Cemetery Boys
A trans boy determined to prove his gender to his traditional Latinx family summons a ghost who refuses to leave in Aiden Thomas's New York Times-bestselling paranormal YA debut Cemetery Boys, described by Entertainment Weekly as "groundbreaking."
Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can't get rid of him.
When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true 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 off 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.
Praise for Cemetery Boys:
Longlisted for the National Book Award
"The novel perfectly balances the vibrant, energetic Latinx culture while delving into heavy topics like LGBTQ+ acceptance, deportation, colonization, and racism within authoritative establishments." —TeenVogue.com
"This stunning debut novel from Thomas is detailed, heart-rending, and immensely romantic. I was bawling by the end of it, but not from sadness: I just felt so incredibly happy that this queer Latinx adventure will get to be read by other kids. Cemetery Boys is necessary: for trans kids, for queer kids, for those in the Latinx community who need to see themselves on the page. Don’t miss this book." —Mark Oshiro, author of Anger is a Gift
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Community Reviews
However, it does begin to slow down throughout certain parts of the book and the characters aren't exactly always likable. The whole book takes place over a three-day period so you would think it would be fast-paced, but there are some scenes that drone on forever and it's like okay let's move on. And sometimes Yadriel was so selfish it made me cringe. His only motivation for his actions was to prove himself, so whenever something didn't fit that plan he immediately dismissed it. Like what do you mean you won't help Julian? You are the one that summoned him! He did do good at the end, but I also feel like that was done selfishly just so he could save Julian. Speaking of Julian, I feel like he was severely misrepresented in the synopsis for this book because I never got bad boy vibes from him at all, only goofy and confused ones. Maritza though, she was the best character. I love bad ass girl power.
I fear Maritza was the only girl in this book with power though, which is something else that brought down my rating. I'm not sure if the roles of the bruja/brujo that Thomas used are based off of actual traditions, but they were very cemented in sexist beliefs. And though it may seem like Yadriel fighting to be a brujo was Thomas' way of combating these beliefs, the attempt fell flat. This is because Yadriel only wanted to fight the system when it benefited him, not for the other women. Also, because Yadriel belittled Maritza's reason for being the black sheep of her family and because Thomas seemed to forget Maritza existed except when it was to help Yadriel. In the final climax scene, Maritza goes with Yadriel, yet is nowhere present in the scene until she has to help heal him. Where was she the rest of the time? Just watching, saying nothing?
And while I did enjoy the overall fantasy plot, I felt like the romance plot kind of randomly overtook the story. The first half of the book is all fantasy/mystery plot, then out of nowhere Yadriel is getting butterflies and the last quarter of the book feels very romance-focused. It seemed to come out of nowhere to me, as there wasn't very much flirting or feelings going on besides Yadriel acknowledging that Julian was hot. There was many, many, many, repeated instances of dimples, burning ears, and strong eyebrows.
If you want an easy fantasy read with lots of representation, this is a good suggestion but don't expect to love every part of it.
With that being said, the very valid and very beautiful world building of this book, the background of the MC was wonderful for me. It was merely slow paced for my taste, but I was able to still appreciate the information being fed, if that makes sense.
The only issues I had was pacing. BUT with all that aside, the action parts, the fighting, the disovering oneself, the deep rooted representation when it comes to passed on people, was superb.
The family roots and the generational gifts is just wonderful, I could probably read a book filled with different stories about each family member and their journey with their brujix powers!
Super happy I read this, I found so much to learn from the MC and his Trans identity. I will not take these lessons lightly.
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