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A review by ramunepocky
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
5.0
TW:: transphobia, misgendering, mentions of blood and death, mentions of parental death
“Queer folks are like wolves,” Julian told him. “We travel in packs.”
Can I articulate how fucking much I truly adored this book??? Nope, not at all. I have so many fucking thoughts rushing all at once. I just adored this book with my entire fucking heart. I cried literally more times than I can count or remember. I just. This was truly something magical and special. It was everything I wanted it to be. It was just beautiful. The characters, the plot, the fucking ending. I loved every second of it. Every single fucking second. Dia de Muertos and Brujx culture have always been a little bit of an obsession with me. I spend hours and hours pouring over and learning about them, so to find a book centred around those two things, from an own voices author writing about their own culture was just truly special.
LISTEN OKAY, JULIAN DIAZ HAS MY ENTIRE FUCKING HEART. THAT BOY. that whirlwind of a boy. I cant even express how much I love him. He’s everything I love in a character, and has so many parts of him I can resonate with. His temper. His inability to tell his left and rights. His need to move and do something. His compassion. His love for his friends and family above everything else. His impulsiveness and recklessness. He’s such a special character, and I was right there alongside Yadriel refusing to let him die, refusing to let him go. I couldn’t say goodbye to him. There was no way. He deserved to be protected and alive and in all his glory. God bless the ending.
And just the things Julian did for Yadriel. How much he respected and cared about him. When he fucking crossed out his dead name in the yearbook and wrote his real name, that made me sob like a baby. His constant assurance to Yadriel, helping him realise he doesn’t have to prove himself, he already has. I JUST FUCKING LOVE JULIAN DIAZ SO FUCKING MUCH
I LOVE YADRIEL SO MUCH. He was such a fucking good character and a good protagonist. I love the fact that the fact he’s trans was mentioned so casually by mentioning his binder earlier on, and integrated continuously, not just by saying he was trans, but constantly, in the descriptions of him, references to his binder and how it was affecting him, his family (which was heartbreaking watching him struggle with his need to prove himself to them as a “real” brujo and live up to the heavy expectations he placed upon his own shoulders.) He made me cry so much, seeing him struggle with his family, with acceptance, with constantly wanting to prove himself, not just to his family, but to himself. I loved watching him grow, watch as he became more confident in the fact he was a brujo, that he had the abilities of a brujo, and just fjfjjfjf I can’t articulate it, I can’t articulate how much I love him, how much I wanted to protect him and look after him, he was my precious son, and I’d sacrifice everything for him.
ALSO HELLO, I love Maritiza with my whole ass heart, she was so incredibly supportive of Yadriel, she’d been his support system for such a long time and always there for him, especially as she was the first person he came out to. I loved her personality so much, AND HER DOGS TOO!!! THE BOYS!!! I LOVED THEM!!! I love that Maritiza kept to her principals no matter what, she was vegan, she wasn’t going to go against her beliefs in spite of anything. She was strong and stubborn and I just loved her.
ALSO !!!! LUCA !!!! HE WAS SO PRECIOUS I LOVED HIM SO MUCH
I HAVE LOST THE WORDS AND ABILITY TO KEEP WRITING AND ARTICULATING THIS BUT OH MAN I JUST LOVED IT SO SOS SO MUCH
ALSO!!!! THE PLOT TWIST WAS SO GOOD AND EMOTIONAL!!!! I HAD A BAD FEELING THAT /THAT/ WAS GOING TO HAPPEN BUT THATS BECAUSE THE FORESHADOWING WAS ALL THERE TO PICK UP ON IT AND IM PRETTY GOOD AT SENSING THESE THINGS BUT IT WAS STILL SO IMPACTFUL AND I COULD FEEL YADRIEL’S HURT AND BETRAYAL AND CONFUSION, AND BLESS THAT BOY
LONG STORY SHORT: I LOVE THIS BOOK AND IT IS NOW IN MY TOP TEN BOOKS AND I WILL TREASURE IT AND REREAD IT AND LOVE IT FOREVER
“Queer folks are like wolves,” Julian told him. “We travel in packs.”
Can I articulate how fucking much I truly adored this book??? Nope, not at all. I have so many fucking thoughts rushing all at once. I just adored this book with my entire fucking heart. I cried literally more times than I can count or remember. I just. This was truly something magical and special. It was everything I wanted it to be. It was just beautiful. The characters, the plot, the fucking ending. I loved every second of it. Every single fucking second. Dia de Muertos and Brujx culture have always been a little bit of an obsession with me. I spend hours and hours pouring over and learning about them, so to find a book centred around those two things, from an own voices author writing about their own culture was just truly special.
LISTEN OKAY, JULIAN DIAZ HAS MY ENTIRE FUCKING HEART. THAT BOY. that whirlwind of a boy. I cant even express how much I love him. He’s everything I love in a character, and has so many parts of him I can resonate with. His temper. His inability to tell his left and rights. His need to move and do something. His compassion. His love for his friends and family above everything else. His impulsiveness and recklessness. He’s such a special character, and I was right there alongside Yadriel refusing to let him die, refusing to let him go. I couldn’t say goodbye to him. There was no way. He deserved to be protected and alive and in all his glory. God bless the ending.
And just the things Julian did for Yadriel. How much he respected and cared about him. When he fucking crossed out his dead name in the yearbook and wrote his real name, that made me sob like a baby. His constant assurance to Yadriel, helping him realise he doesn’t have to prove himself, he already has. I JUST FUCKING LOVE JULIAN DIAZ SO FUCKING MUCH
I LOVE YADRIEL SO MUCH. He was such a fucking good character and a good protagonist. I love the fact that the fact he’s trans was mentioned so casually by mentioning his binder earlier on, and integrated continuously, not just by saying he was trans, but constantly, in the descriptions of him, references to his binder and how it was affecting him, his family (which was heartbreaking watching him struggle with his need to prove himself to them as a “real” brujo and live up to the heavy expectations he placed upon his own shoulders.) He made me cry so much, seeing him struggle with his family, with acceptance, with constantly wanting to prove himself, not just to his family, but to himself. I loved watching him grow, watch as he became more confident in the fact he was a brujo, that he had the abilities of a brujo, and just fjfjjfjf I can’t articulate it, I can’t articulate how much I love him, how much I wanted to protect him and look after him, he was my precious son, and I’d sacrifice everything for him.
ALSO HELLO, I love Maritiza with my whole ass heart, she was so incredibly supportive of Yadriel, she’d been his support system for such a long time and always there for him, especially as she was the first person he came out to. I loved her personality so much, AND HER DOGS TOO!!! THE BOYS!!! I LOVED THEM!!! I love that Maritiza kept to her principals no matter what, she was vegan, she wasn’t going to go against her beliefs in spite of anything. She was strong and stubborn and I just loved her.
ALSO !!!! LUCA !!!! HE WAS SO PRECIOUS I LOVED HIM SO MUCH
I HAVE LOST THE WORDS AND ABILITY TO KEEP WRITING AND ARTICULATING THIS BUT OH MAN I JUST LOVED IT SO SOS SO MUCH
ALSO!!!! THE PLOT TWIST WAS SO GOOD AND EMOTIONAL!!!! I HAD A BAD FEELING THAT /THAT/ WAS GOING TO HAPPEN BUT THATS BECAUSE THE FORESHADOWING WAS ALL THERE TO PICK UP ON IT AND IM PRETTY GOOD AT SENSING THESE THINGS BUT IT WAS STILL SO IMPACTFUL AND I COULD FEEL YADRIEL’S HURT AND BETRAYAL AND CONFUSION, AND BLESS THAT BOY
LONG STORY SHORT: I LOVE THIS BOOK AND IT IS NOW IN MY TOP TEN BOOKS AND I WILL TREASURE IT AND REREAD IT AND LOVE IT FOREVER