Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

107 reviews

cozyteareads's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Medical content, Grief, Outing, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Physical abuse, Car accident, and Abandonment

wooflen's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, and Dysphoria

Minor: Animal death and Alcohol

jaycloud's review

adventurous emotional funny 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? N/A

4.5

It was a really nice read! Honestly, i predicted the plot within the first few chapters but even so it was so enjoyable. It's refreshing to have a main cast of hispanic characters. the end made me super emotional!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Deadnaming, and Transphobia

recycled_personalities's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

Genuinely such a good read. It was really comforting queer representation and that definitely made me happy. It’s a LITTLE slow at the very beginning but please don’t make the mistake of giving up on it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

thevieira's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Transphobia, and Blood

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Deadnaming, and Racism

zombiezami's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Transphobia, Blood, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Kidnapping, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Medical content, Death of parent, and Abandonment

mileskayden's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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

This has become one of my new all-time favourites, and I don't give away that title easily. There is so much I love about this book. I felt like the characters were so whole, full and rounded - they felt like real people. The world was so immersive and atmospheric, the way Thomas describes things is so intricate and beautiful. 

This was my first ever trans-read and I have to say, I was so incredibly grateful for the representation and how being transmasc was portrayed in this book. It never felt like it was making a point, and I think that is thanks to the author being trans themselves. 

I cried, I laughed and I was angry. I don't think I will forget this book for a long, long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Transphobia, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Physical abuse, and Racism

Minor: Deadnaming

longlost's review

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious tense 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

4.5

man this was a GOOD book. aiden thomas has crafted such interesting characters and their writing style is enamouring

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Deadnaming, Racism, Medical content, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cultural appropriation

nicamooch's review

adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

I love loved the concept and world building  of this book. 

I also really loved the banter and relationships Yadriel has with Julian and Martiza. The love story was so adorable I really wouldn’t have been able to handle a bittersweet ending between those two 😭 

The climax had me simultaneously bawling and cursing @ Thomas for the pain! The way my gut dropped when I turned onto Chapter 24…it was narratively such a good choice but I was also pissed because it did its job of wrecking me, you know?

I found the twist/reveal upsetting, it’s like, even though I figured it out beforehand because this character was the only viable option—it’s just devastating because you don’t /want/ it to be them. But I also feel like that’s why it works 😭 yet another great narrative choice for maximum pain 😭😭!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, and Dysphoria

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Abandonment

thewordsdevourer's review

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

1.0

in a tragic case of 'did i read the same book as everyone else?', im so fcking sad to be giving this only 1 star despite the importance of its diversity and representation, both in terms of gender and culture. although the book is full of queer characters whose real-world struggles are effectively explored, and i enjoyed (and learned from) the vibrant latinx culture...thats pretty much it and i have issues w/ almost everything else.

the pacing is weird and the writing couldve used some more editing--currently it's a lil unpolished w/ some typos, making the story awkward at points and feel almost juvenile. in terms of characters, julian's the only i actually like, while some others (w/ the exception of yadriel) seem flat and couldve been more fully fleshed out. the story's also predictable--which isnt always a bad thing if the journey getting to the reveals are enjoyable, but it isnt in this case. many blurbs and reviews call this book romantic, but i dont find it as such at all.

now, my biggest qualm w/ this book: the crux of the story and the characters' actions dont make sense. for the former: spirits are such bc they're dead, so why is so much fuss made over julian's fate? and if he wasnt truly dead yet, how did he even become a spirit? this is the literally the very crux of the book yet it has a major logical lapse. it's also ridiculous that he was alive even after being stabbed in the fcking heart like?????? for the latter, there are too many instances--both big and small--to name, i basically had sth to frown at in every chapter. ig one baffling example is near the end when help comes down to the cave, and no one literally bats an eye or seems concerned that julian has a huge bloodstain on his chest. and so many things wouldve gone easier if yadriel and maritza used their heads a lil more. also the mechanics of spirits couldve been explored more: can they float around? since they move thru things, why did julian have to go sneaking around going in and out thru the front door? i just cant...

oh AND i feel like there's a lot of wasted potential here. the spirit aspect couldve made the book so much more fantastical and unique, yet all it did was boggle down the fun. one of the major characters in your book is a spirit, yet a huge chunk of your story is basically your teenage characters tryna play detective to get more useful info by talking to ppl (and failing) while minding curfew??? i..i cant. anyways this turns into a long rant but this couldve been so much better. ultimately it boils down to the fact that i didnt like this book, and while cemetery boys is def an important story whose representation means so much to so many, in terms of pure story aspects, it's honestly not a rly good one, and yes im sad and disappointed. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Homophobia and Grief

Minor: Death of parent