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

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

i hate to say that i'm disappointed with this book. it wasn't ever going to live up to the first one, and i wasn't expecting it to, but from the very beginning, i was struggling to read it. it's a tradition of mine to read the one-star reviews of any book i read, whether i loved it or hated it, and many of the one-star reviews for this book call out the blatant transphobia that's present in this book, and i have to agree. i understand that this book takes place in the late 80s but if the whole book is about ari and dante coming to terms with the fact that they'll always be ostracized from society for being gay and learning to love themselves anyway, why couldn't the book make it more clear that the same logic should be applied to transgender people?
in the first half of the book, ari had no trouble using the correct pronouns for the woman that bernardo killed, but after his visit with his brother, he suddenly was having trouble and misgendered her.
also, this book was waaaaay longer than it needed to be. i feel like only half of the things that happened in this book were important enough to keep in the final edit. ben is a beautiful writer, but part of good writing is knowing what warrants a detailed explanation and what doesn't.
overall, i'm just upset with this book. i've read a few of ben's other books; the first ari and dante book, the inexplicable logic of my life, and the first few chapters of las night i sang to the monster, and they all lived way above this one. i hope ben redeems himself with his next book.
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