REVIEW: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

• 📖 info

  Published: 1st September, 2020

  Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

  Pages: 344

• 🍿 themes

  lgbtqia+, friendships, found family, grief, adventure, october-time vibes, magic

• ⭐ rating

  4 out of 5 stars

• ❗️ content warnings

  • Blood

  • Blood magic (referenced)

  • Character abuse (off-page)

  • Deadnaming of a trans character

  • Death (parental)

  • Deportation (off-page)

  • Gender dysphoria

  • Homophobia

  • Misgendering of a trans character

  • Transphobia

  • Violence

✿ blurb ✿

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

✿ my review ✿

Cemetery Boys is about Yadriel who is a young brujo, inherited through bloodlines he is destined to become a protector of the living from the spirit world.

But as a brujx, the abilities you are gifted are based on gender, which is making things difficult for Yadriel, who is a trans boy, because few people in his family are accepting.

So Yadriel decides to embark on the journey to become a full brujo with the help of his cousin, behind his family's back. 

But circumstances arise and they stumble on the spirit of the recently-unalived Julian. Yadriel agrees to help him find out how he di€d, if Yadriel can help him go to the afterlife, proving his brujo abilities to his family. But things are never that simple. 

This was a really fun and cute read! Lots of representation which was nice to see. And the concept of the story was unique.

All the characters in the story felt so full of life! However, I kind of felt for a lot of the story that we knew these supporting characters more than the main character. 

The story line was a little predictable at times so I wish the author gave the YA audience the benefit of the doubt and made it a bit more complicated. 

Overall though, it's was such a lovely read and honestly perfect for this time of year! The story also takes place at the end of October 🤗 And the romance was very cute!