Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

295 reviews

kennethwade's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

Super entertaining and quick read, although the plot is pretty predictable and the climax is somewhat overwrought. I wish it leaned more into the horror/thriller elements, but it’s a nice story nonetheless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Blood, and Murder

annathechaoticreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

Cemetery Boys found me at exactly the right moment and I’m in love. It’s a great romance but more than that it’s a fantastic exploration of colonialism, tradition and queer identities within a complex immigrant community/family. I laughed, I cried, I gasped, I audibly yelled ”wait…WHAT?!”while reading. The best Y/A book I’ve ever read and a new edition to my Favourite Books of All Time list. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation

nikia4's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

I figured out the plot twist less than halfway thru the book and there were some things that felt like maybe lazy writing to me, but I honestly loved the characters, the romance, and the worldbuilding so much that this was still a really lovely read. I really enjoyed it. I think I may be older than the target age group for this book too and it would be a great book for younger kids/teenagers to read.

The things that confused me:
1. Why/how was Julian still briefly alive at the end pre Yadriel’s sacrifice when the others were all dead aside from it being a plot device for Yadriel to be able to talk to him… Also how did he have a spirit if he was still alive the whole time?? How did he survive while bleeding out for 3 days??
2. Those daggers needed to be in a triple locked safe and tracked at all times bro. Wdym it was in a box in some grandma’s storage??? it makes no sense that it was That easy to steal and that they were being that casual about it being lost

Aside from that tho i felt like there could have been more development towards the final twist in the second half, it kind of felt like there was no plot progress for a while until suddenly at midnight on Dia de Los Muertos. It slso made me sad that the uncle was the villain, even tho i could tell he was being set up for it bc he was just too perfect and nice/the daggers gave power and he didn’t have much. I didn’t love that the trope was that the one guy without power was the villain and I would have preferred if it was like a false flag and people turned on the Tio and then it turned out they were wrong. It would have done more for the narrative of broader inclusion. It felt like Yadriel’s arc was him being accepted because he evolved to fit perfectly into the binary, and I wish it had been a nicer message loll. But this book is definitely for people younger than me and I can see why a simple narrative of belonging like this would be important.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Murder

Moderate: Self harm, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty and Racism

amy_in_the_city's review against another edition

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

This was such an interesting premise, and I loved Yadriel! I'm not sure how I felt about Julian. While I liked how playful he was and how he protected those he loved, his anger issues were concerning. The scene where he

got upset threw a skateboard around his friends

felt like a red flag. I did appreciate that Yadriel set firm boundaries and told Julian that his violent outburst was unacceptable and wouldn't be tolerated again, but I would have felt better if we got some indication afterwards that Julian was working on his anger management skills.

The plot was very predictable. I guessed who the villain would be as soon as they appeared and by 10% into the book I had already guessed the villain's plan.

I still really enjoyed the book because I liked the side characters, Yadriel's character journey, and the main relationship overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Deportation

Minor: Body shaming, Child death, Hate crime, Racism, Car accident, and Classism

beareadstoomuch's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

It took me a long time to finish, but once I got to the last half, I was more hooked and needed to know what happened. I loved the mix of real cultural elements and fantasy. It was a sweet love story alongside a fantasy hero journey. I think it's a really powerful story for teens and young adults to read and see those with identities that are usually on the margins at the center of a story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing and Death of parent

Minor: Deportation

hexagonal_flowers's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Transphobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Deadnaming, Racism, Torture, Violence, Car accident, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

corsetedfeminist's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

My only complaint about this book is that there isn’t a series with 35 books coming after it. 
This book manages to be extremely gay and extremely Latinx, all at once, in an explosion of culture and magic that I couldn’t help but fall in love with. 
The story is unpredictable and heartfelt all at the same time- I literally squealed at one particular plot point. 
It also deals with very well with what it’s like to not be a straight, cisgendered person in a culture and religion that is strongly gendered, with the realistic amount of resultant angst and a heartwarming conclusion. 
The romance is literally perfect, featuring what I can only describe as the human embodiment of a pitbull (looks imposing, but is actually just a hyper squish) and sensitive but stubborn main character who I immediately loved. 
The girl best friend is probably one of my favorite sidekicks of all time- tiny pink haired girl with two massive pitbulls and a long suffering mom friend vibe only defeated by her love for mischief. 
In short, I have no idea why this book isn’t more popular than it is- it’s a perfect YA book, both for lots of Latinx representation and for the queer representation.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Deportation

jei_reads_sometimes's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Dysphoria

toastedoats42's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring 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

Great listen on audiobook! It's a super interesting world and concept and, while I predicted some of the things that happened, there were twists ai hadn't expected and kept the whole thing fresh. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Deadnaming, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Abandonment

erikagibson126's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Medical content, Kidnapping, Outing, Abandonment, and Deportation