Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

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

14 reviews

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

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

jasmineslibraryy's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

almost DNF'd, really glad i didn't 

this sequel was kinda unnecessary in my opinion but it was beautiful. ari has one of the most beautiful character arcs i've ever read. the first one is still miles better but i still thoroughly enjoyed this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Religious bigotry, Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Death, Deadnaming, Cursing, Child death, Blood, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Bullying, and Alcohol

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Terminal illness, Child abuse, War, and Pregnancy

Minor: Pedophilia and Cancer

diana_raquel's review against another edition

emotional 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

2.75

*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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Content Warnings

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

headachesince03's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Biphobia, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, and Violence

daniellekat's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.5

I really wanted to love this as much as I loved the first book. While the writing was still beautiful and there were some really endearing moments in the plot, I just couldn’t get into it the same way. At times I felt like the author was trying to cover too much and over-repeating points. The book was a bit long and the last 20% just felt unnecessary to me.   I’m glad to have listened to the audiobook because I think this would have landed on my DNF otherwise. I loved Ari and his growth which was really the saving grace for me. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Deadnaming, Sexism, and Death

Minor: Chronic illness

hapalyn's review

emotional funny 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, Cursing, and Racism

Minor: Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Murder, Sexism, 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.

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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

booksandcat's review

emotional reflective 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Racism, and Grief

kyrstin_p1989's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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

Aristotle and Dante give me hope, make me laugh, make me cry. Rarely does an author so clearly understand and intimately describe what it means to be human and more importantly, what it means to love and be loved. This book made me feel so many things. I can’t express how important this book is — for so many people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Homophobia, Hate crime, Murder, Outing, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, and War