This book is like coming home from being away for a long time! I love the characters, and the setting and I don’t think my words could do this book justice. I didn’t realize how much I missed this universe until I picked it up and started reading it. I do however noticed that there is some subtle transphobia and I do not vibe with that. I don’t know if the author meant for it to be seen that way, but I know that some do and would like some clarification on that. I just wanted to point out that I do not support any transphobia of any kind! Please be kind to others and love all!

This is the sequel to Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets to the universe. Aristotle and Dante are two gay teenage boys discovering what it means to be gay and first love. I think the writing itself was better than the first and fans will surely love the sequel. I just found it rather repetitive and kind of boring? I think this is a me issue though, since I think lots of people will love it.

Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe is one of my favourite books ever. Something about it has stuck with me for years and years. So when I heard about this sequel I was ecstatic! However, I think this series should have just stayed as a stand alone. The characters just didn’t resonate with me this time around and it was just missing that atmosphere that the first one had. Overall not bad but I don’t know if I’ll re read like I’ve re read the first one.

So. Good. 😭

I book that can make me cry will almost always get a 5 stars. This one made me almost sob at the end and ta-da did get a 5 stars.

the writing in both books in this series couldn’t have been better. I adored reading and listening to this one, it made me feel immersed and in love.

was a sequel necessary? no. but I came along for the ride and I sure am happy I did

Worth the long wait for this book. I loved everything about it and recommend it to almost everyone I know.

Truly the perfect sequel. It has been around 10 years since I read the first in the duology but this novel seamlessly picks up where its previous left off. I appreciated the characters so much more as an adult (as I had read the other as a teenager) and just marvel at the author's gift for writing.

This one was not for me.
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

DNF @ 20%
If I have to read one more time about how something is ‘such an Ari thing to say’ or how much Ari loves Dante (and can’t stop thinking about him) or any other insecure (yet mushy at the same time) comment between these two boys I’m going to gag.
I know there’s probably some big conflict that happens and will make me love the boys as I did in book 1. But at 600+ pages I have no patience to get there.
I’m already tired by the self deprecating rhetoric the boys have for themselves as gay men. Their parents are only marginally better. I mean who decides to only love someone because they are your son and not love ALL of them. If you can’t love someone for who and what they are then please don’t pretend it’s acceptable to ignore it. This is the kind of thing my own parents did to my sister and I (both bisexual women) and I absolutely hate it. As though ignoring the elephant in the room is going to make it be okay or disappear? My answer is no.

Sorry but I don’t need anymore queer literature that tries to set-up the premise that members of our community are trash before it builds us back up.
The timeframe of the 80s AIDS epidemic really wasn’t doing it for me. Could be because I just watched the amazing show ‘Pose’… but I felt these two young boys couldn’t understand or even begin to grasp the magnitude of what was happening in their (new to them) community.

I’d rather read a book about older gay men that can give some context and insight into the crisis. I don’t need to see it from a child’s perspective.
Sorry, I know many will be mad about me for this review and for giving up on this book. I’ve just got so many books to get to and knew exactly how this would play out for another 400+ pages. So I say no thanks, and move on. Which is probably for the best because if I read 600+ pages of this type of writing from the first 20% I’d have a very mean and likely ranting review to post. So I’ll save you all that experience and leave it as is.

While I was very excited for this sequel and think it did a good job living up to the first book, the subtle transphobia really threw me off.

I genuinely don't have many words to describe this sequel other than that it was absolutely extraordinary. Despite so much time having passed since the first book, I was brought right back into Ari and Dante's relationship with the author's beautiful and heartwrenching prose. I think this series is one that absolutely everyone should read and I won't ever stop recommending it.

The sequel that I didn't know I needed. It was so wholesome and I loved seeing my favorite characters Ari and Dante again.

I was a huge fan of the first book, and while I was excited to see a sequel released, I wasn't sure that it was truly necessary. I felt that book 1 gave me a full story, and that Ari and Dante were left in a solid space, with no need for follow-up. And while Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World was a well-written book, it did not convince me that it was absolutely necessary. Set against the AIDS crisis of the 80s, it was a reminder of how individuals often wear the stigma and misinformation of the society as a whole. And while Ari becomes a more fully-developed character, I really wanted more Dante. More Dante, less of Ari's internal dialogue.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I wasn't a huge fan of book 1 ,but this was a wonderful continuation to the story. I appreciated the character development we saw from Ari and Dante, and it was just generally great to jump back into this world!

I mean it’s Ari and Dante how could I not absolutely love this! There is just something about these characters and this story that will forever stick with me. I just love it so much.

TW: death, murder, homophobia, AIDs, loss and grief.

While the writing style always leaves me torn if I enjoy or despise it, I do think the insights it gives are worth recognization. This book is about a young LGBTQA+ Latinos journey in the 80s to opening his world as he loves Dante and goes through coming out to a safe group, watching the AIDS crisis become well known, meeting the brother. The latter has left a shadow on his family and lost a parent we had just got a real relationship with.

This book is longer than I would like.
I appreciate the things it tried to do, but I was left wanting more, and some things felt strange or unsettled to me. The sequel wasn't necessary but was also a nice continuation.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would. What a perfect beginning to the rest of Dante's and Aristotle's story 🥰 Beautifully written sequel!

For starters, I don't think that this sequel was necessary, and this is an opinion that I share with a lot of fans of the original Aristotle and Dante. Nevertheless, diving back into this world reminded me of just how beautifully Benjamin Alire Sáenz writes. This book is very Ari-centric, and it honestly had no choice to be because Dante was hardly in the book. For what it's worth, I think that Ari's development could have been done better but regardless, he learned, he grew, and his acceptance of himself was heartwarming to witness. I enjoyed the book but again, I felt that it's existence didn't really need to... exist. But it does and the writing is as stunning as ever, with its stunning moments in between.

Aristotle, "Ari", and Dante are in love, but they must hide their love from the world. Being gay men in the United States, in the 1980s, during the height of the AIDs pandemic, makes them vulnerable to those who could want to hurt them. Homophobia runs rampant, but Aristotle and Dante are lucky to have parents who love them for who they are. They also have a tight knit group of friends who would protect them from the hate they receive.

I absolutely adored Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. I was so excited for the sequel, only to be let down. There were a lot of wonderful moments and declarations in this novel, there was a beautiful love story, and strong friendships, but it was repetitive and some parts were problematic.

This book did little to right the wrongs of the first book in terms of transphobia. If anything, it makes it worse (SPOILER: Ari deciding he has the right to give a name to the woman his brother murdered for being transgender). As well, the change of Aristotle from a deeply coded bi character to being gay reeks of biphobia. Blatant racism is pushed aside because Ari and his friends challenging it is improper when they are only teenagers (gross!).

The book was long winded, bogged down by repetition, and had a bunch of grammatical, spelling, and character errors (the older sisters were renamed). Dante's character was not very sympathetic, whiny and entitled, jealous over nothing; such a change from the boy from the first novel. I was grateful to have switched partway through to the audiobook, where Lin Manuel Miranda was at least able to breathe a bit of life into the novel.

The book was quite disjointed and there was too much happening. Things were brought into the story with no context and little warning, so at times I was lost trying to place a character or a circumstance that Ari would find himself in. The book should have been more focused, shorter, more concise.

After the first mention of Ari realizing his tremendous love for his mother and father it should have been enough to convey his deep feelings, but instead he continuously repeats this declaration or makes it several more times as though he had never mentioned it before. I became so sick of hearing certain turns of phrase, and the metaphor for cartography came up on several occasions from several different characters (as though they all lived within each others minds and had no individual thoughts).

I know it was hard to live up to the ground breaking first novel, as problematic as it is, but it seemed as though Aristotle's character development stalled or even stepped back, leaving him in a kind of no man's land for the whole novel. Just continuously realizing he loves his parents, dante, his friends, with no discernable plot.

The last quarter of the book I felt started to turn the novel around. As Ari and Dante must confront their leaving each other for college, their differing lives, their love being tested by distance. I also loved Cassandra's speech about how the world must now be shaped by their generation and it must be their job to do better, to be better. Aristotle was also able to finally see for himself the love and support of those fighting for the rights of the LGBTQ2S+ community and others suffering from AIDs. I wish the whole novel could have been handled similar to Cassandra's speech and Ari's visit to France. What a let down.

Also, I disliked immensely the casual way in which Aristotle's mother outed him, and how he forced another student to out himself to friends. Both just assuming their loved ones and friends will be accepting, when this is the 1980s and many people were not (and let's be honest, still are not).

I loved this book. I was so happy to learn that we were being graced with a sequel about Aristotle and Dante. We finally got to see them as a couple and seeing both of their emotional growth felt quite rewarding. I enjoyed watching Ari come into his own, and develop his relationships with other people besides Dante, as well as himself. This sequel was definitely worth the wait, and if you're an audiobook fan, I highly recommend it in that format. Lin Manuel Miranda is a great narrator.

(Originally posted August 15, 2021)

Thank you to Netgalley for providing the e-arc!!!

Usually when a sequel comes out I set myself up for disappointment, since book 2 can always be a hit or miss. Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World is an absolute hit!

The charm of Ari and Dante from the first book shines in this, and I can really tell that Sáenz poured their heart and soul into this! Definitely worth the 9 year wait!