“There are cartographers who came and made a map of the world as they saw it. They did not leave a place for us to write our names on that map. But here we are, we’re in it, this world that does not want us, a world that will never love us, a world that would choose to destroy us rather than make a space for us even though there is more than enough room.”

After falling in love, Aristotle and Dante, must now fight to stay in love in a world that seems to challenge their very existence. Ari has gone through all of high school trying to be invisible, but now he’s realized that he didn’t do as good of a job as he thought he did. Dante, on the other hand, is just ready to get away from his all boys high school. Both of them are filling out their college applications and realizing that their futures may be apart opposed to together. However, it’s the height of the AIDS crisis and the boys start to wonder if they have any future at all. When Ari suffers a devastating loss, the boys come together to forge a future of their own.

I was excited, but a little concerned when I found out that a sequel was in the works for Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Excited, because on a whole I really enjoyed the first one. Concerned, because sequels written with so many years in between them are rarely good. I’m not sure if I can even think of one example. So I jumped into this with some trepidation, which turned out to be completely warranted.

The author mentioned that he didn’t feel satisfied with the first book. There were so many more things that he wanted to discuss and therefore felt the need to write a sequel. Honestly, it was a bit of an exhaustive list of things that he wanted to discuss, but hadn’t gotten to. AIDS, religion, teenage sex, love, loss, war, racism, racism in education, coming-of-age… and more. So, to say it was ambitious in scope is an understatement. However, all of these topics weren’t particularly well woven in. I felt like he was trying to beat me to death with all these topics. Admirable? Yes. Exhausting? Also, yes.

In the blurb, it mentions that Ari suffers a great loss, which is absolutely devastating to read, but felt unnecessary as a reader, aside from creating more drama in the last 75% of the book. This provided the perfect reason for the book to go on for a bit longer so that the author could shove a few more of the topics he wanted to discuss in there. I don’t have to have completely happy endings, but this just felt extremely unnecessary. It’s like a layer cake made entirely out of drama and depression. And while that may sound like a great thing, I just really want some warm and fuzzies for these boys.

Speaking of warm and fuzzies, I would happily read a road trip book with Ari and Dante. I don’t think we’ll ever get it, but I love reading the sections where they are together and not doing anything particularly important or dramatic. The camping bit was my favorite part of this entire book. They were so cute, and I loved the descriptions of the scenery. It was gorgeous, but for me there just wasn’t enough scenes like this throughout the book.

Overall, I still think that fans of the original will enjoy this. For me, it was just too long, too preachy, and a bit lackluster. It sounds like I hate it, but I didn’t. I was just disappointed, even after acknowledging that sequels with this large of gap are often not great. However, I was still secretly rooting for it, hoping that it would do better than its predecessors. I’m not sure if I will read any other books by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, but I am open to it in the future.

Have you read Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World? What did you think? What’s your favorite sequel with a long gap in between it and the first? Let me know in the comments below!

Important Bits:
Length: 516 pages
Published: October 12, 2021 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
Content Warnings: Death of a Parent, Racism, Homophobia, Transphobia, Death, Loss, Under-aged Drinking
Awards: None yet.
Aristotle and Dante Series: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2012), Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World (2021)
Also by: Carry Me Like Water (1995), Last Night I Sang to the Monster (2009), Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club (2012), The Inexplicable Logic of My Life (2017) and many many more.