I have such an immense love for the first book that it pains me to rate this anything but a 5.
I’m giving it 3 stars because Benjamin writes his characters with so much compassion and respect that you can’t help but fall in love with them. There’s new characters to love, old characters to re-discover and they have such rich backgrounds and depth but the book feels bloated at times. Which is where the book’s biggest fault lies - it wants to tell too many stories and it explore too many topics.

The book really shines when Ari and Dante are together. Unfortunately, Dante gets sidelined by a number of characters this time around and we don’t get as much Ari & Dante time as I would’ve hoped for. In one of my favorite scenes, Ari and Dante go on a trip that is tender and poetic in typical Benjamin Alire Sáenz fashion. It’s joyful but also pulls at your heart strings in the way Benjamin does so well. While this style of writing was one of the highlights for me in the first book, here it feels almost grating after 500 pages. Regardless, the sequel is as quotable as the first.

The last few chapters are rushed and too much happens too quickly. The character’s make some questionable choices but the ending Benjamin gives us is so stunning that it’s almost forgivable. I just wish we would have had more time to live in those final characters. With all that said, I love these characters and I love this author and I would happily read another entry in the Aristotle and Dante universe.

Much to my chagrin, I didn't fall in love with the first book the same way other people have (I still adored it though). However, this was a solid follow up to the first book. I like how we got to explore more of the family members relationships with Ari. And the writing style was very consistent to the first book, so I have no doubt that fans of Aristotle and Dante will fall in love with this universe all over again. The running thread of AIDS throughout the book was important. It gave more cultural and historical context that I think the first book lacked a bit.

I don’t know what to say about this book… it was good, but there was something missing. Maybe because it takes place over a longer time than Secrets of the Universe, I don’t know, it just wasn’t quite as good as the first book. It didn’t leave me with the same feeling. There was also one bit that I really didn’t like involving a homophobic neighbour who Ari’s mom just forgives and Ari seems fine with that. I don’t know why that needed to be in there, it didn’t add anything to the story, it just felt weird. I also didn’t like the ending. It could have been so good, and it was close, but not quite.
Maybe that’s what I have to say about the entire book, it was close, but not quite…

After reading Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe, I didn’t think I would ever find another book that would make me feel the same I felt while reading this one.

Well, the sequel sure did.

You can tell a lot of time and care has been put into this book. You can tell the author really loves these characters, and cares deeply for them the same way us readers do.

Going into this book, I didn’t know what to expect, but it surely wasn’t this. I really did not think I would love it as much as the first one, but I do, if not more. This book is so beautiful, and it touches on subject I never realized I needed to hear about. This book was everything I had wanted in a sequel and more, and I’m very, very happy. I don’t want to say too much, so as not to spoil anything, but it was truly incredible.

This is the kind of book I know I’m still going to be thinking about in ten, twenty years.

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 glaring issues that make it difficult for me to feel good about giving this any more than three stars.

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.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for providing me with an excerpt in exchange for an honest review.

Boy, where do I even start with this?

When I first read the first novel in the series; Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, specifically March 2016, I fell in love. Since then, the book has become a comfort read and according to Goodreads, I have read said book 6 times which is the most I’ve read a book aside from a childhood book of mine. There is and was something about Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s writing that captivated me so much that made me begin a journey to search and read his other novels (which I would 100% recommend just, by the way). When this was announced, I was excited but nervous to see what would happen. When I got the notification I got approved for an arc, I began reading it roughly 3-4 hours afterwards—to say I was excited about this arc is an understatement.

The book is about Aristotle and Dante living their last year at high school, while being closeted, while also still trying to know who they are and love themselves and while hearing about the AIDS pandemic and living through it. There is one thing that Benjamin Alire Sáenz knows how to write in a way that is heartbreaking and it’s when the book mentions AIDS. It never beats around the bullet, both characters mention the pandemic multiple times and their feelings. They feel scared and afraid. I know Benjamin Alire Sáenz rewrote this book when COVID-19 hit and, once you read this book, you get why and boy does it hit you like a brick.

The book’s topics deals with the AIDS pandemic but also deals with internalized homophobia. In actuality, I would say this is one of the two biggest topics in the book itself. In the first book, you see a glimpse of Dante’s internalized homophobia, wishing his future sibling was a boy so he could be straight unlike him. Here, you see both Dante and Aristotle dealing with this, it's an incredibly personal experience with both seeing the characters like this and to the audience. (If the audience has had internalized homophobia that is) I saw someone on Goodreads comment about how this book is heartbreaking but so full of love. They’re right but most of the heartbreaking moments come from the scenes and thoughts mentioning said internalized homophobia.

And yes, this book is so full of love. Benjamin Alire Sáenz succeeds so well in making you love all the characters in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and succeeds just as well in Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World. You will love Ari and Dante even more so, you will love their parents so much more, will love Ari’s friends even more so. (spoiler tag) There is even a scene where Aristotle meets his brother and in the end, he finds himself loving himself more so. (spoiler tag) I told a friend of mine I got approved for an arc and she said to tell me how I thought of the book. I said in non-spoilers but the way this books hugs you, smothers you, comforts you in love, there is no better way to say it than this quote from myself:

“(...) that’s the more heartbreaking part but god it's so so so full of love and love and love and love. and love”

I think when it comes to Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s books, I can have 1000 words to say and be able to say another 1000. He truly makes me and I’m sure many other readers feel the same; feel emotions for a book/for books I never have felt for a book before. If you loved Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, please do not feel nervous or anxious or afraid to pick up this book. I encourage you to pick this up in the bookstore because you will fall in love with it like how you fell in love with the first book. I encourage you to read this book, think about this past year, think about our history, think about the 90’s, the 80’s. I encourage you to read this book and hope you find yourself smothered with the love that Benjamin Alire Sáenz has written into this book because you simply will not regret a single moment of it.

I was so excited to continue Aristotle and Dante's journey with them in this highly anticipated sequel. The characters are just as lovable as they were before and you just feel every single emotion you are meant to feel. It was heartwarming and heartbreaking and everything in between. Anyone who loved the first book will be jumping at the opportunity to read this one.