Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

44 reviews

birdieex's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

5.0

I cannot begin to explain how many tears I shed from this book! Our main character is a gay, trans, Latino boy. The rep is absolutely incredible. The language and culture interwoven is beautiful. I found myself using an online translator for some words and phrases simply to get the direct meaning, but the author makes it possible to use context clues to figure it out if you don't speak Spanish and sometimes straight up tells you in text.

I fell in love with Yadriel and Julian a soon as they appeared on the page and I highlighted so many quotes the made me laugh. The characters are so strong and I was so absorbed in the world that I had trouble wanting to put the book down.

As a trans adult who was that trans teen fighting for their identity to be seen, that aspect affected me deeply. It was hard to see Yadriel's struggle since I related so much, but it was so beautifully written.

One of my favorite books by far! Can't wait to read more!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Dysphoria, Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Outing, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death of parent, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Deportation, Police brutality, Violence, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Cursing

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Car accident, Sexism, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Women are discouraged from a certain job in the community.

sapphic_alpaca's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Death, Gore, Body horror, Cursing, Blood, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Grief, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Deadnaming

Minor: Homophobia, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Deportation, and Sexual content

rustedguina's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Child abuse, Xenophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Deportation, and Fire/Fire injury

keeksreadsalot69's review

adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

I really enjoyed this book and all of the characters were so cute and lovable! The pacing was fast and it kinda felt like stuff happened to Yadriel (the mc) and he’d react but not in a way that actually furthered the plot. Felt a little info dumpy at times and I spotted the twist really easily. Despite all of this, I really enjoyed reading Cemetery Boys. Like I said, the characters are all ridiculously likeable and when the plot drags, they carry the story. The background lore and world building was also really enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia

Minor: Racism and Xenophobia

jackie_marion's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Sexism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Xenophobia, and Child abuse

lunep's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Transphobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Physical abuse, Deportation, Xenophobia, Deadnaming, and Child abuse

Minor: Body shaming, Classism, Bullying, Grief, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Abandonment

merah's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad 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

5.0

the writing is absolutely incredible. 
I felt every single emotion while reading this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Racism, Transphobia, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Medical content, Blood, Death, Murder, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Body horror, Deportation, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Dysphoria

Minor: Car accident, Confinement, Alcohol, Cancer, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Classism, Cultural appropriation, and Deadnaming

loads of knives, blades, cuts and stabbings

chaotic_corvid's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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? N/A

4.75

Nie spodziewałom się, że młodzieżówka może połączyć aż tak dobrze romans z wątkiem przygodowo-śledczym. Zwrot akcji nie jest w pełni przewidywalny ale są bazy by mieć swoje podejrzenia, niestety jedna postać drugoplanowa staje się przez niego trochę... słabiej napisana. Tak jak Yadriel jestem trans gejem i myślę, że gdybym miał te książkę w okresie gdy dopiero to odkrywałem to bardzo by mi pomogła w zrozumieniu siebie wcześniej. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Outing, Grief, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Death, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Blood, Murder, Deadnaming, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Torture, Deportation, Racism, Cursing, Homophobia, Cultural appropriation, Classism, Alcohol, Religious bigotry, and Animal death

hobbithopeful's review

adventurous dark hopeful 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

5.0

This book was such a treat to read, I've been hearing about it forever, so to finally be able to read it after waiting A MILLION YEARS on the library waitlist was so worth it! (Seriously y'all, it was worth it!)
 Cemetery Boys follows Yadriel, a young trans brujo who just wants to be seen by his parents and community. When he tries to summon a spirit, instead he ends up with a ghost who refuses to leave. Julian is loud, brash, and refuses to leave until his unfinished business is taken care of. 
I loved everything about this story, it is so great to see books with queer Latinx representation. (So my review is deeply biased, apologies dear readers) 
Julian really grew on me, he was so charming and full of life. I went from rolling my eyes and being annoyed at him, to chuckling and smiling whenever he was on the page. All the food descriptions had my stomach growling! I actually went to go buy some pan dulce at the store after finishing the book. 

I highly recommend this book! Ghosts, gays, and romance! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia

Minor: Bullying, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Child abuse, and Racism

booksandstardust's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Minor: Transphobia, Violence, Racism, and Xenophobia