Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Cemetery Boys

Nie spodziewałom się, że młodzieżówka może połączyć aż tak dobrze romans z wątkiem przygodowo-śledczym. Zwrot akcji nie jest w pełni przewidywalny ale są bazy by mieć swoje podejrzenia, niestety jedna postać drugoplanowa staje się przez niego trochę... słabiej napisana. Tak jak Yadriel jestem trans gejem i myślę, że gdybym miał te książkę w okresie gdy dopiero to odkrywałem to bardzo by mi pomogła w zrozumieniu siebie wcześniej.

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hannahbailey's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

Sadly I really struggled with this. The writing was very juvenile/wattpad-like in the sense that the prose was incredibly clunky and the secondary characters were underdeveloped. There were lots of filler chapters which really dragged and then conflict was resolved unrealistically quickly over a couple of pages. The plot didn’t seem well thought out and I was confused by the quick ‘twist’ and ending. Characters would mysteriously disappear during a scene only to save the day a few pages later with no explanation - there were lots of moments when I thought ‘wait, weren’t you here the whole time’?? The immaturity of the dialogue made this book feel more middle-grade to me, however I can see why it’s aimed at an older audience because of the graphic/heavy themes. Overall, I’m just surprised this got through the editing stages given how under-edited it feels 😔

TW: transphobia, death, death of parent, murder, violence, knife crime, blood, animal death, gore

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_nutella52's review against another edition

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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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tinyjude's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.5

So happy to exist in a time when these queer books exist and celebrate the lives of trans people from different cultures. I loved Yadriel and Julian's relationship, Maritza and Yadriel's friendship, the love and care put into making the story, characters and the representation and appreciation of their culture.

Younger me would have loved this even more 😭 it was healing to read specially in such an uncertain and terrifying time for trans lives and lgbt+ folks in general

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purplepickle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced

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

I spent the whole epilogue of this book crying. Then I just laid there staring at the sky, not really thinking anything, just... being. This is a beautiful book, and I'm so, so glad to have read it.

And, you know, at first "everyone lives" felt like a pulled punch of an ending. Surely, in a book literally about priestexes of death, someone has to die for everything to work out. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that, no. Thomas chose the exact right ending. In a world where queer and trans characters, especially those who are also people of the global majority, die more often than they live, and where, let's face it, real life isn't working out much better for queer and trans people, a book where the queer characters not only live but triumph and flourish and show the cishets a thing or two? Yeah. That's exactly the ending this book needed.

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ellacole03's review against another edition

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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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