My favorite thing about reading a new book is the feeling of falling in love with it for the first time. This book was no different.

This is a perfect October read! I loved the combination of many different Latinx cultures referenced, and how each one is celebrated in a little way. Thomas does an excellent job covering important issues like the Trans experience and dealing with police as a Latinx person. I love how Yadriel and Julian's relationship grows over the course of the novel, and how well the magic is woven into a modern-day society. I would love to see more of Yadriel and Julian in the future, but I do feel that their story is most likely over with this book. However, I will eagerly read Thomas's future books! ( )

Content Note: (critical treatment of) transmisia

Plot:
Yadriel wants nothing more than to prove to his family that he is a capable brujo. His family can’t believe it because he is trans, and traditionally the roles in the brujx community have been strictly gender-segregated. And how can somebody assigned female at birth fill the male role? So Yadriel sets out with his cousin Maritza to do his own coming-of-age ceremony to be ready for Día de Muertos. After their success with the ceremony, Yadriel’s cousin Miguel dies, and his body is missing. Yadriel tries to summon his spirit to ask him what happened, but something goes wrong and instead, he summons Julian, local bad boy who must have died recently. Julian has unfinished business and will not leave this world until Yadriel has helped him finish it. The more time the two spend together, the less Yadriel wants him to move on, either.

Cemetery Boys is a supersweet, inventive and engaging read that had me turning the pages like nothing. I really enjoyed it.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2022/12/28/cemetery-boys-aiden-thomas/ ( )

A teen trans boy in a family of brujx who are keepers of the cemetery they live in (and its spirits) is fighting for his right to be a brujo when his cousin ends up dead and missing and Yadriel bumps into the spirit of a dead boy who also doesn't know where his body is, things get complicated...
This book is so good! Very cool storyline with a nice twist, fantastic characters, nicely spooky setting,... I LOVED it. ( )

All-Around Awesomeness: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Writing Quality: 5/5
Recommend: Yes

Loved it! ( )

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.