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A review by queer_bookwyrm
Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
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? No
4.0
4 ⭐ CW: cursing, homophobia, transphobia, bullying, racism, death of a parent, grief, AIDs mentions
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz is book two in the Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of Universe duology. I read book one years ago, and loved the story and the writing, and I felt much the same about this one. It gave some much needed depth to the characters.
We continue to follow Ari and Dante's relationship in the summer of 1988 before their senior year of high school. We see a lot more character development and growth from Ari, who has become much more introspective and mature. We see him discover that his parents and other adults in his life are people too, which sounds obvious, but I think as teenagers we fail to see anyone but ourselves. His relationship with Dante deepens and becomes more complicated. I think it's important to see that even good relationships have complications.
I love that Ari finally gets out of his own way enough to actually have friends and come out of his shell a little bit. We also get to learn more about his dad and their relationship. I think these books are great for people who may need perspective on what it was like to be gay in the 80s during the AIDS pandemic, and the constant fear and worry that the world would never accept you.
I did think this was a bit longer and slower than it needed to be since there was no real over arching plot. It was all character focused. The writing was beautiful and made up for that a bit. Glad I picked this one up.
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz is book two in the Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of Universe duology. I read book one years ago, and loved the story and the writing, and I felt much the same about this one. It gave some much needed depth to the characters.
We continue to follow Ari and Dante's relationship in the summer of 1988 before their senior year of high school. We see a lot more character development and growth from Ari, who has become much more introspective and mature. We see him discover that his parents and other adults in his life are people too, which sounds obvious, but I think as teenagers we fail to see anyone but ourselves. His relationship with Dante deepens and becomes more complicated. I think it's important to see that even good relationships have complications.
I love that Ari finally gets out of his own way enough to actually have friends and come out of his shell a little bit. We also get to learn more about his dad and their relationship. I think these books are great for people who may need perspective on what it was like to be gay in the 80s during the AIDS pandemic, and the constant fear and worry that the world would never accept you.
I did think this was a bit longer and slower than it needed to be since there was no real over arching plot. It was all character focused. The writing was beautiful and made up for that a bit. Glad I picked this one up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Homophobia, Transphobia, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying and Racism