~(Sorry about this long "review". It's more my thoughts as I finish this book, not knowing at all how I'm supposed to write down my feelings)~
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe has always had a special place in my heart. I could easily say it is one of, if not MY favourite book.
It's one of those books that you don't read, you feel every word. You are punched by them and it leaves a mark like no other book.
But obviously it hits everyone in different ways. I recognised so much of myself in Aristotle Mendoza. In his thoughts and way of seeing life and seeing himself.
And that one book was, simply put, perfect for me.

Now I wondered what else Benjamin Alire Saenz could give to us. If Ari and Dante (book1) was already perfect, was there need for more?
Obviously when we love characters so much it's always a pleasure to follow them for a little longer than we originally thought. But the story still needs to have some importance in order to be necessary.

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World follows Ari for one year following where we left him at the end of book 1. We follow his last year of high school before diving into the rest of his life.
He's still extremely pensive and melancholic, but it now feels like every small element that could have been imperfect, or simply left unsolved, HAD to be dealt with in this book. And honestly? I don't think that was necessary.
Ari got closure on many things. Ari became open and nice and friendly in ways he hadn't really been before. That's some big character development... But his pensiveness and inability to open up or to tell his friends he appreciated them is exactly what made me adore his character and see myself in him so much. The only slight imperfection we might find in Ari now is his shame. He's still ashamed of who he is and hates himself. Dispite having become this perfect person to everyone. And that just makes the book sad.
Everything else makes this book sad.
Obviously it's about being gay in 1989, so obviously it won't be sunshine and rainbows. A huge part of Ari's life is impacted by the AIDS crisis, homophobia and being unable to show the world who he loves.
But so many other things were added that made this book sad, and I don't know why that was necessary.

I saw someone say that this book was an ode to teachers. And that is so true. It shows you the impact of teachers and what they pass on. And it's very nice.
But hey, that's not what hits me in the heart.

All of these unpolished words to say... I don't know. I don't know how I feel about this book. Because nothing was wrong. Nothing was bad. Sad, yes, melancholic, yes, different to what I was expecting, yes. But that doesn't make it bad.
It just doesn't make it the Ari and Dante sequel I needed.
And once again, that is absolutely personal and I really truly hope others will love it.
It definitetly feels like it came from the author's heart.