling. Now, we all love Ari and Dante, but I want to talk about their parents. Parents are almost always villainized in stuff like this, but here, we have four extremely loving and supportive parents. Of course, there are times that the characters don't like their parents, but they don't completely villainize them and it's clear that they're thoughts on their parents are clouded by the emotions they're going through.
I do have two things I didn't love so much. I struggled with the writing at first. It grew on me, but I didn't love the writing style at first and there were times throughout the book that it annoyed me. And this is a very small complaint, but at times, it's obvious that a full-grown man is writing teenagers.
Still, this book was amazing and honestly, everyone should read it.
The best part of this book was the characters. The characters felt real, which added so many more layers of emotion to the whole story. You can't help but feel what they're feeling. Now, we all love Ari and Dante, but I want to talk about their parents. Parents are almost always villainized in stuff like this, but here, we have four extremely loving and supportive parents. Of course, there are times that the characters don't like their parents, but they don't completely villainize them and it's clear that they're thoughts on their parents are clouded by the emotions they're going through.
I do have two things I didn't love so much. I struggled with the writing at first. It grew on me, but I didn't love the writing style at first and there were times throughout the book that it annoyed me. And this is a very small complaint, but at times, it's obvious that a full-grown man is writing teenagers.
Still, this book was amazing and honestly, everyone should read it.
sonnetje9's review against another edition
5.0
Prachtig geschreven. Geweldig coming of age boek. Must read.
kaygee_reads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Homophobia and Violence
Minor: Xenophobia and Pregnancy