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A review by elliizzzabeth
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A lovely continuation of Ari and Dante's story. Written in that same beautiful, thought provoking way - this time we explore themes of love, sex, AIDS, death, grief, teachers and friendship.
This book is the epitome of "No plot, just vibes". At least the first book had some sort of arc from meeting Dante to realising he was in love with him. This one reads more like a diary or a collection of poetic essays, it doesn't really go anywhere except trudging forward day by day. It's more about exploring opinions and the world than having a story. If that's not your cup of tea then it may feel a little slow and boring. But if you like poetic writing and deep explorations of topics then you will enjoy this. Every other line was a beautiful, poignantly crafted thought. If you like to highlight good quotes then your copy will be glowing neon by the end.
The lack of plot did mean it dragged in some places. The start felt like I was just ari going on and on about how much he loves Dante and the end dragged out longer than it needed to. The part in Paris felt almost completely unnecessary and tacked on.
Overall a very beautiful and thoughtful book, but not quite as perfect as the first
This book is the epitome of "No plot, just vibes". At least the first book had some sort of arc from meeting Dante to realising he was in love with him. This one reads more like a diary or a collection of poetic essays, it doesn't really go anywhere except trudging forward day by day. It's more about exploring opinions and the world than having a story. If that's not your cup of tea then it may feel a little slow and boring. But if you like poetic writing and deep explorations of topics then you will enjoy this. Every other line was a beautiful, poignantly crafted thought. If you like to highlight good quotes then your copy will be glowing neon by the end.
The lack of plot did mean it dragged in some places. The start felt like I was just ari going on and on about how much he loves Dante and the end dragged out longer than it needed to. The part in Paris felt almost completely unnecessary and tacked on.
Overall a very beautiful and thoughtful book, but not quite as perfect as the first
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, Homophobia, and Death
Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, Racism, and War
I put child death but its more an exploration of death of an (adult) child. Also a lot of exploration of AIDS and the AIDS epedemic