Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Saenz
In Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, two boys in a border town fell in love. Now, they must discover what it means to stay in love and build a relationship in a world that seems to challenge their very existence.
Ari has spent all of high school burying who he really is, staying silent and invisible. He expected his senior year to be the same. But something in him cracked open when he fell in love with Dante, and he can’t go back. Suddenly he finds himself reaching out to new friends, standing up to bullies of all kinds, and making his voice heard. And, always, there is Dante, dreamy, witty Dante, who can get on Ari’s nerves and fill him with desire all at once.
The boys are determined to forge a path for themselves in a world that doesn’t understand them. But when Ari is faced with a shocking loss, he’ll have to fight like never before to create a life that is truthfully, joyfully his own.
Okay…so I thought I was all up in my feelings for the first book….
But HOLY SHIT this one had me in a TSUNAMI OF EMOTIONS, yall.
I cried SO DAMN MUCH.
Listennnnnn….I am a CRIER, my friends. I cry for any and ALL strong emotions.
EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.
Sad? I cry.
Angry? I cry.
Joyful? I cry.
Nervous? I cry.
Frustrated? I cry.
Excited? I cry.
You get the gist.
I think sometimes because I feel things as strongly as I do, my body just HAS to cry to let out the overflow of emotions…it’s like my body is saying “OK…TOO MUCH HERE…gotta let some of this shit go…let’s do a little release from the eyelids.”
Anyway…I feel all the feels. And this book had me GOING FULL FORCE.
It isn’t often that a sequel will live up to an original work…but this one completely did.
I saw it described by another reviewer as ‘messily human and sincerely insightful’
I would have to give them a giant high five in agreement.
I started this sequel the second after I finished the first lovely book…seriously.
Like I literally I pressed play IMMEDIATELY because I could NOT WAIT to see what was next…..my time with Ari and Dante was not enough!
This book picked up exactly where the first left off–it legit was the same day that the first book ended on.
I LOVED THIS.
You get to see the full evolution and progression of their relationship from the beginning origin moments.
Remember all of the excitement and anxiousness of your first love and the stirring of your first desires?
Ari and Dante are experiencing all of that wonder….except they have to do it all in private, being gay teens in the late 80s at the height of the AIDS pandemic. They had to deal with so much unnecessary burdens, terror, and fear….just broke my heart thinking of the endless number of precious people who have had to live their lives like this.
The author does a FANTASTIC job of putting feelings into words with all the complicated emotions they experience.
But this book isn’t just about their romantic relationship.
It really goes into relationships in their lives on a broad spectrum….with their parents, with their peers, with their teachers, with their community.
Their parents are not perfect human beings…. and are figuring out how to navigate the world and parent their kids the best they can, but wow…they are AMAZING at their jobs.
I wish that every gay teenager had parents like theirs.
Actually, I wish that ALL teenagers had parents like theirs.
And as a mom myself, I hope I can personally be a parent like theirs.
Their parents are very different from each other…and from their kids….but they love their sons FIERCELY and are absolutely devoted to them.
They support them. They listen to them. They give them space to grow.
I really loved watching the evolution of their relationships too.
Ari and Dante are in the time of their young adulthoods where they realize their parents are ACTUALLY real life HUMANS, not just “mom” and “dad”. They start to really get to know them as PEOPLE.
I remember when this started happening for me with my own mom…it can be a surreal and even humbling experience, for both child AND parent.
To see the progression of Ari and his dad’s connection was just EVERYTHING.
How the walls were not just breaking down but CRUMBLING… and they really started to KNOW each other for the first time.
The way the author wrote their dialogue and interactions…….
SO MANY TEARS, yall.
This story is also about making a first GENUINE group of TRUE friends…who know the REAL you, ugliness and all….and love you no matter what.
That is SUCH a special kind of love….and that cherished connection you never forget.
Definitely had me time traveling back to my own young adulthood and remembering those friends I felt that exact feeling with…some of which I still connect with to this day, even decades later.
The author also spent time in his storytelling to educate as well.
Lots of history is taught in this book on gay rights, racism, and the trauma war can bring….many unsettling, real life truths are revealed that are so so so necessary for us all to know.
And are all to frequently ignored or bypassed by WAY too many.
I always appreciate learning…and I really admire when authors use works of fiction to weave in pieces of real life facts.
Not only are they entertaining, but they are educating at the same time.
THAT is talent.
This book was SO dang good. I loved it just as much as the first, if not MORE.
I am crossing my fingers as tight as possible and praying to all the book gods out there that this author will write more of Ari and Dante’s story….because I know there is SO MUCH MORE to say!