Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

74 reviews

emily_mh's review

emotional hopeful slow-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

4.0

This book definitely shone in how real the characters and their relationships with one another felt, as well as how rich and descriptive the writing was, especially when it came to showing Latinx religion and culture. However, for about 60-70% of this book I wasn't really looking forward to picking it back up when I put it down for the day. I think this was because the pacing of this portion of the book was VERY slow (due in part to repeating information), and in the beginning it was quite info-dumpy. For this reason, I was looking at giving this a 3.5 stars but the ending really got to me.

While the initial conflict of the ending felt anticlimactic,

the resurrection conflict totally gripped me

. The ending also had me completely taken by Yadriel and Julian's relationship and how fiercely they loved each other. Finally, I found the epilogue really moving. These three elements cemented this book as a 4 star. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Transphobia, and Blood

Moderate: Deadnaming, Racism, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

nicolaparty's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Cursing, Deadnaming, Self harm, and Cultural appropriation

briannareads1342's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Blood

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

rebeccagatzlaff's review

adventurous hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

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

2.5

I didn't really like this book. The plot was all over the place. The book was trying to be multiple genres at once. I did like the culture in the book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Homophobia, and Self harm

pastelkerstin's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

On the one hand, the whole murder mystery was incredibly predictable, with grandma asking whether anyone has seen the plot device multiple times and there only being one person who has an obvious motif for using said plot device.
On the other hand I love these characters and they have all my uwus, so. 4 stars. A good time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Medical content, and Car accident

Fire, misgendering, gender dysphoria, mentions of deportation, mentions of gang violence, racist discrimination by police

achilios's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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? No

3.5

I enjoyed this book, a lot, but I also didn’t love it. it was really good, but i’m not sure it’d be the first book i’d think of if someone asked for a recommendation.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Transphobia, and Blood

Minor: Deadnaming and Death of parent

readerette's review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The first half of the book was only appealing for me personally in its emotional descriptions of the life of a trans person and the details about Latinx culture. A significant amount of the mystery and overall plot was predictable, but it still ended up surprising me a bit in the details, and the second half of the book paced much better for my taste. It wasn't always clear to me what the "rules" of the magic were

such as how Maritza healed Yadriel without animal blood, why Julian had a 'seizure' the night before the one at the Bahlam ceremony, or why Julian could so easily hold a shirt for such a long time when he had to work hard to touch other things that same day

but overall that didn't detract too much from the story.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Blood

Minor: Body shaming, Cursing, Deadnaming, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, and Grief

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I loved this book so much! It's so charming and entertaining, and I absolutely fell in love with the characters. This book balances so many things so well, and I'm very glad I got to read it. I hope there's a sequel soon! (Note: I'm only saying that because the author said he might write more; the ending is entirely complete and satisfactory.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Vomit, and Medical content

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

wai's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book makes me so soft, I want to just sink down into its pages. It feels like so long ago to me that a book like this could get published but I am so fucking happy that has changed. I almost cried like a thousand times while reading and I'm just so glad trans kids are getting more and more representation - good, solid representation like this. Plus the mystery is super good too !

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Transphobia, and Blood

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Racism, and Grief

Minor: Deadnaming and Police brutality

stardustandrockets's review

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

For fans of Julie and the Phantoms, the Raven Cycle, and/or Destiel
•
This story perfectly mixes modern and traditional elements of Latinx culture along with LGBTQ+ issues, deportation, gender identity and what it means to be a man, and family (found and biological).
🕯
Cemetery Boys is the perfect story for anyone who loves a good love story *and* a good ghost story. The mystery and intrigue surrounding the circumstances of Julian's death will keep you hooked until the very last page. 🖤 The mix of Spanish and English was a fantastic touch and helped bring a real authenticity to the East LA setting. As a non-Spanish speaker, I had to look things up, but I'm always 100% willing to put in the extra work. Hell, I have to look up English words too. 😆
🕯
Yadriel and Julian are such a wonderful duo. I love them so much!
》Yadriel — reserved and anxious; reminds me a lot of Alex from JatP and Adam from TRC
》Julian — reckless and so full of puppy dog energy; reminds me a lot of Ronan Lynch from TRC and Reggie from JatP
🕯
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐//5 (ALL THE STARS)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Transphobia

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Torture, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Grief