Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

100 reviews

gemstonejasper's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death, Murder, Transphobia, and Torture

Minor: Deadnaming, Blood, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, and Deportation

mylynn's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Racism, Murder, Transphobia, Blood, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Dysphoria, and Homophobia

classicalhell's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Transphobia

Moderate: Car accident, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, and Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Abandonment, Animal death, Deportation, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Child abuse

ageckocalledachilles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

meheehee'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

Moderate: Cursing, Murder, Transphobia, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Deportation, Deadnaming, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Medical content

mle11's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

mattyb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Kidnapping, Violence, Grief, Dysphoria, and Transphobia

Minor: Medical content, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Deportation

aerietta's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Transphobia, Death of parent, Bullying, Gaslighting, and Grief

Minor: Physical abuse, Car accident, Child death, Deadnaming, Medical content, Alcohol, Animal death, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, and Kidnapping