Reviews with content warning for Hate crime - Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World

*2.75 stars*

"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.

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babsi_222's review

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slow-paced

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

Finally done with this book and i have to say one thing: I loved ‚Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe‘ I really did. But after reading the sequel, this book- and not really liking and enjoying it, I don’t think I can like the first book as much anymore. I’m sorry for it.
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.

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bookswithlauren's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? No

4.5

I really enjoyed the first book in this series and I have seen some people saying this sequel was unnecessary, however, I really enjoyed this addition and I think it gave us much more of a story. I even think their could be a third book too! I listened to this book on audio as I did with the first and I really do believe it gave me a much better connection with the characters than if I was reading it myself.

Like the first book, we tackle so many real life problems in this book! Figuring out who you are in this world is definitely the main theme of this book series but in this sequel, we delve family dynamics, importance of friendships and navigating a relationship in your teens much more. The characters of Ari and Dante are so beautifully written that I felt a connection with them instantaneously. Their thoughts, feelings, life experiences are so relatable and raw that it really touches the reader, especially if they have similar experiences. I adore both boys' families and they really bring a sense of hope and love to the story.

Similarly to the first book, the only thing I wish was different was how fast paced the ending of the book was. I feel it would have been much better if it was a little more paced out. I do hope we get a third book because I do feel the story ended quite suddenly when there was more to explore.

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cranewife's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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applebutter_and_pickles's review

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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

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yoursupremereads's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing 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

Saenz did it again! Not only did he give Ari and Dante a hopefully definitive happy ending, but he found a way to flesh out the inner world of Ari Mendoza as well. Adding complexity through simplicity, Saenz further investigated Ari's personal landscape and his view of the world. Though the ending seemed a bit rushed I was still smiling by the final page. Once again, you jut wanna reach into the book and hug Ari and Dante all the time. You root for them. You love them. You adore them. You want them to know that things get better with time and that they are going to be the best people they can be by the end. I think that's what I appreciate the most about this duology. I care about Ari, I care about Dante, I care about their adorable parents and the bonds these two families have created that centers around the love of their two boys for one another. And even though there is a tragic loss in the book that literally made me scream at the ceiling in the middle of the night while reading it, Ari and Dante's journey was well worth the heartache. This book and it's OG novel are a fantastic addition to the YA queer canon and everyone should give them a go. Highly recommended. Will cherish these two books forever and ever!

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rebeccap's review against another edition

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challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

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luananki's review against another edition

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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.

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