Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

68 reviews

grets_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Transphobia, Grief, Cursing, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Deportation, Dysphoria, Abandonment, and Confinement

njh_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

A bunch of friends recommended this one and I'm glad I read it. It was thoughtful, sweet, adventurous, heartwarming, a bit spooky, a bit historical, and a bit dramatic all rolled into one.

Reading this story also over the dates they happened added a bit of extra magic to it. Finishing the story in the early morning/late night hours of Dia de Muertos was like being in the story.

 

I will say I saw Tio Catriz as the murderer pretty quickly. I had my suspicions earlier on, but my red flags went up when Lita told the legend of Bahlam. By the time we got the half heard argument between Catriz and Enrique (which Yadriel thought was about him), it sealed the confirmation for me...and that was 100+ pages before we actually found out Catriz was the murderer.

I enjoyed all the friendship shown in the story and the interactions the characters had. It felt so realistic and also just kids being kids in the circumstances they find themselves in. Maritza was wonderful and I enjoyed the scenes with her dogs.

Julian and Yadriel are quite cute and the playful teasing is fun. The slowly blooming relationship was reminiscent of teenage years and I loved that Yadriel's mom, Camila, got to meet him in the epilogue. The reunion with his mom was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. 

 

Apparently the book should have sequel in 2024, so looking forward to that! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Torture, Murder, Transphobia, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Kidnapping, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Deadnaming

Minor: Car accident and Alcohol

folded_between_pages_of_books's review against another edition

funny hopeful informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Blood, Deadnaming, Death, and Grief

lunep's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious slow-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

Graphic: Death, Blood, Transphobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Physical abuse, Deportation, Xenophobia, Deadnaming, and Child abuse

Minor: Body shaming, Classism, Bullying, Grief, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Abandonment

merah's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad tense 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

the writing is absolutely incredible. 
I felt every single emotion while reading this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Racism, Transphobia, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Medical content, Blood, Death, Murder, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Body horror, Deportation, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Dysphoria

Minor: Car accident, Confinement, Alcohol, Cancer, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Classism, Cultural appropriation, and Deadnaming

loads of knives, blades, cuts and stabbings

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Suicide, Deadnaming, Self harm, Torture, Bullying, Classism, and Racism

Minor: Abandonment, Car accident, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Deportation, Gun violence, Outing, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Racism, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Deportation, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

hobbithopeful's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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

This book was such a treat to read, I've been hearing about it forever, so to finally be able to read it after waiting A MILLION YEARS on the library waitlist was so worth it! (Seriously y'all, it was worth it!)
 Cemetery Boys follows Yadriel, a young trans brujo who just wants to be seen by his parents and community. When he tries to summon a spirit, instead he ends up with a ghost who refuses to leave. Julian is loud, brash, and refuses to leave until his unfinished business is taken care of. 
I loved everything about this story, it is so great to see books with queer Latinx representation. (So my review is deeply biased, apologies dear readers) 
Julian really grew on me, he was so charming and full of life. I went from rolling my eyes and being annoyed at him, to chuckling and smiling whenever he was on the page. All the food descriptions had my stomach growling! I actually went to go buy some pan dulce at the store after finishing the book. 

I highly recommend this book! Ghosts, gays, and romance! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia

Minor: Bullying, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Child abuse, and Racism

wellreadandhalfdead's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

I really appreciated the diversity in this book. It's not often you get to see a transgender protagonist of color. I also loved that this was an urban fantasy book that used Latinx spiritual beliefs, which is a refreshing change from the usual demons/fairies/vampires. I fell in love with the characters, especially Julian. They all felt so alive! Also, the romance was adorable. I was rooting for Yadriel and Julian the whole time.

I didn't like how quickly the mystery was wrapped up. While there were plenty of hints to what was fishy, the ending only took up about thirty pages and was also confusing and unsatisfying. I'm glad there's going to be a sequel, otherwise I would have been more bothered.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment

ellacole03's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.25

I really enjoyed a look at the trans community through the lens of Spanish culture. With its culture being rooted in tradition, I like how the dad realized that transition and adaptability will keep the roots of the tradition thriving. I am not of Hispanic descent, but I really enjoyed the references to Dia de las Muertos and the casual use of Spanish, because it taught me some stuff that I don't think I even realized. I was a little confused about what a portaje was for the longest, but after I got that it was a dagger, it made more sense.

I also enjoyed the fact that Julian was, in fact, alive and the uncle was corrupted,

but I had 2 key things I loved about this book. I loved Yadriel and Maritza's relationship and I loved how

Julian felt Spanish was an intimate thing for him, then spoke it with Yadriel. Their relationship burned at just the right pace to not feel unrealistic.

The only thing that kind of put me off was the beginning was kind of slow, but I understand that it was because it needed to set up the situation and explain what all the terms were. Overall, really good read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Murder, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Deadnaming, Animal death, Deportation, Transphobia, Blood, Car accident, and Dysphoria