Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

68 reviews

angievansprang's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

The characters in this book were so vivid and alive, ironic considering some were ghosts. I found myself hopelessly enthralled by this YA romance and constantly trying to predict the outcome of the mystery/thriller side. A novel rich in Latine and general teen culture, I would definitely recommend giving this one a read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Abandonment and Animal cruelty

unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.75

I am very late to the Cemetery Boys fan club, but I’m so glad I finally made it! This story had a ton of my favorite things and took me through a classic YA coming-of-age story through a less common lens. Yadriel’s journey to prove himself to his community and family while also doing a Big ThingTM was so exciting but also had an incredible amount of emotional depth.

The thing about this book for me is that solving the mystery of who killed Julian and Miguel was not the main event…I was reading for the emotional and personal growth journeys for the characters and OH BOY DID THIS BOOK DELIVER. 

A short list:

Julian, Julian, Julian. This kid is so real. He’s gritty and larger than life and emotionally deep and kind. I could not get enough of his big heart and sweet nature despite the hurdles his life threw at him. In a word: fierce.

Yadriel. YADRIEL!! There were so many small moments with Yadriel and his family that broke my heart but also felt like a huge hug. I adored the moments with Yadriel and his (large) family, especially his father. Thomas provided an incredibly nuanced and touching window into Yadriel’s life with its good and bad all mixed together while also giving us a ton of plot action. Yadriel is now one of my all-time favorite YA main characters.

Maritza. Okay, everyone needs a Maritza in their life and I’m so glad Yadriel had her. She’s an incredible bestie. She’s basically the definition of ride-or-die. I’m going to need Aiden to write like four to five spin off books and Martiza needs to be the MC in the first one. 

Julian’s friends. I LOVE found family and this one is top-notch. Also, these kids activated my Mom Mode in a big way. I really wanted to feed them a good meal, give them a warm safe place to sleep and make sure they got to school. On the other hand, I adored how they found and cared for each other with what they had, showing that we can (and should) take care of each other.

This story underscored the importance of the #TransRightsReadathon and other movements to make sure that organizations that help traditionally marginalized communities are well-funded. Additionally, the readathon is a way for those of us outside of the community to understand the depth of the issues trans youth are facing. If you’re reading for the readathon this week, I challenge you to take a moment and try to internalize the things you’re learning about. What can you do as an individual to help? What level of understanding did the books you read provide you and how can you update your thinking or actions to reflect that new point of view? How can you scale your impact to make sure the things you learn don’t stay in your own brain?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Violence, Abandonment, Transphobia, Blood, Murder, and Child abuse

owlieali's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Transphobia

Moderate: Body shaming, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Racism, Violence, Abandonment, Deportation, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury

tinkeringcheck's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

So the plot is a bit predictable, but loveable doesn't begin to describe the characters. The cast is a lot of fun and easily the shining stars of this story. The setting being in the middle of a community of brujx was also incredibly interesting and refreshing in the kinda same-y YA fantasy genre. 

And, of course, as a trans person it was really fantastic to see a trans main character like this. I've never seen a trans person treated so... genuinely in a story, and ngl it made me cry more than once. He just happens to be trans to the people that matter, but his uniquely trans struggles were handled so well by the author. And, not to spoil anything, but this story ends off with a heaping layer of hope.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Abandonment, Blood, Deadnaming, Death, and Violence

karobiner's review against another edition

dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

Lovingly crafted YA, which treats it's Latino trans protagonist with love and respect as a teenager going through a series of fantastical misadventures.

I would argue that the main romance happens pretty quickly, but they are teens so I'll forgive it 😂

Came for queer romance - stayed for the nuanced portrait of Latinx family dynamics ❤️

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Classism, Transphobia, Grief, and Blood

Minor: Deportation, Racism, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Abandonment, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Bullying, Outing, and Homophobia

brielikescheese's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and Transphobia

Moderate: Abandonment and Death

binches's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

this is the only book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Murder, Violence, Abandonment, and Transphobia

Minor: Deadnaming

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Self harm, Abandonment, Bullying, and Cursing

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Religious bigotry, Racism, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, and Police brutality

Discussion of gangs

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.

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Colonisation, Alcohol, and Vomit

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! 😭

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Content Warnings

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

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

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