Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

54 reviews

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: Blood, Dysphoria, Transphobia, and Death

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

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

scarroll178's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia and Classism

Minor: Alcohol

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

Moderate: Deadnaming and Racism

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

philippmk's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

To be honest, this book took me a while to get into. The ghost-romance was strange in the beginning, but the more time we spent with Yadriel and Julian, the more invested I was in their relationship and understood why they would fall for each other.
I also enjoyed the way this book used magic, with only a small amount of spells available to the brujx that are easy to understand for the reader and connect to the main theme of the book. It's only slightly frustrating that the extend to which ghosts can become physical is a little unclear, e.g. they will take the stairs or sit in a moving car like a living person, but also casually walk through other objects.
The best friend character I found absolutely annoying throughout the book. Although it was interesting to include some elements that feel more contemporary such as veganism into this fantasy world, her only other purpose seemed to yell "YADS!" every few pages.

This, unfortunately, extends to the climax of the book. The final, yet really only confrontation with the antagonist would've been a lot stronger if it had just been Yadriel against his uncle. It would've also felt stronger had we gotten more than just a brief appearances of Yadriel's uncle. Even though I had a feeling it was going to be him when we entered the cave, there really was no indication that he could be so cold-blooded.
And while there was a lot of yelling throughout the climax, both the goddess' dialogue and her followers' attitude seemed strangely casual to her appearance.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Transphobia, Blood, Murder, Violence, and Self harm

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Deadnaming, and Death of parent

onalark's review against another edition

lighthearted tense medium-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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Transphobia, and Blood

Moderate: Murder and Grief

Minor: Outing, Alcohol, Kidnapping, and Colonisation

shelvesofivy's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Transphobia

Minor: Deadnaming, Alcohol, Vomit, and Medical content

theirgracegrace'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.

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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

thenerdybookwitch's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

Amazing book! I cried so many times, laughed so many times—one of my new fave books I will treasure it. I cannot wait for the eventually sequel to come! 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Deadnaming, Death, Cursing, Transphobia, Body horror, and Murder

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Violence, Gaslighting, and Medical content

Minor: Classism, Ableism, Alcohol, Deportation, Child abuse, Vomit, Bullying, and Cultural appropriation

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Dysphoria, Sexism, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Medical content, Transphobia, Self harm, Body horror, Gore, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death of parent, Animal death, Racism, Deportation, Child abuse, Gun violence, Abandonment, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Deadnaming, Car accident, Drug use, and Xenophobia

Self-harm for ritualistic purposes.

angeldaft's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Very juvenile, if you're into adult literature you probably won't enjoy this book as much. It was really fun, cute and wholesome. The writing style it's very nice, if a little repetitive. Overall an amazing read i would recommend to any young adult.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Dysphoria, and Transphobia

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Deadnaming, and Deportation

Minor: Alcohol