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