Alexander Allen’s Reviews > Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World > Status Update

DONE. FINALLY. Oh my gods that took forever. It was like walking through mud.

"And I was learning that sometimes you had to let go for the people you loved."
So you're telling me that between NYE and spring break--which is the span of like, MAYBE six months. Ari has already come to terms with his father dying? After it was made to be such a big deal that he had no connection with his father and then he suddenly did?? Sigh...

Yaaaayyy another random, throwaway character! And this one's name is...David. Gods, I can't wait to be done with this book. I'm trying to get it all done tonight so I can start something else.

How to tell you've lost the plot/have nothing to write about: Every chapter is a single page. A single page of nothing important.

"Hey so I know your dad--my husband--just died, but could you write his obituary so we can have it in the newspaper by one o'clock?" IS FUCKING WILD TO SAY. (Not said exactly like that, of course, but still) You've gotta be fucking kidding me. That's insane.

Oh. His Dad died. That's what the big loss was about? I thought Dante was gonna die of AIDs or Soledad was gonna die in labor. I feel really bad that I just...don't care. I feel like there wasn't enough bond there with his dad for it to really impact me as a reader. For most of the first book, they never interacted, and even in this book, Ari's spending most of his time with Dante, so...?

How is it that there can be a conversation with SEVEN characters, and they all seem to have the same manner of speaking? The same tone? Absolutely fucking baffling.

And in a matter of four fucking pages, one of THE most important plot points was just...thrown away. All of Ari's nightmares and thoughts about his brother, and the way his parents acted about him and his absence and then we FINALLY meet him and it's just...four pages. Four pages of nothing substantial. And suddenly Ari is free of all those negative feelings?? Just like that? Ugh...

Oh? What's this? Some plot, finally??

"We don't talk about racism because we don't know how :)"
Brother...I'm pretty sure people know how to talk about racism. Even in the 80's. Jesus fucking Christ...