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tisya's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Violence
Moderate: Death, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Cursing, and Torture
journey2's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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
I *LOVED* this book. No pretext, this book is amazing.
I felt every emotion. I cried many many many tears!
I love reading a story where you feel the love build naturally and honestly as you go. Their love was palpable. The way they saw each other and the passion they felt about everything about each other was so incredible and raw. They cared, they truly cared and wanted the very best for each other and he people that were important to them.
This book was written with such heart, such beauty and such passion and it has immediately jumped into my favourite book collection.
I will read this again and again.
I felt every emotion. I cried many many many tears!
I love reading a story where you feel the love build naturally and honestly as you go. Their love was palpable. The way they saw each other and the passion they felt about everything about each other was so incredible and raw. They cared, they truly cared and wanted the very best for each other and he people that were important to them.
This book was written with such heart, such beauty and such passion and it has immediately jumped into my favourite book collection.
I will read this again and again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Cultural appropriation, Deportation, Gun violence, Cursing, Child death, Deadnaming, Transphobia, and Violence
TW for transphobia, deadnaming, bullying, blood, violence, death, murder, gangs, conversation about cultural appropriation, deportationtheirgracegrace's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
An astounding book with no shortage of heart-wrenching teen drama. Yadriel is a brujo, one of the male members of a necromantic tradition stretching back to pre-colonial Central America. He is also transgender and accidentally falls in love with the first spirit he raises, Julian. With the backdrop of a mysterious death in the brujo community and the possibility that Julian's death is linked, I literally burned the midnight oil to read the end of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Transphobia, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Cursing, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexism, Stalking, Misogyny, Bullying, Confinement, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Racism, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Deadnaming, Deportation, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Colonisation, Alcohol, and Vomit
monaluffy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Animal death
Moderate: Torture and Transphobia
aexileigh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Blood, Death, Torture, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Deadnaming
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!
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
theprettiestpages's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I decided to read this book because Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World was on my TBR, but I found out the author was transphobic. When I found out about this I found a tread with LGBTQIA+ characters written by people in the community. I posted about it and decided instead of reading Dive into the Waters. That being said I read this book in two days, and I think that rapid consumption led me to realize more things that annoyed me. Now here come the spoilers Hello since your reading this I’m assuming you have read the book or you want to read my spoilers, anyways welcome. I borrowed this book from the library because I am trying not to buy physical books unless I give them at least 4 stars. The main characters Yadriel, is gay and transgender , and he is trying to convince his family that he is boy and that he can become a brujo. The book kept wackiness me over the head with a comedically big sized mallet saying do you get it the main character is trans. I wish that it would do more of showing and not telling. I enjoyed the bits about how the binder worked while putting it on and wearing it. Maritza, was the main side character and I loved her. I want a whole book about her and her immediate family. I loved that she was a vegan and stuck to it even if it meant she usually couldn’t heal people, it made it all the more better when she saved Yads at the end. But I’m getting ahead of my self. The book really begins when the family feels the pain of Miguel, one of their family members dying. They go out and try to look for his body/ spirit tether, but they are unsuccessful. Yads and Maritza were preforming a ceremony to give Yads his power conveniently at same time Miguel is hurt. Yads accidentally raises this guy Julian instead. And from the point they met Yads is smitten with Julian and that’s all that’s on his mind. Miguel being murdered has been thrown in the back for *squints to check paper* a random hot guy from school who is now a ghost boy, ok. The book moved as slow as that one teachers class that Julian got Yads to leave. There was lots of wandering around and looking for clues and not really finding any. They just so happened to stumble upon what was happening at the end for the twist villain *not really a surprise he’s the only one who had a motive* to expo dump what was happening. The foreshadowing was very blatant. I almost had to check if this was a middle grade book. It was like Dora stating okay what are the clues that we have 4 missing people, the missing jaguar knives that lita keeps asking for, an outcast uncle with no powers, and a prophecy that we keep repeating where you need to stab 4 people with the jaguar knives to gain magical powers . Wonder how those things could be related. I wish they would’ve actually found clues that lead them to the answer. Also this book kept feeling like a big inners guide to diversity. It was like one mtf, one ftm, one gay, one lesbian, and one vegan okay everything is covered. The book also did a lot of repetition that went nowhere. It was like the author copied and pasted the same phrase when they didn’t know what to write. I sat here trying to remember how many days had past because Julian and Yads were in love within 3-5 business days. I just sat there mouth agape when Yads said Julian was all he cared about like his cousin’s dead body wasn’t sitting there in the same room. You mean to tell me if Yads could only bring one person back from the dead it would be Julian, and not Miguel?? Lastly I felt like the ending was a cop out. I came here for some murder and mystery. At the end of the day nobody died, but the uncle. Like death means nothing unless you’re a "bad guy". I also would’ve committed murder like the uncle if I was treated like mirable from encanto by all of the members of my family. Are the non magical ones useless?? I feel like they could also help the family. That one uncle is the ONLY ONE WITHOUT POWERS?? *that’s suspicious, that’s weird*. Now let’s talk about the dad only accepting Yads because he can do boy magic. What a let down. I wish it had been a I’ll love you no matter what, then Yads expresses that he got his powers. Lastly the book raises a lot of questions that are never explained. What happens with non-binary or gender fluid brujxes? Did Yads ever find other trans brujxes?/ inquiring minds would like to know. I know I just kind of ranted, but I did love:
* Julian for the most part
* Maritza and the boys
*Julian’s friends and the family they built
* rio
* the imagery of the world building
* the different representation of Latinx culture
* Julian for the most part
* Maritza and the boys
*Julian’s friends and the family they built
* rio
* the imagery of the world building
* the different representation of Latinx culture
Content Warnings
Moderate: Deadnaming, Death of parent, Murder, Torture, Transphobia, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Abandonment, and Blood
sydthereader's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Transphobia, Death of parent, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Moderate: Violence, Cursing, Torture, and Child death
Minor: Dysphoria, Self harm, Medical content, and Deadnaming
theespressoedition's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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
What an absolutely incredible story. Major props again to Aiden Thomas for creating something that just completely captivated me and made it so hard to focus on anything else aside from the book! It was almost the same level of obsession I had while reading Lost in the Never Woods, which made me so happy. I had high hopes after enjoying that one so much and Cemetery Boys did not disappoint.
Y'all, this book is a major tearjerker. Like, expect to find yourself welling up at least once every few chapters. It made my heart hurt so much for those who are currently struggling with acceptance of their identity. But there was something so freeing in this book. The way that Julian and Yadriel related with one another was absolutely beautiful! And the diversity throughout the entire journey was really wonderfully done. Yes, there were challenges, but there was also so much acceptance, love, and changed hearts along the way.
One of the things that was so cool to me about this story was actually the magic in it. It was unlike anything I had read about before and it was totally fascinating! I loved learning more about the brujx and all the different abilities.
As I hoped (like with all my heart) there was a fantastic twist - and I didn't see it coming. Yet again, Aiden has surprised me with storytelling that took me on a totally wild ride. I loved every second of it and can't wait to continue reading more of their writing in the future!
Y'all, this book is a major tearjerker. Like, expect to find yourself welling up at least once every few chapters. It made my heart hurt so much for those who are currently struggling with acceptance of their identity. But there was something so freeing in this book. The way that Julian and Yadriel related with one another was absolutely beautiful! And the diversity throughout the entire journey was really wonderfully done. Yes, there were challenges, but there was also so much acceptance, love, and changed hearts along the way.
One of the things that was so cool to me about this story was actually the magic in it. It was unlike anything I had read about before and it was totally fascinating! I loved learning more about the brujx and all the different abilities.
As I hoped (like with all my heart) there was a fantastic twist - and I didn't see it coming. Yet again, Aiden has surprised me with storytelling that took me on a totally wild ride. I loved every second of it and can't wait to continue reading more of their writing in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Murder, Transphobia, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, and Homophobia
Moderate: Cursing and Torture
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.
- 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
- 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.
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