Book of the Month: Aristotle and Dante Dive Into The Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Nearly a decade after the publication of its prequel, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (you can read our review here), Ari and Dante’s beautiful love story continues in a new novel by acclaimed author Benjamin Alire Sáenz titled Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World.

This new installment was released on October 12, 2021, and since then, it’s been raved about by both critics and fans alike. Honestly, it’s the sequel we didn’t know we needed, but that our hearts are very happy to have. 

And although there’s no doubt that sequels are hard to write and difficult to get right, especially due to the pressure involved in fulfilling expectations from fans, Mr. Sáenz doesn’t disappoint and delivers yet another work of pure queer art. Because everything, from the tone of the story (a bit somber in this book), to the new characters added to the universe, everything comes together in a very profound and genuine way, just like in the first book. 

Reading this book felt like visiting old friends, catching up on everything that’s been going on in their lives, and remembering why we love them so much. And that’s why we decided to make this book, February’s book of the month here at Q+. So join us as we dive into these troubled and yet beautiful waters that Benjamin Alire Sáenz wrote for us. 

Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World: a worth-the-wait sequel 

Picking up right where Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe left off, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World now follows Ari and Dante as an established couple and takes us on a journey of acceptance, discovery, friendship, love, loss, and growth all in five delightful and at times very painful parts. In this new installment, Ari and Dante have to learn how to stay together and protect their love in a world where loving each other is perhaps the most dangerous thing to do.

At the peak of the AIDS epidemic, both Ari and Dante find themselves struggling with the harsh reality of everything happening around them. Society scorns the very existence of people like them and that puts them both in a predicament that confronts them with the ramifications that the LGBTQ community had to face back in that time. They suffer losses that threaten to change the very existence of their lives. Not to mention, they have to deal with the fact that they’re growing up. It’s their senior year of high school and although they don’t want to, the truth is that their future together seems uncertain.

I wondered if Dante and I would ever be allowed to write our names on the map of the world. Other people are given instruments–and when they go to school, they are taught to use them. But they don’t give boys like me and Dante pencils or pens or spray paint. They want us to read, but they do not want us to write. What will we write our names with? And where on the map would we write them?”

(Aristotle Mendoza, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World)

But let’s get deeper into the book, shall we? 

New Countries, New Emotions, and New Friends

Just like it happened with its predecessor, when we first started reading this book, Sáenz’s familiar and beautiful prose caught us again under its spell. Using the same method of channeling emotional truths and asking important questions through Ari’s consciousness, Sáenz manages to, once again, make us feel, see, understand, and empathize with all the characters written in the story – and there are way more in this book!

Through the first three sections of the book titled “Discovering the Art of Cartography,” “Living in the Land of What Matters,” and “In the Country of Friendship,” we see a very different Ari – a free Ari. His love for Dante has opened his eyes and has helped him discover a new world where having friends and healthy family relationships are things he, Aristotle Mendoza, can have. He grows closer to his parents, especially his dad, and learns – although a bit reluctant – to accept and let people love him. 

I sometimes felt like I’d been asleep for a long time–and when I met Dante, I began to wake up, and I began seeing not only him but the mean and terrible and awesome world I lived in. The world was a scary place to live in, and it would always be scary–but you could learn not to be afraid. I guess I had to decide what was more real, the scary things or–or Dante. Dante, he was the most real thing in my world.”

(Aristotle Mendoza, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World) 

Seeing both Ari and Dante create this cluster of family members and trusted friends who know about them and accept them for who they are is just beautiful. Found families are a common thing in the LGBTQ community, so it made us really happy to see these two boys find their own. But sadly, the reality of the world they live in ends up sinking in pretty quickly, and we see them having to deal with a lot. 

From attacks on other kids in school who are “effeminate,” to attending a funeral of a gay man from the El Paso community who died of AIDS. They really go through a lot, to the point that in one of Ari’s diary entries he wonders if one day he and Dante will die from AIDS – if all gay men were just going to die of the disease.

The world would go on without us in it. Finally, the world would get what it wanted.”

(Aristotle Mendoza, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World) 

It’s a pretty harsh and at times raw reflection of what happened at that time – the fear, the anger, the frustration, the pain. And although it broke our hearts to read all about it, we thought it was important that Sáenz explored and elaborated on that topic. As members of the queer community, we think it’s important that we all know our history, even if it’s through books of fiction. 

Tears, more Tears, and Paris

In the last two sections of the book titled, “Between the Living and the Dying is the Loving” and “The World, the Universe, and Aristotle and Dante,” Sáenz takes us on a roller-coaster of emotions – and we’re not kidding when we say roller-coaster of emotions. That statement is quite literal. 

One moment we were happily enjoying the ride, seeing Ari and Dante’s love grow and mature before our eyes, we were seeing friends becoming family, young-kids-almost-adults being young-kids-almost adults, and the next we were on the floor, crying waterfalls of tears and yelling at the unfairness of the universe. 

We’re not going to spoil what happens, but we can tell you that Ari goes through a lot in these two final sections of the book and the whole journey left us truly heartbroken. The last third of the book? We were forced to read it through our tears, and again we’re not kidding. It happened, we even cried ourselves to sleep and woke up with puffy eyes.

Sáenz has a way of masterfully weaving these somber, harsh, and very realistic topics with beautiful reflections about love, family, and friends. So we’re not going to lie, reading this book hurts a lot, but it’s also beautiful, so tears will happen. That’s just how it is when you’re reading a book written by someone with a mastery in weaving emotions. 

…Where did tears come from and why did people laugh and cry and feel pain and why did emotions come with having a mind and a body? It was all such a mystery, unsolvable and cruel, with a little kindness thrown into the mix. Pain and joy and anger and life and death–everything present all at once–everything reflected in the faces of the people in this room, people I had come to love even as I didn’t understand love at all.”

(Aristotle Mendoza, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World) 

It’s a book that will touch you deeply. The love between Ari and Dante pours from every word written in the 528 pages that this book has. It’s sweet, pure, and honest. The parallels between some of the things Ari and Dante do and say to one another that both their parents also do and say will leave you squealing with glee and hugging your pillow. Because really, these two couldn’t be more perfect for each other.

We know that people tend to idolize high school romances and that most of the time these don’t last long, but we’re talking about Ari and Dante. They’re not your regular teenagers. Aristotle the philosopher who wants to be a writer and Dante the poet who wants to be an artist. We’re sure these two became great cartographers and are somewhere in El Paso right now together, still crazy about each other, and happy to see some of the changes that have been made on the map of the world in the last 30 years.

For an instant I wanted to be someone else or some other version of me, one who liked girls, and feel what it was like to be a part of the world and not just living in its corners. But if I was that guy, I wouldn’t love Dante the way I loved him, and that love was the most painful and beautiful thing I had ever felt and I never wanted to live without it.
And I didn’t give a shit that I was young, and I had just turned seventeen and I didn’t give a shit if anyone thought I was too young to feel the things that I felt. Too young? Tell that to my fucking heart.”

(Aristotle Mendoza, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World) 

Beautifully written (seriously, we can’t get enough of Sáenz’s amazing storytelling), Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World is a poignant, painful, and yet very introspective work of fiction. It’s a story that, like its predecessor, will make you question a lot of things about yourself, life, family, friends, these things called feelings, and love. But that will leave you feeling hopeful and buoyant. Buoyant, now that’s a word Dante would use!

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Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World  is available for sale through most booksellers. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff!