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Reviews tagging 'Biphobia'
Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
18 reviews
del_moon's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Murder, Transphobia, Racism, and Biphobia
dreamer01's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Homophobia
Moderate: Racism and Transphobia
Minor: War, Hate crime, and Biphobia
bookwormbi's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
I'm so amazed by the fact that Lin-Manuel Miranda is probably the worst audiobook reader I've ever experienced, and yet the beauty and passion of this work still shined through. I cried reading this so many times. I loved all of the characters so much. Ari's character development from the beginning of Secrets of the Universe to this is truly such a marvel to behold. Saenz is a gift to this world.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Death, Death of parent, Racism, and Homophobia
Minor: Biphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Colonisation, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Cursing, and Misogyny
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
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
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
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
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
emordnilap's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I have a lot of thoughts on this book:
1. It was too long for how little plot there was. I don't feel like there was a solid plot with the storyline and we were just badly following Ari through the rest of summer and his senior year.
2. They never really elaborated on many things (ex. when they say "going to Rico's funeral" I spent 30+ mins digging through the last 50+ pages before that trying to find where she died, but there was nothing. It was off-handly mentioned that he used drugs in a journal entry a few pages later )
3. The immediate and general acceptance of just about EVERYONE when Dante and Ari came out was unrealistic. It was so off and wrong that it was really upsetting. There is no way that the one lady was the only one who when someone came out/was gay was mad.
4. The book felt like it was trying too hard to be prose. There were a lot of "wow what a beautiful line moment" but they felt out of place and forced so that the book could seem of higher literary value because nothing in the plot did that.
5. It felt like the author wrote a sequel because of how well the first book did and they knew he could make a lot of money, not because he felt like he had more to do with the characters.
6. The transphobic behavior of the author once again comes through in his writing. (Also biphobia is gross)
7. The sudden and frequent references to pop culture of the time felt really out of place compared to the first novel(I feel like following the AIDS crisis through book one would have been interesting because doing it in the second book felt really out of place).
Overall I was really disappointed by this book, I'm glad I got it from the library and did not directly financially support the author. God forbid this becomes a trilogy because if it does I will not read it.
1. It was too long for how little plot there was. I don't feel like there was a solid plot with the storyline and we were just badly following Ari through the rest of summer and his senior year.
2. They never really elaborated on many things (ex.
3. The immediate and general acceptance of just about EVERYONE when Dante and Ari came out was unrealistic. It was so off and wrong that it was really upsetting. There is no way that the one lady was the only one who when someone came out/was gay was mad.
4. The book felt like it was trying too hard to be prose. There were a lot of "wow what a beautiful line moment" but they felt out of place and forced so that the book could seem of higher literary value because nothing in the plot did that.
5. It felt like the author wrote a sequel because of how well the first book did and they knew he could make a lot of money, not because he felt like he had more to do with the characters.
6. The transphobic behavior of the author once again comes through in his writing. (Also biphobia is gross)
7. The sudden and frequent references to pop culture of the time felt really out of place compared to the first novel(I feel like following the AIDS crisis through book one would have been interesting because doing it in the second book felt really out of place).
Overall I was really disappointed by this book, I'm glad I got it from the library and did not directly financially support the author. God forbid this becomes a trilogy because if it does I will not read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Biphobia
ocelitaussi's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Murder
Moderate: Deadnaming, Medical content, Racism, Transphobia, and War
Minor: Suicide and Biphobia
limewheel's review
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This is definitely a book. It's not good, it's not bad, it's not even necessary considering the first book ended on such a high note, but it's just a book. Can't say I'm happy I read it.
The beginning was tolerable, but the middle is where it became a train wreck for me. All of a sudden, there were a bunch of new characters introduced that Ari is instantly close to, and for some reason Dante goes M.I.A for a while, then there are these random speeches that random characters give because apparently everybody can pull out the eloquence of a well seasoned writer at a moment's notice, and the worst part for me is that all anybody does in this book is talk. There's no room for the subtlety and mutual understanding between the author and reader and characters like in the first book because everybody is too busy telling you what you're supposed to know. Trust the reader a bit.
And, this is a very personal thing, considering I'm bisexual myself, butwhat was that chapter where Ari and Dante are talking about Cassandra, and the idea of bisexuality is a threat to Dante? What the hell? Actually, so much of the activism in this book falls painfully flat for me. Sometimes it felt as though the author was going too far with it. I liked how Ari acknowledged that the name of the woman Bernado killed wasn't a name that fit her, but to give a dead woman a new name himself felt like way too much. Maybe that's just me though.
The last third of the book is probably the best for me. The writing actually has some quality again and the characters talk like they're actual people having a real conversation. (Most of the time.) I enjoyed seeing how Dante isn't as perfect as Ari or the readers thought he was, and that his flaws are as real as Ari's. The character development in this book is probably its best quality; it all feels like a natural progression of who they were in the first book, and I never questioned any of their growth.
TL;DR: Don't go into this book expecting everything that made AriDante 1 amazing. Here and there, yeah, but setting your expectations as high will only leave you disappointed like I am.
The beginning was tolerable, but the middle is where it became a train wreck for me. All of a sudden, there were a bunch of new characters introduced that Ari is instantly close to, and for some reason Dante goes M.I.A for a while, then there are these random speeches that random characters give because apparently everybody can pull out the eloquence of a well seasoned writer at a moment's notice, and the worst part for me is that all anybody does in this book is talk. There's no room for the subtlety and mutual understanding between the author and reader and characters like in the first book because everybody is too busy telling you what you're supposed to know. Trust the reader a bit.
And, this is a very personal thing, considering I'm bisexual myself, but
The last third of the book is probably the best for me. The writing actually has some quality again and the characters talk like they're actual people having a real conversation. (Most of the time.) I enjoyed seeing how Dante isn't as perfect as Ari or the readers thought he was, and that his flaws are as real as Ari's. The character development in this book is probably its best quality; it all feels like a natural progression of who they were in the first book, and I never questioned any of their growth.
TL;DR: Don't go into this book expecting everything that made AriDante 1 amazing. Here and there, yeah, but setting your expectations as high will only leave you disappointed like I am.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Minor: Biphobia