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mooki02 's review for:
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
I was very excited to read this book because I enjoyed the first one, but I think that this fell flat for me. I didn't hate it or anything, and I did enjoy reading it, but there are a few issues that I had with it.
I loved seeing Aristotle and Dante back together again. It was nice to see them older and watch them grow into young adults instead of the fifteen-year-olds they first were at the beginning of the first book. But then Dante sort of fizzled out mid-way through the book. I liked watching Ari make friends and grow, but I wish they could've grown together. I felt like Dante was reduced to a very minor character, and much of the conflict with him felt forced because of it. It was weird to watch the book go from Aristotle and Dante to Aristotle.....and Dante. There was so much space between them that I started to miss Dante halfway through the book.
I also have a few issues with the way social issues are brought up in this book. There is an incident where Ari misgenders a transgender woman (the woman who was killed by his brother) by using the wrong pronouns, and while he corrects himself he does the same thing again later without an immediate correction when visiting her grave. He does, however, stand up for her. There was also a time where Aristotle and his friends converse about catcalling, where the girls say it doesn't bother them & he says he can't objectify them because he is gay.
Overall, the book was written in the same style as the first one. A lot is said in few words, and everything is broken down into digestible tidbits of information so it is not so complicated and easy to understand!
I loved seeing Aristotle and Dante back together again. It was nice to see them older and watch them grow into young adults instead of the fifteen-year-olds they first were at the beginning of the first book. But then Dante sort of fizzled out mid-way through the book. I liked watching Ari make friends and grow, but I wish they could've grown together. I felt like Dante was reduced to a very minor character, and much of the conflict with him felt forced because of it. It was weird to watch the book go from Aristotle and Dante to Aristotle.....and Dante. There was so much space between them that I started to miss Dante halfway through the book.
I also have a few issues with the way social issues are brought up in this book. There is an incident where Ari misgenders a transgender woman (the woman who was killed by his brother) by using the wrong pronouns, and while he corrects himself he does the same thing again later without an immediate correction when visiting her grave. He does, however, stand up for her. There was also a time where Aristotle and his friends converse about catcalling, where the girls say it doesn't bother them & he says he can't objectify them because he is gay.
Overall, the book was written in the same style as the first one. A lot is said in few words, and everything is broken down into digestible tidbits of information so it is not so complicated and easy to understand!