Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Cemetery Boys

Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

71 reviews

rebeccagatzlaff's review against another edition

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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pastelkerstin's review against another edition

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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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achilios's review against another edition

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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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readerette's review against another edition

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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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skudiklier's review against another edition

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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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wai's review against another edition

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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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stardustandrockets's review against another edition

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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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haleyapratt's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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sssssss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

this book! this book... it’s so amazing, to start off with. I read it for the first time a few weeks ago and since then have already started my reread of it. I don’t even know how to put into words my love of this book. just please read it, you will not regret it (but check out the content warnings first!)

also the line, « no, none of us deserved julian diaz » 😭😭😭

also to add, the characters are so well-developed and each of them feel so real. even the side characters feel like they have their own distinct personality and the main characters were well fleshed-out. the fears, wants and thoughts of these characters also are so realistic to their personalities. i just love this book 🥺😭😭.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia, Child abuse, Death, Sexism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Torture, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, and Mental illness

The suicidal thoughts spolier is for something Julian says early on in reference to how his brother is probably glad that he is gone. This isn’t necessarily an explicit suicidal thought but it’s the kind of thinking a lot of suicidal people can have. Additionally, it is mentioned at one point that the two parents of a dead/missing character go to the police to report them missing but the police begin to question them and it is mentioned the police wanted to deport them (they are latinx, I don’t remember their exact ethnicity/(ies). One of the reasons put for this was that they spoke very little english, and the police often respond to this with the xenophobic and racist reaction of wanting to deport them. The characters do not end up getting deported, luckily. At the end (cult tw) and major spoilers for the end of the book (scroll down to see a less detailed/spoilery tw of this)

there is a mention of the characters who were found alive in the old church having been part of a cult ritual as a police explanation. this could be triggering to some readers. additionally, while it is not necessarily a cult, there was a ritual used by a character that was going to kill 4 people. these people were found in time and the character performing the ritual dies instead, but this could also be triggering to some readers.

(cult mention) At the end, there are mentions of a cult in order to explain to people why something significant happened in the book. There are also mentions of a cult ritual. (minor spoilers)

There are an additional few scenes of a ritual taking place, although this ritual is not necessarily a cult ritual. One character dies, but the other characters end up okay.(injuries + stabbing mention)There are mentions of blood and stabbing, and a scene where a character gets a major stab wound. This character ends up okay.

Also mentioned parental abuse, though not explicitly shown. These mentions do not happen a ton but this book doesn’t shy away from being real, so just for a warning. At one point, (animal abuse slightly, but not done purposefully) it is mentioned how the failed healing of a cat caused the cat to be harmed forever. the cat is not in pain but their leg is mutilated. also a warning for slightly unsafe binder use. of course all binder are different but make sure to look up the safety measures for using a binder if you do use one, as this book had some points of the mc sometimes misusing it. there are some mentions of the binder causing them to feel in pain when they are running or something similar, but they are brief. finally, there are a few brief instances of deadnaming. we see yadriel’s hurt reaction and know his thoughts and feelings on it, and this could be triggering. yadriel’s dead name is never spelled-outhowever, so the dead-naming is handled gracefully.

samchase112's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

This was absolutely the perfect book for spooky season! Cemetery Boys brings readers into the world of the brujx, a Latinx community that looks over the spirits of the departed. The rich, cultural descriptions were so beautiful, and I loved being immersed in the brujx culture. It's mystical yet deeply rooted in real cultures and peoples. Thomas also talks a lot about transphobia and what it means to be transgender, as Yadriel is a gay, transgender character. I feel like I learned so much about trans culture, but it felt natural to the story.

In this one, not only do you get an adorable romance, but it's between a spirit and a human?! Yes please! Julien and Yadriel were so cute together, and I loved each of them individually. Julien was such a bright light, and I loved how deeply he cared for his friends and family. Maritza was also a really fun character, and I enjoyed how she played off Yadriel and Julien.

Aiden Thomas weaved all the threads of their story together so well, nothing felt out of place. The mystery, romance, culture, mysticism, and deep discussions all worked together to form a coherent story. I couldn't stop turning the pages! I can't recommend this amazing story enough :)

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