Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

99 reviews

ems_book_shelf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

WOW I LOVED THIS BOOK. I was pulled into the story immediately, the pacing was fantastic, the mystery/adventure aspect was so fun to read. I really liked Julian and Yads as characters on their own, but especially together. Their relationship was so cute, and I wasn’t sure how the book was going to end, there were definitely some tears shed, but I’m so so soooo happy with this book 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Deadnaming, Death, Child death, Death of parent, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Classism, Deportation, and Grief

bbelitz's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Medical trauma, Racism, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Deadnaming, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Transphobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death

angelfireeast24's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, and Transphobia

Moderate: Classism, Death, and Deportation

Minor: Racism

rieviolet's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

3.5

I listened to the audiobook version so this is going to colour my review/rating a bit, because I'm still trying to get used to this medium of reading, and my mind doesn't always cooperate and tends to wander a lot.

I felt like the beginning and the end of the story were stronger and more memorable, whereas the middle part was a bit slow and, to be honest, I remember very little of what happened, it all kind of blurred together.

I really liked the representation of the trans experience thorugh the character of Yadriel. We got to see the big and more evident aspects of it, but also the little and everyday details. 

I appreciated the cultural elements, as well as their more fantastical re-imagination; though I think maybe at times the author verged into overexplanation. I also liked the interspersed sentences and expressions in Spanish.

I wasn't quite sold at the beginning on the romance but, as the story progressed, it got better and I'm not ashamed to say that

when Julian said "mi querido"

I screamed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Racism, and Transphobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Kidnapping, Gore, Child death, Religious bigotry, Murder, Dysphoria, Child abuse, Deadnaming, and Violence

Minor: Abandonment, Drug use, Cultural appropriation, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Bullying, Classism, Deportation, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Self harm, and Torture

christinereads1823's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-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? No

4.75

SUCH a great story. I fell in love with Yadriel and Julian as they fell in love with each other. Aiden Thomas's writing is magnetic, with gorgeously vivid descriptions of Latinx culture alongside gripping action and a clear understanding of his characters and their emotions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Transphobia

Minor: Car accident, Deadnaming, Deportation, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Homophobia, and Child death

offthecarousel_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

 I loved this a lot!!

This LGBT coming-of-age story was extremely compelling and had a good ratio of mystery mixed with character development. The romance felt gradual and believable (what feels like a rarity for stories with MCs in high school) and was very cute.

A great book for trans representation and I believe both of the main characters are neurodivergent as well (anxiety and ADHD). I'm excited for the sequel.

I described Yadriel and Julian to my friends as "an anxious grumpy/reckless sunshine vibe." They're so fun! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Deportation, Transphobia, Child death, Death, and Grief

Minor: Classism, Mental illness, Deadnaming, and Car accident

scrb_oodle's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Transphobia, Death, and Child death

Minor: Animal cruelty and Deadnaming

mirandyli's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-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? No

3.5

An emotional, fast-paced story about a young teenage boy who is gay and trans. Beautifully written and very sweet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Dysphoria, Grief, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

mle11's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Transphobia, Cursing, Kidnapping, Blood, Child death, and Dysphoria

Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, Homophobia, Gun violence, Abandonment, Deportation, and Animal death

roksyreads's review

adventurous emotional inspiring 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

3.5

It's taken me a long time to read this. I have tried 3 times previously, but never got more than a few chapters in. This time, I was determined to finish. Although it didn't captivate me immediately, this book has a great cast of characters, and centres around a trans coming of age story. Yadriel, a trans queer young man, and a collecti9n of diverse Latinx and queer secondary characters are well-developed, engaging, and relatable - faults and all. The romance sub-plot is super cute, and the focus on friendship and both personal/communal growth make for a strong character-focused story. I enjoyed the cultural immersion and vicarious experience, however the details didn't always fit comfortably into the narrative. Personally, I would also have enjoyed more suspense/mystery; the direction and identity of the big-bad was obvious very early on, which did somewhat diminish my enjoyment. Overall, an impressive debut which I believe should be on all urban fantasy reading lists.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Deadnaming, Child death, Body horror, Transphobia, and Outing