The Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas is a refreshing story that weaves magic, culture, and identity into an emotional journey. Yadriel, a trans Latinx teen, wants to prove he’s a real brujo (a magical healer). To do that, he decides to summon a spirit, but things go sideways when he ends up calling Julian, a ghost with a rebellious streak and a mystery to solve.

The book skillfully brings to life the vibrant Mexican and Latinx culture, complete with Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) traditions, which adds a layer of richness and authenticity to the plot. Yadriel's journey to gain acceptance as a brujo in his traditional family resonates deeply, especially as he learns to summon spirits to prove his abilities.

Thomas’s characters feel genuine and complex, and the romance between Yadriel and Julian is sweet and slow-burning, adding a charming warmth that balances the book’s darker themes. One of the book’s strengths is its focus on the struggles faced by trans youth within traditional communities, making Yadriel's challenges relatable and his triumphs genuinely satisfying.

Sometimes the story slowed down a bit, but I liked how it ended and felt connected to Yadriel’s journey. Overall, it’s a heartwarming, unique book that’s both fun and touching!

This book y'all. Another reviewer mentioned that Yadriel's experience is like being embraced with one arm while being pushed away with the other. His family isn't outwardly denying his existence, they also aren't welcoming him as he is.

Julian, on the other hand, is the love of my life and can do nothing wrong ever.

This book took me a while to get into, but once I was in the groove of things I didn't want to stop. These teens were so precious and I loved reading about their journey and adventure. Julian Yadriel are hilarious together and seeing their love grow was fantastic. There are also great friend vibes and knowing that family isn't the be all end all. But the resolution here was great and I'm glad Yadriel has more acceptance in his life.

Will definitely read more by this author in the future.

I did struggle with it initially because I’m kind of in a place in my life that I don’t feel super connected to YA stories in general. Because, y’know, I’m fucking old. But, anyway, this book is so warm, so very charming that I was pretty soon swept away. I haven’t read something like this fantastic novel which is equally entertaining, smart, funny and also sad, heartfelt, emotional, intense at the same time. It’s uplifting but it is also heart wrenching. Your emotions are everywhere. You smile and cry at the same time.

There are too many sensitive issues blended harmoniously at this novel. Transphobia, deep parental issues, deportation, grief are the main ones were discussed and approached from the POV of LatinX community.

I went into this book knowing nothing about the story, characters, or plot and wow! I was blown away! Incredible characters, mystery, suspense, family, first love, and so much more.

Beautiful book with a trans boy who wants to be accepted by his family. Throw in a ghost, mystery, and some lore and you've hit the trifecta for me. As always, Thomas is a beautiful writer who writes from the soul, with lovable characters. I was so invested that I was worried about how it would end- don't worry, it ends happily.

I loved this book so much, I don't even know how I'm going to express it in this review. It's been a while since I clicked so thoroughly with a book and it held me so spellbound.

THIS BOOK Y'ALL. IT'S SO FUCKING GOOD. I GOT AN E-ARC AND READ IT IN THREE DAYS. THAT'S UNHEARD OF FOR ME. IT'S JUST THAT GOOD.

anyway, let's talk about why it's so good, yeah? first up is the TRANS REP OH MY GOD. now i'm not a trans guy but i am trans masculine for all intents and purposes and the rep was just so fucking on point. like you can definitely tell it's own voices because cis people don't know about our love for hoodies or how you can get stuck in your binder if you're wet. also yads' love for his hair because it's the only thing he can really control? a whole ass mood. the way deadnaming was handled was phenomenal. his deadname is never actually revealed to the reader but it's still a thing that happens to him. it was just wonderful.

the next thing i want to discuss is how much i benefited from reading this digitally. aiden doesn't baby feed you the spanish in this book. it's still understandable without google translate but being able to highlight words in the kindle app and have them translated benefited me greatly because i don't really know spanish. it was also helpful to look up the foods and decorations on wikipedia within the kindle app too. even though i had to look things up, i'm glad that the spanish wasn't baby fed to me. i'm glad that latinx people who actually speak spanish will be able to enjoy this book without having to deal with it being baby fed to them. it's another own voices thing that i'm sure latinx people will appreciate.

the last thing i'd like to talk about is how pure the relationships in this book are and how i couldn't get enough of them. whether it was friendship or romance, i loved everything about how the characters acted around one another and how they truly cared for each other. like i said, pure. and i also really appreciate that friendship didn't take a backseat to the romance.

overall, this book was a fucking delight to read. i know that it'll help teens everywhere see themselves and you can't ask for much better than that.

What can I even say about this book -- absolutely a must-read. The rep! The characters! The world-building! The writing is gorgeous, the narration is superb. I'll never be able to describe how great this is, so do yourself a favor and just read it.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I ended up listening to the published audiobook because Avi Roque is AMAZING.

Since reading this I read it a couple of other times and I feel in love ! Each time I like it more . It’s not creepy but just magical and a little spooky

I love the representation in this book, cultural and sexuality wise. The story was great and while the villain reveal did upset me, the story was impactful and made me cry a little.

Cemetery Boys has been one of my favorite novels of all time, especially when looking at it through a classroom lens. I'm currently adopting it for my You Adult 200-level course syllabus. This review will discuss the elements of the text broken down into the sections of plot, characters, setting, representation, and overall themes.

The plot of this book is phenomenal. In it, Yadriel wants to prove to his family that he is a brujo, and as such should be allowed to complete the ceremony to become one. When his family rejects this, he completes the ceremony on his own. Things get complicated when he summons a ghost named Julian. There's also a murder mystery plot going on in the story in addition to this, and there is a storyline about family, acceptance, and being true to yourself. While I was able to see the ending coming, I do think that the author created an interesting pathway to get there. I was just as interested in the adventure as the characters were, and I was excited to see how they would end the story. I think Yadriel and Julian's story encouraged the readers to revel in the experience, just as the characters took the events of the story one day at a time, so do the readers go page by page, savoring the experience while simultaneously wanting to rush and inhale the story.

The characters were incredibly relatable, even as an adult. Yadriel and Julian balanced each other out as main characters, each being impulsive at times while the other was cautious. I really appreciated the way they communicated, and how the story illustrated that they too were getting to know each other. Maritza made me laugh multiple times throughout the tale, and the rest of Yadriel's family is what I can only describe as painfully relatable.

What makes this story shine, however, is the representation and the intersectionality. None of the characters are ever simply one thing. Too often characters fall into tokenism by forgetting that we are all multifaceted people. Instead, they are intersectional in their every being. Yadriel and Julian talk about Mexican sweets and society expectations. Their queerness is tied in with their race, which in turn is just a part of what makes them who they are. There are no token characters here, but rather real people with real interests, emotions, and drives. You feel for (almost) all of the characters in some way. This is exactly the kind of novel I want my students to be reading. I won't be speaking more on the transgender or Latine representation within the novel as I am not a member of those specific diverse groups.

Finally, the overall themes of the book touch on duty, family, friendship, coming of age, relationships, and discovering who you are as a person. Each character is fully involved in these themes, and as an adult, they make us think back to our own time as a teen. Thomas reminds us that we are always allowed to decide to be our true selves and that not every story about diverse characters needs to end in tragedy.

I was terrified to pick this one up.

Some of my favorite YA authors were raving about it and I was afraid it wouldn't live up.

I have to admit that I was ready to hate on it because people seldom get Latinx characters right, but Thomas has the magic touch. The Latinx representation was on point. The LGBTQ+ representation was on point. The writing was on point... I'm writing this over a month after I finished reading it and I can say that the book has been as popular among my students. They hate the fact that I quarantine the books when they come back, otherwise, the book would not have spent any time on my shelf.

I always love to read queer books, especially ones where my own culture is represented! I absolutely loved this story and always recommend it to my students (I know... this review is so late LOL), and it's gotten lots of love from my 7th graders. I always think it's important to have diversity in the classroom, and as a gay teacher I love recommending books like Cemetery Boys to my students. I loved that the characters were authentic and the story was very engaging. Highly recommend! Thanks again to Swoon Reads and Netgalley for my review copy in exchange for an honest review!

This is a fun and adventure-filled YA that focuses on brujo culture and the day of the dead. Trying to prove that he can be a proper brujo despite being trans, Yadriel accidentally summons the spirit of the newly deceased Julian. The two then join forces with Yadriel’s friend Maritza to solve a series of local disappearances. A fun, fast read with lots of diversity and cross-cultural appeal!

One of my very favorite reads of 2020 and one that I'll be recommending to teens for years to come. Cemetery Boys features a little something for everyone: mystery, drama, magic, romance, and coming-of-age. Yadriel is a charming and relatable narrator that so many of our teens will see themselves in. We were thrilled to make this one of our Georgia Peach Book Award Nominees last year, and it's become a teen favorite in our library!

Besides being an engrossing mix of Latinx culture and magical elements, at its heart Cemetery Boys is a story about finding identity and acceptance where people are often thrown away or forgotten due to cruel rules or stereotypes. The magical elements do not at all drown out the serious elements of race, identity, or class and it adds a mature and insightful element to a lovely story.

The growing romance between Yadriel and Julian was so well done. It was absolutely impossible, but that doesn't really matter when you're in your feelings. The scenes between them made my heart absolutely ache. The two of them driving down the PCH in a classic stingray while Jules laughed into the wind had me aching.

Joyful read all around! Absolutely adored it!

3.5* review

Really liked the gender magic abilities - girls having healing abilities whereas boys have spiritual abilities. Thought that was quite unique and definitely posed an issue to the MC since he was having trouble convincing his family that he is a boy and should have male abilities.

I also thought that the romance was very adorable but I did think that the romance sprung from nowhere. The beginning half was very mystery focused and then suddenly the second half was romance heavy and that transition felt off.

I also had two issues with this book: pacing and ending. The pacing felt very off at times and the ending was so obvious from the get-go that I was hoping for some sort of plot twist. However that was not the case so it made the book seemed very predictable and unexciting.

I struggled with this one a little bit. The Trans representation was great. I loved the cultural aspects throughout the book. I also loved that not all of the Spanish phrases were translated. I just found it a little slow for me taste and I found myself avoiding picking it up whenever I took a break from it

Didn't capture my attention and engagement. Interested in trying it again though and hopefully it will take.