A review by chemicalcain
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Yesterday, I started reading Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. I was upset when I had to go to sleep halfway through the story. Today, I woke up and read the rest of it in one sitting. If you enjoy magic realism, action and intrigue, and boys in love, this is a book to focus on.

The story centers around Yadriel, a 16-year-old trans boy, and his relationship with his Latinx community. Yadriel's home, the brujx cemetery, is vibrant with death and life in equal measure. I appreciate how much color Aiden Thomas describes within the cemetery, from the tombs and marigolds to the LA sky. This book tackles what it means to have a community and a family, and what binds us to each other. The mystery is well-developed for a YA target audience, too -- just enough information for you to guess at the ending and feel triumph at the reveal.

I would heartily recommend this book to anyone, but especially to people who enjoy teen fantasy, romance, and adventure. I wish I could have read this book when I was sixteen. Yadriel's desire for recognition and belonging feels intimately familiar. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time, and I'm proud to have it on my shelf.
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