Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

34 reviews

kaziaroo's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

I was shocked when I read the acknowledgements at the end and found that the author wasn't originally going to write about a trans character and Latinx culture, because those, and the bold, loveable characters, are what really make this book stand out. Otherwise, the writing was a bit repetitive (there's lots of "Yadriel didn't know how to respond" and "Julian tilted his head") and the main mystery was very obvious, but the characters and the depictions of the different facets of their culture and how the characters each relate to the culture are special. It just goes to show that plot isn't everything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Dysphoria, Transphobia, and Death

Moderate: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Outing, Death of parent, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Car accident, Deadnaming, Child abuse, Deportation, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, and Cultural appropriation

robinks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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? No

5.0

I forgot how much I love paranormal romances 🥲 I loved all the characters and all the important topics Thomas was able to seamlessly include in the story. Even though I was able to predict the ending pretty early on and the ending was a little too perfect, I still enjoyed it. I highly recommend the audio book, as Roque does a phenomenal job of narrating, and the bonus interview with Thomas at the end is so lovely. I love #Yadrian!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Misogyny, Deportation, Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Classism, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Sexism, Transphobia, and Homophobia

Moderate: Deadnaming and Racism

Minor: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Dysphoria, Animal death, Child death, and Bullying

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Animal death, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Transphobia

Moderate: Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Self harm, Abandonment, Bullying, and Cursing

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Religious bigotry, Racism, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, and Police brutality

Discussion of gangs

haylzno's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.75

I felt so immersed in this story,  I really clicked with Thomas' writing style. 
I immediately fell in love with all of the characters and the dialog made me giggle on multiple occasions. Fantastic queer rep.
I absolutely love this premise and the plot. 
I'll be dreaming of marigolds tonight I think ♥️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Deadnaming, Blood, Murder, Grief, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Transphobia and Physical abuse

Minor: Car accident

mirireads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Murder, and Death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Outing, and Deadnaming

cozyteareads's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, Transphobia, Violence, Dysphoria, and Child abuse

Moderate: Drug use, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Outing, Medical content, Grief, Death, Racism, and Bullying

Minor: Animal death, Abandonment, Car accident, and Physical abuse

recycled_personalities's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Genuinely such a good read. It was really comforting queer representation and that definitely made me happy. It’s a LITTLE slow at the very beginning but please don’t make the mistake of giving up on it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gore, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia

jfield351's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-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

3.75

I enjoyed this book especially because it was partly written in spanish, a language i understand! if i had not been able to understand it i don’t think i would have  enjoyed it as much. It did make it a tiny bit hard to read, switching between languages. Maybe if i didn’t know spanish i could have skipped over those parts with no problem. Obviously, the LGBTQ+ representation was brilliant and unlike anything i’ve ever read (especially the trans representation) as well as the representation of the Latinx culture. I learnt more about the day of the dead festival and was charmed by the decorations, the mouth watering descriptions of food and the attitudes towards the day. Blending in fantasy, my favourite genre also made it a very fun read for me. The characters were well written, especially at the start. I read this within 24 hours from 1-2 March 2022. I did guess that

the jaguar knives would have a role in the twist, because they were a seemingly insignificant detail that was mentioned in depth twice. however i had no idea it would be tío catriz (he seemed sooo nice!!) or that the sacrifices would be miguel and julian.

. I was left wondering at some plot holes, such as, if only the one family was gifted with the power to see the dead, why could the whole family see it and not just the ones who weren’t married in? I did read this fast so maybe I missed something. I was hooked though, and I felt pain when Yadriel did, particularly when he faced transphobic comments and also in chapters 22/23. The ending was good, but to me i found it strange how the epilogue was literally just an hour after the ending -

both boys were up and running without pain an hour after they had been dead. the ending felt a bit rushed

. On the whole it was a great book and I want to read more like it!! And I want to read more from Aiden Thomas!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Violence, Deadnaming, Child abuse, Murder, Transphobia, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Bullying, Car accident, Racism, Medical content, Alcohol, Gun violence, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, and Xenophobia

mileskayden's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This has become one of my new all-time favourites, and I don't give away that title easily. There is so much I love about this book. I felt like the characters were so whole, full and rounded - they felt like real people. The world was so immersive and atmospheric, the way Thomas describes things is so intricate and beautiful. 

This was my first ever trans-read and I have to say, I was so incredibly grateful for the representation and how being transmasc was portrayed in this book. It never felt like it was making a point, and I think that is thanks to the author being trans themselves. 

I cried, I laughed and I was angry. I don't think I will forget this book for a long, long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Transphobia, Body horror, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, and Physical abuse

Minor: Deadnaming

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