Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

123 reviews

fluffyfox's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Deadnaming and Racism

panic_at_the_bookshelf'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

This book was just... wow! I am giving it 5 stars because this was such a pase turner and the representation was amazing. At first the mixture of English and Spanish words were a bit confusing but having those Spanish phrases there somehow helped me connect to the characters even more, even if that meant using Google translate. 

The trans rep... oof! So many relatable moments! I don't even know where to begin... 

Did I have a pretty big idea about how this would end and who was behind the missing people? Yup. Was I right? Yup. Do I care whether this was me being smart or the story being predictable? No, because the story was filled with so many important elements. From cultural backgrounds/traditions, found family, gender identity, dealing with prejudices just because of your background or because people are idiots... 

While there were plenty of darker or tensed situations, there was just enough humour to make me love as well. Which might be one of the many reasons why I loved the characters. They felt human! None were overly perfect or overly evil. If anything Cemetry Boys shows nothing is as black and white as you might thing. Nothing is as it seems.

I am not sure how Aiden Thomas did it, but I just found one of my all time favorite reads. I want to reread it already! 

How did Ariel say it in the Disney movie? I WANT MOOOOORE!

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Alcohol

_nutella52's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Grief, Death of parent, Outing, Dysphoria, and Deportation

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death and Cultural appropriation

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: Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia

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

booksandstardust's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Minor: Racism, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia

cactuspunk's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

4.25

 This book had me hooked. I couldn't help falling in love with Yadriel and Julian's dynamic which made all the twist-and-turns that much more emotional. Although the middle did drag on a little, this dynamic saved it with the whitty banter and lovable scenes. Having Yadriel as a queer, hispanic trans man was a refreshing bit of diversity that I loved seeing. Seeing how his family's traditional culture mixed with his identity was incredible to see 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism, Transphobia, and Outing

Minor: Deportation

bashsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

5.0

OMG I love this book! Yadriel & Julian are such great characters, loveable without being too perfect. Julian especially is an ideal bad-boy-softie character that I just adore. I also deeply enjoyed the amount of Spanish in this book (I feel like I learned some new words) and the drawing on Latin culture for the paranormal fantasy aspects. Bonus points for things not being completely hunky-dory for Yadriel as a trans person, but also for the narrative not being bogged down with only his struggles.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Racism, Xenophobia, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Animal death, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Medical content, and Alcohol

-The religious bigotry is in the context of a fantasy religion wherein there is a strict gender binary that has to be followed. Functionally, it mirrors real-world religious bigotry, but it does not draw on one specifically.

ruthhelizabeth's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Child abuse, Racism, and Police brutality

lotte5322's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Racism

cosmic_blooms's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, and Deportation