Reviews tagging 'War'

Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

63 reviews

eveofthestars's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful 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

I'm so sad I finished this book and yet I didn't want to put it down. I flew through this book, I read it in one weekend and throughout it I thought: "I want to read this book forever, I don't want to do anything else and above all I don't want it to end." I don't think I'll ever find books as beautiful as these, that speak to me in such a way. I could praise the writing for days — you can feel the poet in Sáenz and it's part of what makes these books so gorgeous. I'm so happy to see the journey Ari went through, with all its hardships, and the person he's becoming. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go grieve the fact that there're no more books in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: War, Transphobia, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content

delisouseyelids's review

emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Misogyny, Violence, War, Alcohol, Car accident, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Child death, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug use, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Transphobia, and Cursing

emiliarosep's review

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death of parent, and Racism

Moderate: Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, and War

hello_lovely13's review

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

4.5

This book was somehow hopeful and melancholy at the same time, and the result is just beautiful. While reading this, I really wanted to reread the first book. To say that this was a love story (in the sense that this is a romance book) would severely diminish the impact and honesty this book has. It has a simple, yet poetic writing style that makes every topic addressed in this book (self-love, grief, belonging, hate, etc.) so accessible and resonate within the reader.  There were a couple of times that I thought the writing style was too simplistic for the situation it was discussing, but for a majority of the time I thought it was perfect.  There are many everyday, meaningful conversations, and that is right up my alley.  This is a beautiful exploration of what it is like to love in a world so filled with hate, both in general and specifically for your identity.  Ari struggled a lot with self-hatred in the first book (so the first one is much more melancholy than this one), and he really deals with that in this book.  The character progression is heart-warming to see as he grows and learns.  Even if things can't last forever, it's impact will linger and become a part of who you are; it is just up to you to determine how it will change and influence you.  It is just wonderful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Homophobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism and Transphobia

Minor: Sexual content, Deadnaming, and War

Internalized homophobia, AIDs crisis

robinks's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.25

The pacing of this book was really strange, as there were parts I didn’t think needed to be drawn out so much and others that I wish could’ve been drawn out more. I liked the new characters and what the book had to show about platonic intimacy. I also liked how we got to see the teens empowered to advocate for themselves and each other.

What I didn’t like was how the relationship between Dante & Ari progressed, and I think part of it was due to the fact that Ari seemed to be a totally different person from the first book. If we had seen more of his growth, it would’ve been more believable. Also, I don’t know if I liked Miranda as the narrator of the audiobook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Death, and Transphobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Deadnaming, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Cursing

Minor: Murder, Hate crime, Sexual content, Outing, and War

davbat's review

emotional hopeful 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

Amazing and made me cry on the bus. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Homophobia

Moderate: Transphobia, War, Death of parent, and Death

alessandravaron's review

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: War and Homophobia

Minor: Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Transphobia

shirarweiss's review

challenging 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? Yes

5.0

This is the most beautiful book I’ve ever read. Ari is so raw and I feel like we share a soul. Ari tells me it is okay to love, to cry, to feel it all. This book is all that it is to be human. This book will live in my heart forever. I am grateful to have read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Transphobia, War, Homophobia, Bullying, and Death of parent

lambclown's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad slow-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

3.0

Not everything has to be so profound and i found it really unrealistic the way everyone talked to each other. too poetic. but im also a jaded old bitch

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racism, and Death of parent

Moderate: War

Minor: Murder and Transphobia

antonia_oana19's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Homophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Violence and War