Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

81 reviews

nicamooch's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I love loved the concept and world building  of this book. 

I also really loved the banter and relationships Yadriel has with Julian and Martiza. The love story was so adorable I really wouldn’t have been able to handle a bittersweet ending between those two 😭 

The climax had me simultaneously bawling and cursing @ Thomas for the pain! The way my gut dropped when I turned onto Chapter 24…it was narratively such a good choice but I was also pissed because it did its job of wrecking me, you know?

I found the twist/reveal upsetting, it’s like, even though I figured it out beforehand because this character was the only viable option—it’s just devastating because you don’t /want/ it to be them. But I also feel like that’s why it works 😭 yet another great narrative choice for maximum pain 😭😭!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, Deadnaming, Death, Murder, and Transphobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Dysphoria, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Child death, Domestic abuse, Outing, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Medical content

emmasbelovedbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book takes ride or die to a new level! I’m going to miss these boys!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Transphobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Outing, Medical content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Confinement, Classism, Child death, Car accident, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Ableism

deadpoetsam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Dysphoria, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Racism, Deadnaming, Murder, and Transphobia

Minor: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Hate crime, Alcohol, Child death, Homophobia, Medical content, and Emotional abuse

lily1304's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

There are some plot holes. the magic rules are not well defined. you can see some of the plot twists coming a mile away.

But Yadriel and Julian are so dang cute 😭 it's a fun story with a good pace. Also the concept of a teen witch who won't use her healing powers because she's vegan is hilarious.

I'm curious how much of the "brujx" culture is real and how much is imaginary - I would love to learn more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia

Minor: Child death, Deadnaming, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

voidboi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

- very cute spooky, mostly closer to middle-grade but with some more graphic violence at the end that pushes it more towards YA
- Great characters, great chemistry, the romance-y bits with the car etc were perfect
- sometimes cheesy leaning into identity politics (mostly the vegan and side-queer things, a little more telling than showing), but the author is trans and this is a great trans MC treated with so much love and honesty

- all the flipping back and forth with thinking people were really dead at the end was a bit much, and lessened the impact eventually.
- I wish the author had taken more time with the ending- I get the value of a simple happy ending, but the things they went through at the end weren't simple and I don't think the character's reactions were very realistic or relatable. Yadriel and Julian can care deeply for each other and still experience their own pain and recovery, without completely ignoring everyone trying to help them. Then again, they're teenage boys, so maybe that part just wasn't for me. 
- Very disappointed that the queer-coded uncle was evil. However, the text does an excellent job of highlighting that he was corrupted by an outside source, and the brujx community takes responsibility for their part in creating that vulnerability, so I think it was very well done.

-Overall, this was fun and sweet and I'm sure will mean so much to kids and teens who need this story with them. Glad I read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Torture

Minor: Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders

laurajones's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Dysphoria, and Transphobia

Minor: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Deadnaming, Medical content, and Self harm

tanouska's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content

fromjuliereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the Spanish and the Latin culture and holidays brought into the story. It was so amazing to read. And I really liked the characters! I will admit that I saw the twist coming, it was kind of predictable. But that didn't take away from my enjoyment at all. Perfect read for the autumn season, especially October and Día de los Muertos. 

Definitely check the trigger warnings though!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Torture, Transphobia, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Body shaming, Car accident, and Gun violence

The deadname isn't printed, but there is mention of deadname being used. Definitely some blatant transphobia on the pages as well.

yavin_iv's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, Medical content, and Kidnapping

Minor: Gun violence, Deadnaming, Alcohol, and Abandonment

kbairbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I enjoyed this book so so much. I love the diversity, I love the Mexican culture, I love the food, I love story, I love the characters, I love everything about the narrator. They were absolutely the most perfect person to take on this job and I really loved the interview between the narrator and author at the end of the audiobook. I think McMillan did an incredible job with the audiobook and choosing the narrator and for sponsoring Aiden to bring the story to life. I can’t WAIT to see where Yadriel and Julian go and what they do. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Deadnaming, Drug use, and Transphobia