Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

106 reviews

bashsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

5.0

OMG I love this book! Yadriel & Julian are such great characters, loveable without being too perfect. Julian especially is an ideal bad-boy-softie character that I just adore. I also deeply enjoyed the amount of Spanish in this book (I feel like I learned some new words) and the drawing on Latin culture for the paranormal fantasy aspects. Bonus points for things not being completely hunky-dory for Yadriel as a trans person, but also for the narrative not being bogged down with only his struggles.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Racism, Xenophobia, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Animal death, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Medical content, and Alcohol

-The religious bigotry is in the context of a fantasy religion wherein there is a strict gender binary that has to be followed. Functionally, it mirrors real-world religious bigotry, but it does not draw on one specifically.

lochanreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? No

4.0

Cemetery Boys is a thrilling and emotional adventure. It has elements of paranormal romance in an urban fantasy setting. Yadriel is a strong main character that struggles to fit into his community of brujx (healers and guardians of deceased spirits) as a Latino gay trans boy. The story starts with a lot of momentum that immediately pulls you in and the characterisation was excellently executed. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, Blood, and Death of parent

letheaster's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

This was such a good book, I was holding back tears in the epilogue, I think Aiden Thomas is an instabuy for me now. I got so emotionally attached to all the characters and I really felt I was in there in the story. This was just an excellent experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Transphobia, and Blood

Moderate: Deadnaming, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death

crumbofcare's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-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

"Growth isn’t a deviation from what we’ve done before, but a natural progression to honor all those who make this community strong." 

Why did I let this book sit on my shelves for 6 months before starting it? I'm so mad at past-Carrie because it was incredible. This was a beautiful YA story. Every time Yadriel was misgendered I was ready to throw hands. 😡 Seeing him go through this journey was fantastic. I laughed, I cried, and I got mad at fictional characters... but I also cheered so hard for other fictional characters. This was everything I wanted from a paranormal YA.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Deadnaming, Fatphobia, and Deportation

cosmic_blooms's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, and Deportation

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: Death, Transphobia, Blood, and Dysphoria

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

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

robinks's review

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

Moderate: Deadnaming and Racism

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

roadesntoades's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

Never has there a book that left like such a true reflection of queer youth in Latin communities. If people don’t like this book, they are not people I’d like to know.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Incest, Transphobia, Blood, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Chronic illness, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Outing

kristinallard's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Deadnaming, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

mallorypen's review

adventurous challenging 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? Yes

3.75

I liked this book. The plot overall  and the conclusion were enjoyable and unique, and I found Yadriel, Julian and Maritsa to be  compelling and multifaceted characters.

The concept of the brujex was fascinating, and the lore was cohesive. Yadirel’s struggle to be seen as a brujo as well as a man was compelling, and it was interesting to think about the additional complications a trans person would face in a language so set in gendered terminology. It was a triumph at the end that his identity was confirmed so thoroughly by his community.

The relationship between Yadriel and Julian was very sweet. Julian’s panic and desire to keep even Yadirel’s family back when he came back to life was so fluffy and wonderful. The “mi querido” when Yadirel’s father asked if Julian was just a friend was amazing.

I also appreciated that there wasn’t a translation for all of the Spanish. Context clues and some of my comprehension were enough to get the gist, but it felt better than having a word-for-word translation from an authenticity standpoint.

My biggest drawback was the pacing. The first half of the book felt like it took forever to get through the plot. It was good to get a sense of the lore of the brujx, to understand how Yadirel’s trans identity was in conflict with their community’s traditions, and how Julian’s personality and home life impacted his character … but it took a LONG time to get to a point where I felt like the pacing was appropriate for the kind of story being told.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Animal death