Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Мальчики с кладбища by Aiden Thomas

56 reviews

sunsorbit'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? No

4.0

This book also heavily features ghosts/spirits, and passingly mentions possession. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Transphobia, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Car accident, and Deportation

saltylane's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.75

Great story, though the first quarter of the book was a bit rough to get through because it hit very close to home. I’m glad I stuck it out till the end, though. I really enjoyed spending time with the characters. I did predict the “twist” at the very beginning, but that didn’t make getting to that part any less enjoyable. 

I just wish all three of the main cast of characters got equal character development—or at least it wasn’t written like the third character didn’t exist when the other two were interacting or something else was going on. I feel like that would have made the characters seem more real and present within the story. 

The story was a little predictable at times, but it also had some surprises. Either way, it only got a little “boring” when there was more interiority than action happening. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent

Minor: Cursing, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Transphobia, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Classism, 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.

---

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

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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia and Classism

Minor: Alcohol

robinks's review against another edition

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!!

---

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

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.

 

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Deadnaming, Death of parent, and Alcohol

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

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Grief and Murder

Minor: Kidnapping, Outing, Alcohol, 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

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Transphobia

Minor: Deadnaming, Vomit, Medical content, and Alcohol

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Deportation

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, and Colonisation

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! 😭

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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