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astralfeline's review
- 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
Moderate: Grief, Death, and Blood
Minor: Death of parent, Transphobia, and Dysphoria
thebakersbooks's review against another edition
- 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
When I say I want more representation of marginalized groups in science fiction and fantasy, Cemetery Boys is case in point. Main character Yadriel is a gay, trans, Latinx boy, and the cast includes mostly other people of color, several of whom are also queer. The charactersâ ethnicities, religions, genders, and sexualities play into the story, but theyâre not all the storyâs about. Itâs hard to discuss this without seeming dismissive of the need for a range of good representation across genres, but thereâs a place for both books that center the real-world struggles and triumphs of marginalization and books where those struggles and triumphs happen alongside ghost stories and magic. But what I appreciated most about Cemetery Boys was that while the difficulties of existing at the crux of several marginalized identities cropped up in the story, the main sources of pain/drama/angst came from fantasy sources that werenât identity-centered.
Cemetery Boys also drives home a point that critics of fanfictionâand of fanfic writers, both past and currentârepeatedly fail to understand. The point is this: it doesnât matter if you know how the storyâs going to turn out; even if youâve seen it play out similarly a hundred times before and you see where itâs going, the author can deliver that conclusion in an emotionally satisfying way. I donât know if Aiden Thomas has written fanfic (my money says yes), but even though I guessed the antagonist and some elements of the climax around halfway through the book, the ending contained plenty of surprises in its execution. Itâs why we say âtropeâ isnât a bad wordâtropes exist for a reason, and they donât always have to be used in surprising ways to bring a story to a brilliant end.
Frankly, the fact that the antagonist and end twist were guessable pretty early in the book might be my only critique of Cemetery Boys. This is one of my favorite books ever, nearly perfect from the standpoints of craft and pure enjoyment value. Like his protagonist, Thomas is trans, gay, and Latinx, so his understanding of the nuance of the ways those identities intersect shines through in Yadriel. Only part of that identity applies to me, but the realness of Yadrielâs moments of joy, pain, and awkwardness were validatingâparticularly to a younger and more confused version of me. Despite everything this book puts its characters through, it left me feeling hopeful.
So, the story: What starts out as Yadrielâs quest to prove to his family and community that heâs a brujo with all the abilities that implies becomes the perilous search for a killer whoâs disappearing young Latinx peopleâamong them, a boy named Julian. When Yadrielâs friend Maritza and Julianâs friend Luca volunteer to help in the search for Julian, things get even more complicated. Friendships form an enduring theme in Cemetery Boysâitâs clear when an author thinks romance is more important than friendship, and that definitely wasnât the case here. Maritza and Luca are very different kinds of friends (one snarky, one soft) but both are ride or die when the safety of their loved ones is at stake. Similarly, family is both a source of strength and conflict in the story, but itâs never pushed aside by the writing or framed as second to *relationship drama* or anything else.
In fact, the romance in Cemetery Boys is, for all its angst and potential for tragedy, not a huge part of the book. In parts where it was the focus, I never found it overpowering compared to other plot events. Also, I thought the romantic relationship did a great job of avoiding insta-love territory. Yadriel initially finds Julian inconvenient and annoying and only slowly decides that heâs attractive. It takes even longer before any kind of rapport develops between them and that turns into romance. (Although, as romantic gestures go, scribbling out your crushâs deadname in his yearbook and writing his real name over it is up there.)
Thomasâ knack for creating real-feeling characters and gradually picking them apart leads to some absolutely gutting moments. Even though you can see the heartbreak coming, that doesnât make it hurt any less when it actually happens! And I mean that as a compliment. Characterization may be one of the authorâs strong suits, but certainly not the only one. The book is full of stunningly descriptive imagery, especially describing angry teenagers, churches, and DĂa de Muertos details like sugar skulls and marigolds. Althoughâor maybe because âit makes time to show detail and build elaborate character relationships, the pacing never lags in the second act, nor does anything feel rushed in the third. The emotional beats fall where they should, embellished by brutally raw dialogue and more of that gorgeous descriptive prose.
Letâs talk about gender-affirming worldbuilding for a second. The magic system in Cemetery Boys is described as being built around a gender binary: brujas heal living people who suffer; brujos guide spirits who are lost. The magic itself correctly identifies Yadriel as male, so when he tries to perform a female-only ability, it backfires, whereas the male-only one works. (Also, the binary-ness turns out to be partially a product of Yadriel as a narrator with a narrow scope of history: as Julian later points out, there must have been nonbinary brujx and others who didnât conform to the narrow binary system in the past.) On this subject, the brujxâ knives or rosaries are used to indicate things about their charactersâthe style, whether theyâre adorned with extra charms, etc., which is the kind of fun yet functional worldbuilding I love to see. Finally, Iâd be remiss not to mention how the world and its magic are based on various Latinx cultures. Iâm not Latinx, so Iâm sure I missed some of the references/details, but I enjoyed the way traditions from various places mixed during DĂa de Muertos and among the brujx in general. And I liked how if there was a long or complex passage in Spanish, it's translated into English, but individual wordsâeven those that werenât obvious cognates, like sobrinoâwerenât translated. People can Google that stuff if they don't know it and can't infer the meaning!
Random good parts that may not all make sense out of context but that I would be remiss not to point out
- an immediate, first-chapter indication that Yadriel is trans (I think he mentions his binder or something) without spelling it out super obviously
- the MC is a SHORT trans boy! Yadriel bemoans that heâs only âa little over five feetâ
- âHis dead name slipped from her mouth,â instead of actually using the old name is an excellent way of dealing with trans names.
- Julianâs intro is really cool! Definitely one of the most unique ways to introduce a love interest Iâve ever read.
- so nice that Julian, despite being introduced as an archetypical âbad boy,â accepts that Yadriel is trans without any big deal, and thinks itâs messed up that others donât treat Yadriel (in his own words) like a âreal boy.
- âMy tacos!â - Julian, finding moldy food on the ground.
- Tito, the spirit gardener who tended flowers all his life and continues to grow them in deathâespecially flowers for DĂa de los Muertas, which are his pride and joy.
- Maritzaâs familyâs pitbulls, Michelangelo and Donatello
- cempasĂșchil! Every instance where they were described sounded so pretty.
- the romance: âHow could he possibly recover from falling for Julian Diaz?â and âYadriel would happily let himself be consumed by Julianâs fire.â
- an actual non-forced, naturally incorporated meme: âIâve beenâdude, stop screamingââ
This book ripped my heart out and glued it back together wrong way out. That is to say: I give it my highest recommendation, particularly to young people likely to relate to Yadriel and/or Julian. The writing is stellar, the audiobook narration is excellent, and the overall package is absolutely worth your time. (Iâd like to mention here that Avi Roque, a trans Latinx narrator, was a great choice for the storytelling and really made the characters come alive. This was apparently their first audiobook narration, too!)
Content notes: death of a loved one; repeated mention of death, dying, and grief; graphic depiction of death on-page; mention of shooting and stabbing; gangs; parental/familial abuse; youth homelessness; transphobia including misgendering and mentioned deadnaming, police profiling based on race
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Transphobia and Racism
Minor: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Grief
offthecarousel_'s review against another edition
- 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
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!
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Deportation, Transphobia, Child death, Death, and Grief
Minor: Classism, Mental illness, Deadnaming, and Car accident
heartprint's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
this book felt like a squeeze of a hand. a friendship bracelet. a lighthouse beacon. my heart has leapt, fallen and been soothed all throughout this story. my grief has ebbed and flowed in the in-betweens of this story. yadriel and julian's story melted into my heart. where do i even begin with this? i ended up caring so deeply about the characters here in such a short amount of time. i read this outside and started hysterically sobbing at the 86% mark because i cared and i dreaded finishing this book. i feared finishing it.
what a story. i suppose it's time for me to make a cup of tea.
Moderate: Grief and Death
Minor: Deadnaming
psitstorrie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Dysphoria, Death, Abandonment, Murder, Transphobia, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Deadnaming, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death and Car accident
ageckocalledachilles's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Deadnaming, Gore, Transphobia, Violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Homophobia, Outing, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Racism, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Medical content, and Classism
su_uro's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Grief, Transphobia, and Violence
allishortell's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.75
Moderate: Deadnaming, Death of parent, and Blood
Minor: Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
mirandyli's review against another edition
- 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
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
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
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