Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

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

248 reviews

bluelien's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

I really loved this book - it has become my favorite coming-of-age story! All the characters were complex, which made the story nuanced and more interesting (had only Dante's and Ari's characters been developed, the book would have lost much of its impact). I loved Ari's POV a lot, it was my favorite thing. He feels so intensely, and he's an overthinker too, and although, it can be hard, this mix is something beautiful. I appreciate it when a book makes me reflect on life (society, relationships...), which this book managed. And lastly, the most beautiful of all was seeing their relationship develop and bloom. Seeing the beginning of their friendship was precious, seeing them become close friends was lovely, and seeing that beautiful relationship grow into something romantic was sweet. Although I hesitated a lot on picking this book up, I'm glad I did, and I guess I have to thank my ex-friend for that. It's interesting how, even though we're not friends anymore, and even though our ending hurts, I still feel like we're connected by reading this book. 
Update 1: I initially gave it 4.5 stars, but since I kept thinking about the characters and missing them, I upped the rating to 5 stars.

Update 2: Rereading 2 months after the initial read haha. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Misogyny, Violence, Lesbophobia, and War

aurora_454's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, and Alcohol

garrettcz's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-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 like the story a lot, and a lot of it really resonated with me. I think it could have been tightened up quite a bit, though. Especially the dialogue. The characters speak oddly a lot of the time, which took me out of the story over and over. One thing that really bugged me was they constantly say each others’ names to a wild degree. Not sure how that made it through editing. 

The story itself was beautiful and emotional and powerful. I really enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

thewinterwillow's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

finished it in 2 days. goddamn that was good.

i’m crying.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime and Homophobia

Minor: Drug use, Violence, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

deremie's review against another edition

funny inspiring

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

As a coming of age story, this was beautiful. A great book for teens about friendship, adolescence, societal expectations of men and a family dealing with trauma.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, and Car accident

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Murder and Pregnancy

hannah_28's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

thesvnthsense'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, and Car accident

Moderate: Violence and Alcohol

Minor: Death, Drug use, Transphobia, and War

leonidskies's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-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? Yes

5.0

So incredibly heartfelt and touching. Very much a book I WISH I'd read when I was a teenager because of just how deeply it would have affected me, but better late than never. The depth and complexity of emotions and the sheer amount of LOVE packed into these pages blew me away.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Alcohol, and War

sadie_honey's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Transphobia and Murder