Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe: Tenth Anniversary Edition by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

121 reviews

danajoy's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Aristotle Mendoza is 15 and has no idea who he is. 

This book feels so intimate. You're in Ari's head. He's complicated and sensitive.

I love the adult cast in this too. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer

thesecretsapphic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective 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? Yes

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Outing, Alcohol, and War

theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

You know what? If a book makes me laugh AND cry I think it deserves 5 stars. 

I am neither a teenager nor a boy, but this was a beautiful and engrossing story about family, friendship, hardships, self acceptance, trust, and love. 

I highly recommend listening to Lin-Manuel Miranda narration of the audio book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Transphobia, and Outing

Minor: Murder and Pregnancy

bookhoarder93's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

I found this book to be a really beautiful read. It is a great story about love of all types; friends, family, romantic. Also a great coming of age story.

I also really liked that it didn’t follow some of the tropes and stereotypes some stories with gay characters do.

The writer was able to tackle complex topics and ideas and articulate them with simplicity. My biggest criticisms are the end (last 30th he pages) felt very rushed and, because of that rush, the big moment for Ari at the end didn’t feel as authentic and emotional as I think it could/should have been. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Cursing and Outing

quinn_k's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Violence

elliereadsthings's review against another edition

hopeful 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

 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.” 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Classism

goosecaboose's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad 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

This book is amazing!! I just wanted to hug the book and the characters the whole time I was reading it. It’s very wholesome and warm. Putting this book down during a reading session was basically impossible. I definitely recommend this book.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Medical content, and Medical trauma

There’s a good chunk of possibly triggering things in this book, however, I get triggered moderately easy and didn’t have any problems. This book is definitely worth it.

siestudygirl's review against another edition

hopeful reflective sad medium-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

3.25

This book definitely holds impact, not just during its time of publication, but to present day. I received this book as part of a book swap, and I was stoked to dive into it! I liked how each character had their respective flaws that didn't make them unlikable. However, although I definitely picked up on the plot, I did not like some of the pacing. Nor was the writing style (consistent, short, blunt sentences) totally my speed. In fact, only when there was some kind of confession did the writing style change. 
Overall, this is a good book! But some of the pacing and writing didn't really help with engagement. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime and Homophobia

Moderate: Mental illness and Racism

Minor: Cursing and War

eleanorshellshtrop_mybeloved's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime and Car accident

Moderate: Death and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing

triangular_pascal's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail