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Reviews tagging 'War'
Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
63 reviews
elliizzzabeth's review against another edition
- 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
This book is the epitome of "No plot, just vibes". At least the first book had some sort of arc from meeting Dante to realising he was in love with him. This one reads more like a diary or a collection of poetic essays, it doesn't really go anywhere except trudging forward day by day. It's more about exploring opinions and the world than having a story. If that's not your cup of tea then it may feel a little slow and boring. But if you like poetic writing and deep explorations of topics then you will enjoy this. Every other line was a beautiful, poignantly crafted thought. If you like to highlight good quotes then your copy will be glowing neon by the end.
The lack of plot did mean it dragged in some places. The start felt like I was just ari going on and on about how much he loves Dante and the end dragged out longer than it needed to. The part in Paris felt almost completely unnecessary and tacked on.
Overall a very beautiful and thoughtful book, but not quite as perfect as the first
Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, Homophobia, and Death
Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, Racism, and War
I put child death but its more an exploration of death of an (adult) child. Also a lot of exploration of AIDS and the AIDS epedemicmarisasbooks's review
- 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
Graphic: War, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, and Death of parent
a_sleepy_berry's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, War, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Murder, and Transphobia
Minor: Outing and Panic attacks/disorders
nikexistiertnik's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
i loved ari's personal development - seeing him evolve, build friendships, open up for love, made me very happy, especially the relationship he came to have with his father and his mother.
this sequel also made dante feel more human and less idealised, but i still would have wanted more of his perspective, he feels like such a slippery and blurry character to me, regardless of all the flaws and mannerisms we learn about.
although i appreciated a lot of the topics that played parts in the story, like the aids pandemic or the impact the vietnam war had on veterans etc., it seemed rushed, like there was just too much content for this book, while also being very repetitive.
as a result, i feel like waters of the world could be 150 pages shorter, but at the same time it could discuss and deal with its topics for another 150 pages - the balance is just kinda off.
the ending is another example for that; i feel like it could've been cut short
overall, i enjoyed the writing - even though there were kind of a lot of errors that could've been avoided by reading over it one more time - and the relationships ari was able to build over the course of the book. i couldn't fully get lost in the story, but i did feel with him, i did relate to lots of his thoughts, and i appreciated some of the political content that was brought up.
it was just not exactly what it could've been.
Graphic: Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Homophobia
Moderate: Racism, Pregnancy, Violence, War, Cursing, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Deadnaming
jesshorn10's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Hate crime
Moderate: Bullying and Racism
Minor: Deadnaming and War
I decided to try this one again after my re-read of the first book to see if it changed my opinion about it. Unfortunately, It was still just okay. I feel like the chapters were way too short, and the writing was a bit over the top for me, sometimes. I feel like the author was trying too hard to make everything the characters said deep and meaningful, and it felt like all the characters were trying to teach me a lesson, which got a little old. Overall, I didn't hate this. It was nice to see Ari and Dante's relationship continue and develop, and I also really liked Ari's character development. I just expected a bit more.birthisacurse's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Hate crime, Transphobia, and Murder
Minor: Sexual content and War
marit_1305's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Deadnaming and War
meleac07's review
- 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
Graphic: Death, Racism, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Grief
Minor: War, Sexual content, and Deadnaming
diana_raquel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
"I thought he was only going to teach me how to swim in the waters of this swimming pool. Instead, he taught me how to dive into the waters of life"
I really wanted to like this. When I read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, I knew I was going to love that book from the first paragraph. This one? Not so much.
Thematically speaking, this book follows the same themes that its predecessor, which makes sense, since this is a sequel. We continue to see the internal struggles of the characters regarding heritage, friendship, their relationship with family, the future, and their sexuality. In a few ways, this book, just like its predecessor, challenges the notions that society has about ethnicity, family, friendship, and love but, most importantly, it challenges the idea of what makes and means to be a man.
So, if this is a continuation of a story that I absolutely adored, why this rating? Well, this is why coming-of-age stories shouldn't have a sequel. At least, in my opinion. Because, how do you follow that? With another coming-of-age story? Haven't the characters come of age, yet? Look, I understand, the first book left enough space for more character development. And, for the most part, there's strong character development in this book. The problem? If the first book was the most perfect movie ever made in Hollywood, this was the cheap Walmart version. It's boring. I only enjoyed the last 30% of the book. And, honestly, I didn't like the ending. I think that Ari and Dante shouldn't have gotten together in Paris. I think it would make more sense, within the setting of a coming-of-age story, when the character is clearly entering a new phase in their life. Yes, it's cute and romantic! And also predictable. And boring.
I absolutely recommend the first book. This one not so much. It's boring. It tries to capture the essence of the first one but it fails. I'm only giving a 2.75-star rating because I do recognize the strong character development.
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Hate crime, Outing, Transphobia, War, and Mental illness
babsi_222's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Maybe you ask yourself why I didn’t enjoy reading this book?
- While I like lots of sentences and chapters of the book, so many words/sentences and topics where frequently repeated but not in a new breeze kind of way which made the book bland and uninteresting to read for me. I wanted to scream „YES I KNOW THAT AND HE DOES TOO BECAUSE Y‘ALL TALKED ABOUT IT 400 TIMES ALREADY AND IRL YOU CAN IDC BUT IT‘S SO BORING TO READ UGHHHHH“ but I just said it in my head.
- I don’t need to hear „Ari, when have you become a man?“ or „Ari you‘ve changed“ from every person he meets.
-btw the book has no plot whatsoever and it only contains moments where one of the characters says something intelectual and the other say „how are you so sophisticated?“ and then the talk about the word sophisticated.
- the dialogue writing is incredibly unrealistic. Nobody would say these things at once.
- i saw someone else’s review and they said how much they hated the word „gay“ just being thrown around. I know what they mean because you don’t get one conversation without a „because I‘m gay(?)“. It seems like the author, Benjamin thinks Ari‘s only personal trait is being gay. The whole racism, homophobia, talking about that and about AIDS, queer stereotypes and gender and sexuality-Problem in this book would be too much for me to try and write it out here. But i can so much day that it’s not great at all but you can read @kthedestroyer‘s review and opinion which is veryyyyy similar to mine and where they covered these topics.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Misogyny
Moderate: Racism, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Violence, and War