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Reviews tagging 'War'
Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
63 reviews
talasterism's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.75
oh how did you manage to fuck up a book like this ... the plot is lacking a lot to begin with but its the cringy writing that gets to me/neg. just, the whole repeating of a quote he thought was pretty four times TAKES EVERYTHING AWAY FROM IT! i really hated it but wanted to see what happens in the end and okay. sure. good for them. the whole??? breaking up bc u love them trope? Hate it. the whole women are great thin? SO FUCKING FAKE OH MY GOD. Also, Sophocles, really? и наверное что хуевее всего, это что я себя вижу в отражении иногда этих двух. И Я ПРОСТО ВОТ НЕ ХОЧУ но они говорят вещи которве я не так уж и давно и думал, для моего комфорта. ugh
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Death of parent
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Violence, Pregnancy, Murder, and War
luananki's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
3.75
some books don’t need a sequel and this one might have been one of them.
don’t get me wrong, it’s a good book and i very much enjoyed the poetic and emotional writing. ari‘s thoughts were often times relatable. it was easy to follow his train of thoughts - that‘s one of the reasons why i appreciated the letters so much.
i also liked that it adressed a lot of things that were left unsaid in the first one.
after reading both books i was sad that we didn’t get to find out more about dante’s feelings and thoughts. i’m not sure if ari understood some of his decisions and it would’ve been nice to get to know him better.
i hate the ending. it felt rushed in every way and honestly like the bit of drama that can be found in every romance novel. it was comforting to see dante supporting ari after his father’s death and how they were able to work through so much trouble. breaking up and getting back together right after without any communication (one of the reasons why i’m sad we don’t get to see anything from dante’s pov) felt very out of character.
the deadnaming and misgendering was painful to read and made me uncomfortable in a lot of ways.
all in all, i enjoyed their story and how ari felt in their relationship. i’m still glad i picked up the sequel even though it could’ve been kept shorter.
all in all, i enjoyed their story and how ari felt in their relationship. i’m still glad i picked up the sequel even though it could’ve been kept shorter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Homophobia
Moderate: Deadnaming, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Cursing, and Racism
Minor: Biphobia, Bullying, Hate crime, Murder, and War
lunep's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Deadnaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Homophobia, Bullying, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Pregnancy
Minor: Outing, Domestic abuse, Murder, War, Sexual content, and Death
dilettiert's review
emotional
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, and Outing
Minor: Death, Alcohol, Deadnaming, War, Misogyny, Racism, and Transphobia
skudiklier's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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? It's complicated
5.0
Oh I loved this book. I think it might have been even better than the first one--it certainly made me more emotional, and touched me in deeper places. I looked at the content warnings partway through the book because I wanted to be prepared for if a certain thing would happen, and those made me realize a different thing would happen. Even knowing that, it really got me and I was so wrecked by it. Overall though this book is beautiful and hopeful and real.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Death of parent, Homophobia, Grief, and Outing
Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Sexual content, Racism, Biphobia, Cursing, Bullying, Pregnancy, Hate crime, Deadnaming, and Child death
Minor: War, Animal death, Slavery, Murder, and Infidelity
moonchildshine's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
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? N/A
3.5
I love the prequel so much it made me drive myself to the bookstore at night just after I finished the prequel so that I can immediately buy and read this book. That's how much I anticipate it.
It was more than a week ago. And sadly, this sequel isn't like the first book of this series--which I pretty much devoured in two sitting.
I read this slowly, because there were times when I felt it dragged too much.
Ari and Dante are still two precious boys who deal with things and try to learn about life together. The writing is still as beautiful as the first book. But there's just something lack? (Besides the lack of description, of course). It's just... It's not as magical as the first one, that's all.
However, I still enjoyed this read and I still find myself loving the characters. The friendship Ari and Dante's found, the love they discovered in each other's family, the grief they had to bear and the way they handle it... It's all important and just as heartwarming as the first book.
It's just my expectations, I guess. I expect too much and I didn't quite find my expectations were met after reading this.
3.5 stars, for me.
It was more than a week ago. And sadly, this sequel isn't like the first book of this series--which I pretty much devoured in two sitting.
I read this slowly, because there were times when I felt it dragged too much.
Ari and Dante are still two precious boys who deal with things and try to learn about life together. The writing is still as beautiful as the first book. But there's just something lack? (Besides the lack of description, of course). It's just... It's not as magical as the first one, that's all.
However, I still enjoyed this read and I still find myself loving the characters. The friendship Ari and Dante's found, the love they discovered in each other's family, the grief they had to bear and the way they handle it... It's all important and just as heartwarming as the first book.
It's just my expectations, I guess. I expect too much and I didn't quite find my expectations were met after reading this.
3.5 stars, for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, and Transphobia
Moderate: Pregnancy, Transphobia, and Deadnaming
Minor: Racism and War
bennispizza's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Gun violence, Alcohol, Hate crime, War, Transphobia, Violence, and Homophobia
onemamareads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Child death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Transphobia, Biphobia, and War
avadear's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-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
3.5
I truly love the characters of this book and have for years but part of me was disappointed with this book. especially at the very end i wish there were some things that would’ve been more “resolved”? overall i love how this book makes you think about life and hope and love and it’s an enjoyable read. i adore every single character and they are all pretty well developed although i truly wish i could’ve seen more of dante’s development. ari is completely developed basically by the end of the first book and the second book really starts to get into dante’s flaws and insecurities but i feel they are left completely undealt with at the end. but i definitely highly recommend this series if you need a hopeful, inspiring love story and also a very reflective and insightful series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Death of parent, Transphobia, War, Grief, and Racism
lisa_m's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is one of my all time favourite books. It has stuck with me and ever since I've read it for the first time I can't stop thinking about it. When I heard that there was going to be a sequel I was incredibly excited. I adore Saenz's writing style and he always manages to make me think and feel.
This book was a long one I'm not gonna lie. 516 pages of slow paced writing are probably not for everyone but I loved it. I love the characters and the families and the friendships and relationships. It's truly beautiful.
I also cried my eyes out while reading this book. I have to say though that I'm very emotional and I had a strong connection to the characters which made it even more painful for me.
When Ari's dad died I was sobbing so much I had to take a break. Their character development was beautiful and his death so incredibly unsuspected. But that made it realistic and raw. And when Dante and Ari had a fight I cried again. When Ari talked to Dantes parents and they gave him the painting Dante drew I completely lost it again. There is so much detail and it just felt so real.
My only critic about the book was the ending. It felt very rushed in the end. The last 70 pages just felt weird and like they didn't fit in. The usually so well thought out dialogue felt like a 5 year old wrote it and the whole ending was kind of frustrating. Still I loved this book with all my heart and if 70 out if 500 pages are bad I guess that is still a good quota.
The part that I found weird was the one about that boy from school who was crying at the party and telling Ari that he's gay. It felt so strange and unnecessary. Idk I just didn't get it and the dialogue felt cheap.
I don't know who I would recommend this book to but I think everybody has to make that decision for themselves. It fit perfectly into my life and helped me because I could connect with it and think about it. If you are just expecting a cute gay romance you will for sure be disappointed by this book though. I would describe it more as philosophy and poetry than a love story. The relationship is in my opinion not even the main focus if the story. Just the two people in the relationship and their lifes, worries, fears etc.
Oh and one more thing that I found strange. The general talk about outing. At one point Ari's mum says somethung like 'she is his mom and can therefore tell anyone anything about her son if she thinks it is important.' She uses that argument to justify outing Ari to his sisters and she also says that he would never have done it on his own and that's why she had to which is just a crappy thing to say.
And when that boy from school comes out to Ari he just says he should tell his friends and not him. The boy tells him he's scared (which makes 100% sense since we know people have been beat up for that) and Ari basically pressures him into coming out by telling him he needs to be brave and then bringing his friends to him so he has to say something. Like I said earlier that whole scene just felt weird and unreal but yeah shitty behaviour still.
This book was a long one I'm not gonna lie. 516 pages of slow paced writing are probably not for everyone but I loved it. I love the characters and the families and the friendships and relationships. It's truly beautiful.
I also cried my eyes out while reading this book. I have to say though that I'm very emotional and I had a strong connection to the characters which made it even more painful for me.
My only critic about the book was the ending. It felt very rushed in the end. The last 70 pages just felt weird and like they didn't fit in. The usually so well thought out dialogue felt like a 5 year old wrote it and the whole ending was kind of frustrating. Still I loved this book with all my heart and if 70 out if 500 pages are bad I guess that is still a good quota.
I don't know who I would recommend this book to but I think everybody has to make that decision for themselves. It fit perfectly into my life and helped me because I could connect with it and think about it. If you are just expecting a cute gay romance you will for sure be disappointed by this book though. I would describe it more as philosophy and poetry than a love story. The relationship is in my opinion not even the main focus if the story. Just the two people in the relationship and their lifes, worries, fears etc.
And when that boy from school comes out to Ari he just says he should tell his friends and not him. The boy tells him he's scared (which makes 100% sense since we know people have been beat up for that) and Ari basically pressures him into coming out by telling him he needs to be brave and then bringing his friends to him so he has to say something. Like I said earlier that whole scene just felt weird and unreal but yeah shitty behaviour still.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Transphobia, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Outing
Moderate: Murder, War, Deadnaming, Bullying, and Racism
Minor: Domestic abuse and Misogyny