I read this book soon after reading the first book which I think really helped to emphasise Ari and Dante’s personal growth. The writing was beautiful just as the first was, and I loved how the writer explored certain issues such as AIDS and homophobia, etc, it was handled really well. This was the perfect sequel and I definitely will be recommending this series. Thank you to netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK Children's for providing me with an ARC of this book.*

Almost five years ago, I fell in love with Ari and Dante, I had never read a book that was as beautiful and that treated its characters with such care as the first installment of this duology. The promise of a sequel has been here for a long time and when I tell you that I cried when the publishing date was announced, I do mean it. I ended up reading this ARC in less than a day. It was as if Ari and Dante had never said goodbye and I was sucked backed in into Ari's relatable inner monologue.

This book was a welcome continuation of the story, we get everything that many fans have been longing for—the aftermath of the kiss, getting to see Ari and Dante live their relationship in every way possible. Sáenz managed to keep the same tone of the first book, it only took a few paragraphs to be transported right back to the El Paso desert in Ari’s red truck. The beautiful prose only made the characters come even more alive, in a way, this was reflective of Ari’s arc throughout the book. I won’t talk about it too much but the kiss is definitely a catalyst into Ari realizing the place that he occupies in the world and how it relates to everyone around him.

Fans of the first book will love this sequel. Ari comes into himself and is able to truly see everyone—Dante, his parents, teachers, friends. Few books are able to truly capture the pains and joys of coming of age but Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World is a masterclass in writing that limbo right before adulthood. Sáenz has done it again, coming up with a sequel that’s almost better than the first book—I have to say that the first installment will always have my heart though. If you haven’t read yet it, go do it now! I promise you will not be disappointed.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

When I got an email to say that I had been sent this book, excited can't even capture how I felt. The first book, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, was absolutely one of my favourite YA novels when I was the age it was actually marketed at and remains one of my favourites to date. It perfectly captured the voice of a teenager falling in love for the first time and dealt with a lot of issues that would come about growing up as a gay teenager in the 80s.

This novel follows on from the first, exploring the beginnings of Ari and Dante's relationship and how they navigate their final year at school. From the exploration of the feelings of first love the first book offered, we now see Ari and Dante learning how to maintain it and grow as people from it, in anticipation of their departure to college. We see the world from Ari's point of view and I still think that while at first I was concerned the book was giving off major forced sequel energy, the voice of Ari is one that feels authentic and I'm glad the author was still able to channel that through the writing. It's the simplicity (while also seeing very eloquent for two 17 year olds) of the dialogue between the characters that captures emotion the best and for readers of the first book, yes, the parents are still the best. There's also a focus on the characters around Ari and Dante and I loved the way Ari's friendships aside from his romantic relationship with Dante were explored and the book explored how friends can often become family in such a brilliant way. It took a little while however the book really began to make sense to me again, and I think it took a moment to settle back into the voice of Ari, a teenager who is trying so desperately to discover himself in this book, while the world changes rapidly around him.

The attachment I have to the first book can't really be explained however this book felt like a very welcome return home with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia coming over me just from reading the first few pages. An absolute must read for fans of the original that takes Ari and Dante into the next stage of their live and feels like a worthy sequel to one of my favourite YA novels.

I absolutely adored this book! This picks up where Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Ends so it didn't feel like I was missing anything. It was nice returning to their stories and it was everything I'd hoped it be.

The first book in this duology is one of my all time favourites that I can just read again and again. Many said a sequel/follow up wasn't needed - and if you judge this book in that way, this title will never win. But this isn't the same as Book 1 - it's an extension to a stunning original that has its own existence and should be judged on its own merits. A gorgeous read!

To be fair book didn’t meet my expectations. It was much weaker than the first book of the sequel. Conservations we’re too long and I didn’t believe them, they just didn’t feel natural as it was in the book. Overall the story itself was good, however I was expecting more.

Disappointing. As a sequel to such an important and iconic book, I had expected a lot more. In Ari's voice, it sounded repetitive and affected, a concerted effort to tell the reader about his angst rather than making them feel it. The conversations between the boys, in Ari's head, between the parents—it was the same thing over and over again, about how the boys were loved and supported and how difficult it was going to be. I could not finish it.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

Gifted e-arc from Simon and Schuster via Netgalley.

I read the first book in this duology as a teenager, and I had begun to think that I was falling a bit out of love with YA. This book reminded me though that sometimes it just takes the right YA book. This was a huge hit of nostalgia for me.

I really enjoyed this sequel, it was great to follow Aristotle and Dante on the next step of their journey. I was impressed by the slightly breaking the fourth wall moments where the novel tackled themes that the first book was originally criticised for. This book also dealt beautifully with grief, and I had to fight off tears a little bit at certain moments!

Sometimes the motif of the waters of the world (particularly in the mid-section of the book where this is repeated a lot) felt a little jarring, but overall a lovely read. Benjamin Alire Saénz’s prose never fails to be beautiful.

i liked parts of it but i was rolling my eyes at some of it. it seemed like every single chapter ari had some big epiphany and all these unrealistic conversations, a lot of times with random people that only pop up once or twice and? i don’t even know how to explain properly it was just strange. I was so looking forward to this and I think I might have read this too late in my life. But gosh was I excited to read it. Thank you to Simon And Scheuster Canada and Netgalley for the ARC.

Instagram review. I will post a full review on my blog in late October.

Hi readers. Something you should know about me is that I pretty much read Ari and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe at least once a year. It’s a go to, firm favourite for me. It never ever disappoints including when I reread it last week in prep for its sequel.

When Saenz announced he was writing a sequel, I was excited but also had my resignations. Book one has such a perfect ending, and I was scared the only way he could make another captivating story would be to tear that all apart.

I don’t want to say too much and spoil anything because I read an early ecopy and I know not many people have read it yet. But I think my initial reaction to it is how I feel now having read it. Not that things were torn apart, but it wasn’t necessary. Book ones ending is perfect and I’m going to continue thinking of that as it’s ending. Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World just doesn’t exist to me…

Ari and Dante will always be characters that have a special place in my heart and if you’ve read the first one I have no doubt in my mind you will also love this and if you haven’t read the first one please do.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Before I start, thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I remember reading Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe and whilst I enjoyed it, I was not wowed. I was just okayed. It made me reluctant to read #2 because, I didn't want another meh moment.

But then I read book 2 and boy, I was wowed. I was in love. I was happy and hopeful and contented and it was a book experience that makes you want to hug the book to your chest when you are done and never let go. It makes you write a grammatical nightmare of a sentence.

It starts shortly after the events of #1 and follows Aristotle through senior year. How he navigates an unfolding relationship with Dante in a world that is not welcoming, how he learns to love his parents and his sisters again, how he embraces growing up, how he becomes an Ari that he is proud of.

It does this against the backdrop of the late 1980s and it does not shy away from this reality: the AIDS crisis, the way veterans of Vietnam coped and lived after, race and race relationships for Hispanic young men and women.

It is a masterpiece.

It might not be to you; it feels well written technically but it is also the perspective of a 17/18 year old and it reads like one whilst also feeling too *adult* but that is the point. Ari is learning how to navigate being both in the same body, at the same time. That awkward junction when you realise what type of adult you are going to be whilst also feeling younger than you ever have.

Read it, even if you were 'okayed' by the first book. Enjoy this. It was perfect to me and I am so bereft it is over.

I am really sad to say that I didn’t enjoy this book, and meeting again Aristotele and Dante was not the reunion I was expecting.

I feel that the reboot/sequel bug which is currently destroying the movie culture is also affecting literature. This is of course just a humble personal opinion, but while reading this sequel I kept pondering “was this sequel really necessary?”

I mean, even the writer started the acknowledgement section saying he never intended to write this book. It took him five years to write it, so I wonder, was it really because Ari & Dante were not done with him, or was it just to fill another commercial purpose? Do we really need to have so many sequels? Can we just leave a good story alone, and take it just as it is, a standalone? I am sorry to be so negative, but after loving every page of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, this book was so underwhelming, I can’t help but feel so disappointed.

After finishing this book I came to the conclusion that the second book doesn’t add anything to Ari and Dante’ story. It ended with even more things unsaid about them.

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World picks up right after the first book, and the first part was focused on the last days of summer. There was no plot, just a mere daily recap of what Ari & Dante were up to. I guess this part was actually ok, because it was more about these two characters, how they were living with their own relationship against a world that was not welcoming towards homosexuality with the rise in AIDS cases. After this part, which is when summer is over and school starts, the story completely derailed and it became a full train wreck.

Dante was completely inexistent for a great part of the book. Instead, we have so many new characters brought into the story and Ari’s life, it gets too crowded. That’s merely because it seems Ari is on a mission to have profound conversations with all of them, except Dante. This story takes place in the ’80s so, of course, it talks about AIDS, how many gay people died during that period, and it also talks about transphobia, homophobia but it feels like the two main characters of this story never come to terms with these problems. So, here you have the book, lots of new characters from Ari’s high school life intertwined with passages from Ari’s journal, all these profound reflections and conversations that don’t really make a point. To me, all the big speeches about AIDS, patriotism, feminism (or misogyny?), homophobia, grief, and so on in this book only served the purpose to raise Aristotle above everyone else. He is the hero of the story, the perfect guy, everybody likes Ari and he never makes mistakes. Dante’s feelings or thoughts were never taken into consideration, and if I remember correctly, he was the victim of a homophobic assault in the first book, so my humble guess is he would have had a lot to say. Everything was just around Ari and it just didn’t feel realistic.

It seems that at the end of the story, the main problem between Ari & Dante is their future together. What will happen after college? Will they still be together? And that’s it, they never come to terms with the sad reality of how the world events may impact their future and their relationship. Fair enough, maybe they didn’t need to talk about it, I’ll accept that maybe their only concern was life after college, or being jealous about Ari spending more time with his new friends. And if at the end of this story the only obstacle standing in front of Aristotle & Dante was life after high school, why do they never seriously talk about it? What was the purpose of this whole book and stirring in so many topics into this story?

I am sorry, but this book was a big disappointment for me and maybe I am not educated enough to fully get it. The first one was too damn good and I think I will just pretend the second book didn’t happen and I will leave Aristotle and Dante where they were at the end of the first book, discovering the beauty of love and life.

Thank you so much Simon and Schuster UK Children’s and NetGalley for an e-copy of this book. The opinions above are my own.

The most perfect book! I thought the first one was 5 stars, so what do I give this? 6?

I didn’t want it to end at all. I found myself trying to read reaaaaally slowly just so that I didn’t have to finish the book. Beautiful.

Best news ever! Loved this new title... I was kinda not comfortable with earlier title...... And amazing cover!

I loved this book more than first one and I can't express how much I adore every words and sentence from the book. So much character development and theme exploration and everything is in perfect shape.

Ari and Dante's relationship is sum of everybody's story and it's portrayed in the best possible way, EVER!!!!

I was very hesitant to read this book as I loved the first one and you don't want to ruin the image of these great characters. In a way, it was good, but it was sadder than the first book. I think some plot points were unnecessary. Overall, it didn't win me as the first book did, but it isn't a bad book by any means.

I was really excited for this one as I absolutely loved the first book but this honestly felt like a different person had written it. It felt so flat and immature I was so disappointed I couldn’t continue so dnf’d at 40%

I'm not entirely sure how I felt about this one, and in all honestly I wasn't sure how to write this review.

It was a book of two halves for me. It definitely can't be read without having read the first book.

In the first half, it feels distinctly like a different author entirely. I struggled to like it so much it made me question if I had even liked the last book. At points it feels distinctly like this has been written either to capitalise on the popularity of the last book or to have a published work to point to when the author is accused of transphobia. Nothing much happened and there wasn't any particular character development either.

The second half was more emotionally affecting. There started to be the character development and the plot line that the first half had been lacking. It did make me cry. There were some difficult but lovely additions to the journey you see Ari particularly is on.

It still felt extremely performative though. Discussions of the AIDS pandemic were surface level at best and there was no resolution to the story. I felt that the stopping point of the last book was better.

The theme appears to be Ari and Dante mapping out their own world. I get it. It's very forced though, and I got sick of reading it every other paragraph along with a reference to the title of one of the books.

I cancelled my preorder having read the netgalley copy I had, which is such a shame as I loved the last book. I think. I'm no longer sure.

I'm sure there will be people that love these characters and the little further snippet it gives you enough to say its amazing but...it really isnt. If this had been the first book, I wouldn't have been coming back for a second.

This is an interesting review to write because I’m still not sure how I feel. I was worried my expectations would be too high and that the gap between books would be too wide. But I also remember loving the first book so much that I had to request it.

I think I’m at a stage where I’m not looking for books that contain misogyny/transphobia/biphobia, even if it’s reflective of how a character would react. Those books exist and should, but the past year or two has been rough and I'm not sure I want that in books right now. For example, Dante is messy - has always been messy, which is why he's so endearing! - but his behaviour toward Aristotle when threatened by Ari’s friendship with Cassandra is uncomfortable. I think if the author had delved deeper into an exploration of the issues around biphobia and why Dante has such a toxic reaction then I might not be feeling so conflicted. Back in 2012 these weren’t discussions readers were having, but these characters need to mature with their audience, I think. I could be wrong. I’m feeling all over the place because so much of this book has the beauty of the first, but also . . .

I’m glad I read it. Dante and Ari stole my heart with the first book. But this might be a case of expectations being too high and the time between books too wide.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"'You're not such a boy anymore. You're on the edge of manhood.'
'It feels like I'm at the edge of a cliff.'"

This book was beautiful and heartbreaking. In this book we see how Ari and Dante are trying to figure out their lives and their future together. It was even better than the first. It's all I'm going to say. Guess you'll have to just read it for yourself 🤷🏻. But seriously it's amazing. Definitely recommend. 7/5⭐

"You matter more to the universe than you will ever know"

Thank you NetGalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.