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taojoon's review against another edition
emotional
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? No
3.5
nikolinaza's review against another edition
4.0
As a trans boy, Yadriel was denied to be a brujo by everyone around him, including his own family. Until one night, with the help of his cousin/ride or die Maritza, he performed the sacred ritual by himself, and eventually granted by Santa Muerte. To prove that he's a capable brujo, he wanted to summon the spirit of his long, dead cousin Miguel. But the ghost he managed to summon was Julian Diaz, the school's bad boy who were not willing to let go of his life so easily. And when they decided to solve this problem together, they found out it was even bigger than it looks.
This book has found its way to my Twitter's timeline and eventually it became too hard to resist. I am not usually go for ultra-hyped books (learned that in the hardest way possible), but I have no idea why when it popped up in one of my go-to online bookstore, my hands decided to put it in the basket and paid for it.
Seems like Santa Muerte wanted to see me herself.
Anyways, I gave the book a chance... and it's ultimately safe to say that I was not disappointed at all.
First, the Latinx representation. I have always been attracted to Latin culture, and this is the first book I've read that had Latinx characters as more than just a sidekick in a story. Aiden Thomas did it marvelously--the people, the culture, they were explained and pictured so thoroughly, they gave me joy and also new knowledge.
And then, the writing style. It was truly enchanting, it felt like a true magic has seeped out through every words and sentences, ready to lure the readers to keep on reading. Bravo, bravo.
And of course, Julian and Yadriel. Their chemistry and dynamics were just crazy.
The problem with this book was the pacing. At the beginning, some parts were too elongated and dragged, and some of them was just a bunch of repetition. I'm not usually gets fussy over these things if the promised ending was as good as this one, but they deterred the story to go deeper. With these types of characters, as a reader, I want a more profound backstory and more challenging obstacles other than Yadriel's struggle to be accepted to society. There's a lot of potential problems here, and too bad, they weren't used like they supposed to.
4 out of 5, will be waiting for more books like this!
This book has found its way to my Twitter's timeline and eventually it became too hard to resist. I am not usually go for ultra-hyped books (learned that in the hardest way possible), but I have no idea why when it popped up in one of my go-to online bookstore, my hands decided to put it in the basket and paid for it.
Seems like Santa Muerte wanted to see me herself.
Anyways, I gave the book a chance... and it's ultimately safe to say that I was not disappointed at all.
First, the Latinx representation. I have always been attracted to Latin culture, and this is the first book I've read that had Latinx characters as more than just a sidekick in a story. Aiden Thomas did it marvelously--the people, the culture, they were explained and pictured so thoroughly, they gave me joy and also new knowledge.
And then, the writing style. It was truly enchanting, it felt like a true magic has seeped out through every words and sentences, ready to lure the readers to keep on reading. Bravo, bravo.
And of course, Julian and Yadriel. Their chemistry and dynamics were just crazy.
The problem with this book was the pacing. At the beginning, some parts were too elongated and dragged, and some of them was just a bunch of repetition. I'm not usually gets fussy over these things if the promised ending was as good as this one, but they deterred the story to go deeper. With these types of characters, as a reader, I want a more profound backstory and more challenging obstacles other than Yadriel's struggle to be accepted to society. There's a lot of potential problems here, and too bad, they weren't used like they supposed to.
4 out of 5, will be waiting for more books like this!
anatrnd's review
2.0
this book was just... boring. it was so hard to get through it, the pacing was too slow, the characters and the dialogues were dry, and there were too many repetitions and explaining. unfortunately, i didn't care about this story at all.
conprimo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
4.5
There's some heavy foreshadowing in the start of this, but the story as a whole is a delight.
mickisaway's review against another edition
5.0
i related to the main character until his dad said he was proud of him in the end
lavenderwarlock's review against another edition
5.0
I really love this book. I'm sure a sucker for paranormal romance kinda things and this book isn't an expectation. It's amazing. I was so sucked into the world of these characters. The culture reflected in the book was incredibly interesting, the brujx is very cool to read about and Yadriel, Julian and Maritza are such good characters. I wasn't expecting the mystery aspect of this book but it's very fun. If I were to nitpick maybe the mystery isn't the most developed but the ending was so amazing. It knocked me off my feet honestly. I love the slow-burn romance between Julian and Yadriel, it's so amazing and super cute and bittersweet. I'm glad there was a happy ending to the book. This book also gave me such queer joy, Yadriel being trans made me happy and his journey to being accepted by his community is so good.
abake113's review against another edition
4.0
4⭐️. This book was super cute. Loved the Latinx and trans representation. Happy everything turned out well. Ended on a solid note.
tummasuklaakeksi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0