Reviews tagging 'Deportation'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

108 reviews

beareadstoomuch's review

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

corsetedfeminist's review

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

erikagibson126's review

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

kynaeus's review

adventurous mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

A little bit of a predictable antagotwist but this was still a great read. Trans-centric, murder mystery, latiné cultures front and center, and a happy ending of trans love? Yay. I'll take a little predictability if it means we get this too!

On and GREAT worldbuilding. Love the setup for a possible second book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming and Transphobia

Moderate: Death, Grief, Outing, and Deportation

hagwife's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense fast-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

Cemetery Boys undeniably centers on Latinx and LGBTQ+ voices and amplifies those voices in a beautifully intense and wickedly fun supernatural mystery. This book contains such warmth, such love for the people and lives it represents; Thomas masterfully navigates all of the joys, sorrows, and tensions that come with family, culture, and personal identity.
 
I actually don't want to say any more about it because I just want people to read it, to meet Yads, Jules, and Itza and share in their stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Outing, and Dysphoria

Minor: Animal death and Deportation

kickitupanotch7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Transphobia, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Child death, Deadnaming, Kidnapping, and Deportation

briannagriffin567's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I would give this book all the stars if I could. I rarely write a review, but want to remember how perfect I thought this book was. It was beautiful, funny, touching, and overall so much more than I thought it would be when I picked it up to read on a whim.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, Grief, Dysphoria, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Ableism, Biphobia, Bullying, Homophobia, Blood, Car accident, and Abandonment

ghostpuppy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

I loved the idea for this story, but wasn't too excited about how it all unfolded in the book. The plot was incredibly predictable and the repetitive writing style did annoy me. I loved the trans representation though and Yadriel and Julian were so cute together. All the latinx cultural influences were also a huge plus point for me. I'm excited for more from this author, since this was their debut novel.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Deadnaming, Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Grief, and Deportation

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-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? Yes

2.75

I really wanted to like this book. And I had enjoyed it for the most part until the very end, which is why I think this feels so disappointing.

I thought the book had a pretty strong intro. It established the world effectively and did so in a way non-Latin readers could understand. I had a quick grasp on relationships and dynamics. I think the book ended up being a bit heavy handed in foreshadowing with this establishment of the world, but I still appreciated it and that there was foreshadowing.

I also really liked the complexity in the family dynamics. It didn’t feel like Yadriel’s family was villainised for not fully understanding him. It was upsetting, you understood Yadriel’s pain, and (at least with his father) you felt like he was TRYING. And when Yadriel revealed he had become a brujo how PROUD he was of Yadriel. It felt realistic and I appreciated that aspect. This also leant well to the story being told of Yadriel’s struggle as a trans teen, which was compelling and provided such great insight into what trans teens go through in trying to find comfort in their own body.

The biggest issue I had with the book was the romance. I had such a hard time buying into it, especially considering how short of a time the book takes place over. When it did fully turn to romance it felt sudden and like the story hadn’t properly built to it. I felt the book would have been better if it had been about forming a friendship instead of a romance. Especially considering how isolated Yadriel felt as the only noted “friends” outside his family were his cousin’s friends. This was only emphasised when in the ending there was a dramatic declaration that the Julian had feelings for Yadriel and all I could think of was the Sassy Gay Friend video for Romeo and Juliet. I had a couple other issues with the end, but they’re spoilers so I’ll refrain from sharing them.

Overall a book with a strong start that fumbled the ending.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child death, Racism, Violence, Murder, Dysphoria, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Medical content, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

livreads16's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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? N/A

4.5

This book is like a hug. The characters are well written, the plot is so interesting, pacing is almost perfect, and the end will have you crying your eyes out. I will probably re-read this at some point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Torture, Grief, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation