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wlreed312's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? No
3.5
This is probably a case of I'm not the target audience for this book, because while I enjoyed it I didn't love it. There was a lot about it I did love, including the way Julien consistently champions Yadriel. The representation is wonderful, the family dynamic is excellent, and there are bits that made me smile so much it made my face hurt.
But a lot of the plot was just...OK for me. The villain (I guessed very early on who it was) was underdeveloped and I felt a little underwhelmed in the end. I also wasn't a fan of the way the mystery part of the plot was just sort of abandoned for a bit. I think it makes sense in terms of teenage boys but there was a good size chunk where I was going "What about Miguel?" And there were times when the word choices used for things took me completely out of the story. Ultimately an enjoyable read, but not as great as I thought it would be.
But a lot of the plot was just...OK for me. The villain (I guessed very early on who it was) was underdeveloped and I felt a little underwhelmed in the end. I also wasn't a fan of the way the mystery part of the plot was just sort of abandoned for a bit. I think it makes sense in terms of teenage boys but there was a good size chunk where I was going "What about Miguel?" And there were times when the word choices used for things took me completely out of the story. Ultimately an enjoyable read, but not as great as I thought it would be.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Deadnaming, and Homophobia
moniipeters's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Transphobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Deportation
davidbythebay's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
I laughed. I cried. I want more.
Fabulous! The plot is clear and measured, well-paced, and moving. The cultural aspects of this world are defined and addressed well by the author. The characters were well-formed - even those who were present for only a scene or two.
In all honesty, I pieced together some of the mystery early on. When something is mentioned more than once and its importance is stressed, it's going to be important later on. But this didn't lessen my enjoyment or annoy me at all. In fact, it spurred me on to get the full mystery solved, not just the pieces I put down... which did include a few bad predictions on my part.
The audiobook was fantastic! Really enjoyed switching between the audio while driving and the physical copy.
Now, I can't wait for the announced sequel. And did i not hear about this becoming a movie or TV series? If not. Can we get that? In the meanwhile, read this book. It's perfectly crafted entertainment.
Fabulous! The plot is clear and measured, well-paced, and moving. The cultural aspects of this world are defined and addressed well by the author. The characters were well-formed - even those who were present for only a scene or two.
In all honesty, I pieced together some of the mystery early on. When something is mentioned more than once and its importance is stressed, it's going to be important later on. But this didn't lessen my enjoyment or annoy me at all. In fact, it spurred me on to get the full mystery solved, not just the pieces I put down... which did include a few bad predictions on my part.
The audiobook was fantastic! Really enjoyed switching between the audio while driving and the physical copy.
Now, I can't wait for the announced sequel. And did i not hear about this becoming a movie or TV series? If not. Can we get that? In the meanwhile, read this book. It's perfectly crafted entertainment.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Deadnaming, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Grief
theotherallie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Death of parent
sunsorbit's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? No
4.0
This book also heavily features ghosts/spirits, and passingly mentions possession.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Transphobia, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Car accident, and Deportation
saskiahill's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Deadnaming, Sexism, and Religious bigotry
thebookpaiges's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Deadnaming, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
Minor: Medical content and Outing
unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.75
I am very late to the Cemetery Boys fan club, but I’m so glad I finally made it! This story had a ton of my favorite things and took me through a classic YA coming-of-age story through a less common lens. Yadriel’s journey to prove himself to his community and family while also doing a Big ThingTM was so exciting but also had an incredible amount of emotional depth.
The thing about this book for me is that solving the mystery of who killed Julian and Miguel was not the main event…I was reading for the emotional and personal growth journeys for the characters and OH BOY DID THIS BOOK DELIVER.
A short list:
Julian, Julian, Julian. This kid is so real. He’s gritty and larger than life and emotionally deep and kind. I could not get enough of his big heart and sweet nature despite the hurdles his life threw at him. In a word: fierce.
Yadriel. YADRIEL!! There were so many small moments with Yadriel and his family that broke my heart but also felt like a huge hug. I adored the moments with Yadriel and his (large) family, especially his father. Thomas provided an incredibly nuanced and touching window into Yadriel’s life with its good and bad all mixed together while also giving us a ton of plot action. Yadriel is now one of my all-time favorite YA main characters.
Maritza. Okay, everyone needs a Maritza in their life and I’m so glad Yadriel had her. She’s an incredible bestie. She’s basically the definition of ride-or-die. I’m going to need Aiden to write like four to five spin off books and Martiza needs to be the MC in the first one.
Julian’s friends. I LOVE found family and this one is top-notch. Also, these kids activated my Mom Mode in a big way. I really wanted to feed them a good meal, give them a warm safe place to sleep and make sure they got to school. On the other hand, I adored how they found and cared for each other with what they had, showing that we can (and should) take care of each other.
This story underscored the importance of the #TransRightsReadathon and other movements to make sure that organizations that help traditionally marginalized communities are well-funded. Additionally, the readathon is a way for those of us outside of the community to understand the depth of the issues trans youth are facing. If you’re reading for the readathon this week, I challenge you to take a moment and try to internalize the things you’re learning about. What can you do as an individual to help? What level of understanding did the books you read provide you and how can you update your thinking or actions to reflect that new point of view? How can you scale your impact to make sure the things you learn don’t stay in your own brain?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment
clockworkstars's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
“Why do you have to prove anything to anyone?"
"It's just how it is, how it's always been. In order for them to let me be a brujo—"
"You don't need anyone's permission to be you, Yads”
4.5☆|5
Ce roman est absolument parfait, lisez le. Mais étant donné que je ne peux pas juste dire cela, je m'en viens détailler un minimum.
J'ai su que j'allais aimer dés le premier chapitre et ce n'est même pas une exagération. Et ma prédiction était exacte, car j'ai tout simplement adoré ma lecture. Déjà de part le personnage principal. Yadriel est incroyable. La manière dont le personnage est décrit ? Le comment il gère et vit son identité de genre ? Le comment sa transidentité est décrite, le comment cela se passe dans sa famille, les scènes avec Julian où la citation apparait (phrase qui m'a tout simplement rempli le cœur de joie tout en me faisant pleurer.) ?? Ce fut exceptionnel, la représentation est immaculée.
Et si j'ai aimé Yads de tout mon cœur, j'ai également sombré pour Julian. Je l'aime avec tout mon cœur. Au chapitre 10, j'ai déclaré dans les DMs d'un·e ami·e "De toute façon ça fait 9 chapitres qu'il est chaotique et adorable, je l'aime". Et oui. Juste oui. Ce personnage est un chaos incarné, qui a peu de self control, qui est impulsif au possible mais c'est pour ça qu'on l'aime et qu'on s'y attache. Quand je dis qu'on a tous besoin d'un Julian Diaz dans nos vies, je le pense sincèrement.
Et j'ai aussi beaucoup, beaucoup aimé ce roman grâce au worldbuilding qui était exceptionnel. On est plongé dans la mythologie latinx et j'aime fort fort fort. Le comment leur société marche, les préparatifs de Dia de los muertos, le fait qu'il y a des mots espagnols un peu partie, le système de magie. Absolument fan, je veux lire les autres livres de l'auteurice maintenant. Dans la semaine. S'il vous plaît.
Aiden Thomas nous plonge dans une fantasy exceptionnel, avec une petite touche de romance qui m'a fait sourire au possible, c'était juste incroyable à lire et j'ai un peu beaucoup fondu pour les personnages mais vous n'avez aucune preuve.
J'ai beau avoir adoré ce roman, je regrette légèrement la fin. Je ne suis pas entièrement fan de comment s'est passé la résolution du plot même si j'ai beaucoup aimé celui-ci en général. Ça a été peut-être un peu trop vite sur certains points et c'est je pense le seul point négatif que je trouve à aborder ici, tellement ce roman m'a semblé exceptionnel et parfait.
En conclusion : lisez le. Maintenant. Je vous assure que vous ne le regretterez pas.
TW : deadname (il n'est pas spécifié) ; déportation (hors page) ; dysphorie de genre ; homophobie ; magie du sang ; mégenrage ; mort d'un parent ; sang ; transphobie ; violence
Rep : MC latinx (mexicain, cubain et nord-américain) trans et gay ; LI latinx (colombien et nord-américain) et gay ; SC latinx ; SC trans
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Death of parent, and Dysphoria
Minor: Car accident and Deportation
There is mention and usage of the deadname of the main character. The deadname is not specified, the reader doesn't know itchloesbookadventures's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, and Transphobia