Reviews tagging 'Murder'

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

70 reviews

d00rframe's review

adventurous emotional funny relaxing tense 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? No

4.5

I love this book!! its so sad yet comforting? highly recommend 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Violence, Transphobia, Murder, Hate crime, Chronic illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Gun violence

kjm9773's review

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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Cursing, Homophobia, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual content, and Racism

Minor: Murder, Suicide, and Transphobia

mcfeinics's review against another edition

emotional 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

There are very few books that on the first read I know it will be a book I read again and again, this is one of those. Ari's thoughts and letters hold so much in them, so much that could be meditated on even. This may be labeled as a YA but this book holds depth far beyond justa YA audience. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Homophobia

Minor: Drug use and Murder

carrot2025's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

I absolutely adored this book. I think I managed to love it more the first one which I didn't think was possible. It was absolutely amazing seeing the journey of these two as they faced their first real gay relationship during the aids pandemic. Watching as they question their love and struggle to find happiness in a world that is too quick to cast them aside. I especially loved the ending. Seeing their relationship tested and them proving that no matter what, they will always be with each other and love and care for each other. 

I can not recommend these series enough. It's the absolute perfect story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Transphobia, Murder, Death of parent, and Homophobia

I can not stress enough how beautiful this story handles topics that most would fail at. It takes every moment and uses it as a lesson, not just for shock value. Seeing Ari grapple with just what his brother did at the same time as he's watching the world ignore the aids pandemic was just heartbreaking. Adding in the unfortunate

passing of his father and having him die in his arms

it was just amazing. It handled everything and never made one thing for less than the other. I truly felt as if these characters were alive and I was apart of them, watching as everything happened. I cried multiple times from it all and it was just perfect.

julieta_sc7's review

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Transphobia, Homophobia, Death of parent, Racism, Grief, and Murder

classicalhell's review

adventurous emotional 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? N/A

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Confinement, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

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

alessandravaron's review

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: War and Homophobia

Minor: Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Transphobia

kirsten_marie's review against another edition

2.25

I had so high hopes for this one because I loved the first book so much. It had this special atmosphere to it, and I couldn't keep myself from caring deeply for those boys and their story. sadly, I feel all that is lost after reading the sequel. 

From the beginning, the writing felt awkward and as the author has tried to compose some beautiful text, but completely missed the mark in the process. It is an extreme case of tell and not show. It felt like watching a bad play. The characters only play their roles and never feel like fully developed souls. There is little to no emotional build-up in serious scenes either. It lacks subtlety and depth. Only on a number of pages I could count on my fingers did I feel invested in the story. I would also argue that there are several very illogical choices and events. 90% of it's entirety is also direct dialogue, which I find unbearably dull. 


Should have DNFed this one, but I'm too f*ing stubborn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Murder, Violence, and Transphobia

carterm00's review

dark 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Deadnaming, Homophobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Murder, Sexual violence, and Transphobia