When I first heard about this book i was very excited with the premise. I also was able to hear the author talk about the book and the process. I enjoy the story. I was curious about a man being a Bruja.

I was not okay after reading this book. Especially not after reading the ending.

Cemetery Boys has a perfect balance of romcom and serious moments. The fact that it is set during one of my favourite celebrations, día de muertos, makes it even more likeable to me. The atmosphere was amazing, and I really felt like I was in Mexico during the festivities.

But that ending, oh my.

4.5 Stars

Cemetery Boys was YA paranormal that revolved around a cemetery boy, Yadriel and a ghost boy Julian. It was about Latinx culture, traditions, importance of evolution in tradition with time, gender recognition, struggles of transgenders, acceptance, friendship, and love.

Writing was gripping, and captivating. It was written in third person narrative from Yadriel’s perspective. Plot was interesting. It stated with Yadriel performing a ceremony with help of his best friend and cousin, Maritza, to prove his community he was Burjo, a boy. But on the same night his cousin Miguel horribly died and nobody could find his body. In trying to find Miguel’s spirit and set it free, Yadriel performed summoning ritual but instead of Miguel, he summoned Julian Diaz. The first spirit he summoned as burjo turned out stubborn, he wouldn’t go to afterlife without finding out what happened to him and if his friends were okay. Yadriel had no choice but help Julian and in doing so he could figure out what happened to Miguel and prove he was worthy and belonged among burjos.

It was interesting to read how Yadriel was going to solve the mystery of what happened to Julian and Migiel, how he was going to keep Julian secret and what will happen when his family will find out he performed ceremony on his own disregarding traditions, and what will happen when time will come when he have to set Julian free.

Characters were realistic and relatable. Yadriel and Julian’s family and friends were interesting. Though they had hard time in accepting Yadriel’s gender, they were caring and sweet. Even though Julian and his brother fought a lot, he cared for Julian and was protective. Trio of Maritza, Yadriel, and Julian was amazing. I loved conversation between them and their bickering.

Maritza was awesome. She was confident, fiercely loyal, kick-ass girl. She was different from other Brujas, she was vegan and refused to be healer in which she had to use animal blood. She was interested in forging Brujo blades and wanted to follow her father’s footstep. Even being odd and people not accepting her quirkiness, she was comfortable in her own skin. She never let what other thought define her. What she did near end was amazing. She was second best character.

Julian was my favourite. This gay ghost boy gave life to book. He was full of life, confident, stubborn, tornado energy who never sat still, reckless and obnoxious, was not good in expressing his feelings, and needed temper management, but was fiercely loyal friend. He was nonchalant about his death but wanted to make sure his friends were okay. He took care of people he loved. I loved him for his loyalty and supporting Yadriel, bringing fun in his life.

Yadriel was great through out the book. He felt frustrated his family and community couldn’t accept he was trans boy and was tired of correcting his gender, being left out from brujo role and denied the ceremony they perform for brujo. I liked his rebellious element and the way her performed ceremony and summoned spirit on his own. He was reticent, didn’t like to be center of attention and panicked under pressure and yet he managed to find out who was the murderer and saved the community. I liked how much he grew after meeting Julian and became confident and lively.

I wouldn’t say it was there was romance but yes there was chemistry between Julian and Yadriel. It was slow built and lovely to read. Banter between them was fun to read and I loved how these two different and opposite nature souls complimented each other.

I had to google a lot in first few chapters as I didn’t know much about Latinx culture, food and tradition and book was filled with Latinx culture, history, and mythology. I enjoyed reading about Brujx community, descriptions of all ceremonies, and Dia de Muertos festival. I watched Coco last year and it helped in imagining the festival, all preparations and decorations. The story of Lady death and Xibalba was best part in the book. Own voice depiction was great. Author included all small things and struggles trans face in the book.

I could guess who was responsible for Julian and Miguel’s murder at around 50%. Nobody needs Sherlock to figure that out and yet it was interesting to see how Yadriel was going to figure that out and what he will do about it. All events after climax was a little surprising, I did expect something magical but not that much magical. I thought the end was going to be bitter, one or the other is going to end up hurt but I was wrong about that. End was surprisingly sweet and lovely.

Why 4.5 star-

Everything about this was good but it didn’t blow my mind away, I felt something was missing. Was it Great? Yes. Wow? Not so sure! As I said, it was little predictable.

Overall, Cemetery Boy heart-warming, entertaining, and impressive debut novel with realistic characters, own voice depiction, and Latinx culture.

What a wonderful, magical book this is.

There are so many amazing things about Cemetery Boys, I honestly don't know where to begin. Yadriel's journey to becoming a brujo and inadvertently summoning the ghost of a cute boy who died under mysterious circumstances is a brief summary of the premise, and it's nowhere near enough to explain the ride this book takes you on. Yadriel's experience as a trans boy is central to the story, with much of his development based on his desire for acceptance within his community. All of his relationships with family members are complex, as all families are, and you can see as his relationship with Julian grows, so do his familial relationships.

I will say I saw the ending coming a mile away, but the plot is secondary to character development in this story, so I can't say I minded. The payoff was still amazing and when I say I cried at the end, you know I CRIED.

No one will regret picking up this book.

Cemetery Boys is an absolutely incredible book! I was immediately pulled into the story and I loved the friendship between Yadriel and Maritza. They both stay true to themselves, regardless of the opinions or attitudes of those around them, and I really loved that. Julian was also a stand out character and I loved watching him go from a teenager who was hurting and putting on a front to someone who was open and vulnerable with others. A definite five stars from me!

Can not comment because of my commitment to Florida Teens Read but this title has been added to our list for consideration.

Cemetery Boys is a heartfelt book full of twists and turns. Yadriel is a sweet, loving, and respectable character who just wants to be a brujo. When he becomes one, he must keep it a secret from his family until he can prove he's truly the brujo Lady Death believes him to be. When things go sidewise he meets Julian, the ghost of a boy who he went to high school with. The two of them get exceptionally close in the process to release Julian's spirit. The characters are lovable and you will ship them hardcore, while the plot will keep you on your toes. Cemetery Boys is impeccably written, though slow at times, and well worth the read.

It is nigh impossible to put into words how much I loved absolutely everything about Cemetery Boys. The magic within a familiar world and the loveable cast of characters with a wholesome slow burn romance made this a read I never wanted to put down. There were laughs, and there were tears.

Cemetery Boys was wonderfully inclusive and I’m so excited to see more #ownvoices books like this one making it onto shelves.

This is a very interesting and original take on Latinx culture and traditions.
Definitely pulled me in and got me hooked.
I would totally recommend this to get into the Halloween/Dia del Muerto spirit.

The writing is not good, and the structure is cumbersome and slow, but I'm glad this kind of representation is gaining ground in YA fiction, and I hope it leads to better-crafted work.

Yadriel lives in a Los Angeles cemetery. Well actually his family does. His family is a little different from most in that they are have powers, powers related to the dead, hence living in a cemetery. Lady Death can grant men in his family the powers of the brujx. But Yadriel was not allowed to preform the ceremony to summon Lady Death and these powers because he is a trans boy. This is not something his family has totally accepted. Especially his father. His mother had accepted this, but she has since died and they are all looking forward to Dia de Muertos, the Day of the Dead, because on that day they will be able to "call" and see their family members who have passed. Yadriel will see his mother for the first time in almost a year. Behind everyone's back, Yadriel with the help of his best friend, Maritza, preform the brujx ceremony and Lady Death does grant him his power. That power is to summon ghosts. At the same time his cousin Miguel is killed. Yadriel tris to summon Miguel to fins out what happened to him, but he mistakenly summons Juan Diaz. Juan does not even know he is dead. While trying to find out what happened to Miguel, going to school, plan for seeing his mother on Dia de Muertos, hiding that he is now a brujx, he now has to help Juan find out what happened to his friend when he was killed. Juan will not let Yadriel help him passover until he knows his friends are safe. With the help of Maritza, Yadriel helps find Juan's friends and brother. He also finds out a good bit about life. There is so so much more to this story, but you need to read this for yourself. This story is part mystery, part coming of age, part romance, and probably a few more parts I missed. I am so thankful to NG, the author, and the publisher for allowing me to read this book. I am giving this a solid 4 star review.

This book is a rich, delightful coming of age tale. It deserves the highest of praise for making such a world and character so accessible to readers from how approachable they are. Even for those unfamiliar with the culture and practices that create the setting here, Cemetery Boys provides context and supplement well woven within the tale as to seem unobtrusively helpful.

Scheduled to post 11/3/20.

I absolutely adored CEMETERY BOYS. It was such a fantastic, multi-layered story that talked about a trans boy not only trying to fit into the world at large but trying to fit into his family's traditions with rather archaic ideals about who does what. Watching Yadriel break those chains was phenomenal.

I had been seeing CEMETERY BOYS around for a while before I requested the title for review, mainly because I'm not on NetGalley very often and when I am I usually request piles of books in a single dump and CB happened to be available still. So I snagged it. Being a member of SwoonReads myself I kind of wish I'd seen this title when it was originally listed so I could revel in helping it get lifted up to the top, but I'll do my part now because it's so deserving of all the accolades.

CB has a rich, bright world contrasted against a more inner city Los Angeles setting and both just come alive. Every single character, including Julian's (which I assume is pronounced who-lee-ahn and not jewel-ian?) friends, stand out as independent, fully fleshed out characters that all play an integral part in Yadriel's story. I often felt Yadriel's discomfort when he was uncomfortable and his frustration and anger when he was pandered to and denied a part in his family's traditions because he didn't fit into a pre-defined role.

Yadriel's and Julian's relationship is a total gem and while Julian is waaaaaaaaay too high energy for me (I kind of wanted to tie him to a chair a couple times, not going to lie), he still came off endearing and not annoying. Granted there were definitely some annoying things he did that gave Yadriel a bit of an eye twitch. Their relationship wasn't entirely antagonistic to start, but definitely something new that neither knew quite what to do with and it showed. Watching those two navigate their respective worlds and watching them overlap was a joy.

And the ending . . .? Yup. There were tears. There were moments where I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but the story ended the way it needed to end and it was perfect.

Overall, what's not to like about CEMETERY BOYS? Amazing characters, a rich culture that hasn't been appropriated and was allowed to be exactly what it was meant to be, a fantastic love story, and some truly creepy elements for those of us that like those spooky moments. Right now it looks like it's just the one book, but I'm hoping there's more. A girl can dream, right?

5

Very well written with great world building and complex characters. I appreciate that the author avoided tokenization by fleshing out the characters. They all seemed to be doing the best they could in their given situations, which made them easy to root for.

This book made me cry. I'll admit, I wasn't completely sold at first. The writing didn't grab me immediately. But Thomas sets an incredible atmosphere and does a wonderful job of creating a little microcosm of a world in this small, close-knit community of brujx. Yadriel and Julian are both wonderful, flawed, deeply human characters that I think teenagers will see a lot of themselves in. And the last third of the book! I didn't think this book would make me cry, but it absolutely did, multiple times. *spoilers ahead* The scenes in the hospital and with Yadriel's mother, as well as the scene with Yadriel's father proclaiming him a brujo, all had me bawling.
I will definitely be recommending this book far and wide. What an important, beautiful, lovingly crafted story. I'm excited to see what Thomas has coming next.

Aiden Thomas has a remarkable way of seeing their characters, to the point that each one felt entirely unique and also incredibly real. Cemetery Boys was so full of heart, imagination, and magic, while also grounded in realism and rooted in truth. I'm so excited to see Aiden Thomas' career sky-rocket from here!

At it’s heart, the story of a trans teen coming into his own power and gaining acceptance and respect from his community. But also, a neat twist on the manic pixie dream love storyline because that’s exactly what Julian is, with a subtle one crazy night feel to it. Bonus points for kickass BFF cousin and the so well done bathroom scene.

This book was so wonderful! I loved the complexities of all of the relationships. While I didn't find it scary, there was a good deal of tension as readers got to know the characters more intimately. The ending is happy and I didn't want it to end.

This was a wonderful and important book. The love story was sweet but not overwhelmingly so. The plot was quick paced and fun, and the representation in this book is really important.

I need to start this review by telling you to read this book. I will forget all of the small beautiful details that make it so breathtaking and so it no justice here. Cemetery Boys is a ghost story and a story about magic and a story about community and a story about coming of age. The protagonist is trans and has major anxiety his best friend is a vegan who won’t do blood magic. They accidentally summon a ghost with ADHD. And not one of them is drawn one dimensionally. The characters make you fall in love with them because the are full of flaws and good intentions. Almost everyone gets the opportunity at redemption here which leads to my only and very slight criticism. To give everyone the chance to be their best selves the plot ends up a little tight and slightly contrived at the end. I don’t imagine you’ll mind though. Because everything else about it is bright and sharp and wonderful and who can resist a book where characters get what they need?