Reviews with content warning for Murder - Cemetery Boys

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

282 reviews

jackiie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious relaxing sad 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

5.0

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male_soley's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

5.0

I've read the book two times now and I still absolutely love it. I love the queer representation, I love the influence of Latin American culture, I love the ups and downs especially with Yadriel's family. The characters and the relationships between the characters are so adorable and I really felt with them.

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psitstorrie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

The premise and characters are fantastic. The pacing is very inconsistent though. It starts off so, so slow, but right at the end it is full steam ahead, with little built in between. I enjoyed the book a lot though, and it was really nice seeing the family dynamics play out how they did. It’s fun and dark at the same time

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gemstonejasper's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

This was a fun book. The audio is great. I loved the trans rep in Yadriel. As a trans person myself, I really related to him. Julian has ADHD. That's not up for debate as far as I'm concerned. I have ADHD and relate to him so much. I loved the characters. I will say that Yadriel was kind of a jerk at times. I think growing up in a graveyard may have desensitized him to the very real horror that Julian found himself in. He's dead and doesn't know how that happened, and none of his loved ones can see him. That's a lot for anyone, especially a kid. But Yadriel keeps asking, "are you okay?" Like no. He's not ok. He's dead. Stop asking. But I loved all of the major characters regardless of that. It's a cute paranormal romance that touches on some interesting themes and I would recommend it.

I didn't care for the twist villain. He was the only living adult who supported Yadriel, so I'm not sure how I felt about him being a twist villain. But it was still good.

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callmeames's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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mylynn's review

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adventurous emotional funny 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

5.0

I loved this! It has vibrant worldbuilding, intersting lore, great complex character development, mystery,slow-burn romance, banter, etc. This book centers around Dia De Los Muertos, and our main character and his family are brujx who help spirits (brujo) and are able to heal (bruja).

I loved the coming of age story of Yadriel, as he journeys to gain acceptance from the other brujos. Maritza was a great companion to Yadriel and I loved how she was also going against the grain in her own ways. Julian was my favorite character, I loved how he questioned Yadriel's motivations and showed Yadriel that he didn't need to prove anything to the other brujx. I love that we got to meet Julian's friends and see into his life and he had some of my favorite lines. I've said 'love' so many times in this review but it is what it is.

I listened to the audiobook and it was a great experience. I loved the emotion that Avi Roque put into his performance, and he definitely brought the characters to life. At the end of the audiobook there is a really cute interview between Aiden Thomas and Avi Roque and I could seriously listen to them talk excitedly about anything all day long.

There's a reason I can't stop reading YA and it's because it continues to deliver books like this one!

This was my first book towards the January prompts from #TheDiverseBaseline (prompt: Latine Author).

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unusuallyy's review against another edition

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i got bored/distracted. i love books about trans guys but it was too slow for my taste

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quel_g's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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meheehee's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

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oatmeal_oatmeal's review against another edition

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3.5

I picked this book up since I’d heard good things about it and it appears pretty frequently on Best LGBTQ Books lists! The audiobook is also narrated by Avi Roque and I like their voice so that was a plus too tbh :)

Now right off the bat, I have to say the beating heart of this story is Yadriel, by FAR. His character is fully realized, and I really felt like I understood him by the end of the story. He learns a lot (what it means to be truly selfless, how to balance a desire for validation with the desire to live authentically) and it’s fulfilling to watch him go through that as a reader. Yadriel’s conversations with Julian are a treat– it’s what I found myself looking forward to the most. And I know it’s been said before over and over, but Yadriel as transgender and gay representation is fantastic. His position as post-coming-out but pre-acceptance really resonated with me, as it doesn’t oversimplify the process like other media often does. Each scene regarding Yadriel’s interactions with his family– a family who loves him but doesn’t understand him– is raw and honest. I appreciated it, and I think it’s a gift to see that in YA media.

The worldbuilding, which is heavily tied to Latine culture, also felt very well done. I am not Latine myself so I don’t feel qualified to speak heavily on the subject, but I got the sense throughout that Thomas put a lot of care into the world. The scenes involving tradition, family, and food were the ones most rich with description, and it clearly came from a place of love.

Idk if this is controversial to say or not, but Cemetery Boys has a major Achilles’ heel, and that is pacing. The pacing in this book was WILD and my listening experience really, really suffered for it. It was a struggle for me to push through the first part of this book, though I am ultimately glad that I did. There were some spots in this book that dragged so much that it’s honestly hard to believe that the events of the novel occurred over like a three-day span. Take the opening chapter, for example, where Yadriel and Maritza sneak through the graveyard to perform the quince ritual against their family’s wishes, and then feel the violent death of their cousin Miguel. Any tension or air of mystery that this scene could have had is completely kneecapped by exposition drops and a hell of a lot of ‘tell don’t show.’ It’s a recurring problem too, so the momentum is very start-and-stop until the climax hits and surprises you. I completely understand wanting to relay all that worldbuilding work to the audience, but here it comes at the expense of natural dialogue and a consistent flow. Another contributor is the seeming lack of motivation of the main characters. The story seems to happen to them rather than come as a result of their actions. I kept feeling so bad for poor Miguel, because despite him kickstarting the story and allegedly being Yadriel’s primary motivation for acting (besides seeking approval from his family), no one seems to care about him very much. There’s no hustle, there’s no drive, and that could have helped push the narrative a bit more.

Also, I feel like I have to comment on this: the prose is a bit lacking sometimes. There’s a lot of “was” and “were,” and when the writing does get descriptive, Thomas has a few favorite phrases. (Cemetery Boys drinking game: take a shot when the word “chest” is used. I go feral for chest and ribs imagery, but that word’s frequency got distracting FAST.) There were also some scenes of repetitive dialogue, talking in circles for a little too long (in particular, the last couple of chapters). It’s a shame because those issues could have been solved with just a little more extensive editing and strengthened the story so much more.

I am very aware that I’m not this book’s target audience (I’m in my early twenties, and the main characters are 15–16). I think there’s a lot to love and appreciate for teens here! It’s so important for teens to see themselves, their identities, and their cultures shown with love and appreciation, and I know there are a lot of kids out there that see themselves in these characters. I remember what it felt like to be a queer teenager with no one to talk to about it, and books like this would have meant a lot to me. However, I also think teens deserve to have their stories told well, and a couple of tweaks could have helped it in that direction.

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