"Cemetery Boys" by Aiden Thomas (BR)

[Nicol]

Buddy read for the Amazing Eights challenge but all are welcome! Please join us in discussing Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas, an ownvoices Latinx trans story about brujx and ghosts, perfect for October vibes. Please use spoiler tags for spoilers!

[Leticia]

I'm planning to read this for latin-x-athon so I'll join!

[Melanie, the neutral party]

I read it recently, so I'll join in the convo, but probably not reread it.

[Meredith]

I'm definitely planning on joining, but maybe not until later next week.

[Silvana]

I plan to join.

[Nicol]

I just finished yesterday and loved it. From the beginning it had me hooked.

A couple things I loved with no spoilers: Happening around and about Dia de los Muertos! A truly Latinx community with traditions and foods coming from all over americas and caribbean. A Latinx trans MC! Brujx!! Queer MC and side characters!!! I felt like this was a perfect October read: ghosts, a cemetry, dia de los muertos, literally taking place in October 💀👻

and the things I loved that I'll put under spoilers:
(view spoiler)[ Cheezy but true: finally a vegan Latina character! Yes that is vegan cheeze opposed to dairy cheese 😂 it was relatable to me the struggle of following traditions but having to veganize them, prior to this book I was just discussing with a friend how to do an individual limpia without the huevo or house limpias without feathers, etc so I really appreciated this sub plot. Her badass saving without using animal blood!!

The queerness and found family: Rio opening their home to Julian's friends that needed safety was heart warming. I wish we had more time with Julian's found family. Also, I loved how it showed even with found family, one can still be lonely or feel alone. Maritza and Yadriel's relationship really show that, she is super supportive but that doesn't mean Yads doesn't feel alone or lonely in his struggles.

Things I did not understand: the fight between Rio and Julian or rather Julian's temper, what was the fight about it, I don't get how they would think Julian abandoned them? For me, it felt thrown in there to create tension and drama but didn't make sense with how Thomas wrote Rio 🤷🏻‍♀️. Also I'm bummed out that the only other living family member that understood Yadriel was the bad guy, it made me really sad.

(hide spoiler)]

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Locking and loading!

Edit: I just realized how very violently American that sounds! I mean to say my book is ready to jump into and I'm excited!

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Through Ch 4:

(view spoiler)[ I'm getting intensely uncomfortable from the constant transphobia, but I think the author is also doing it "well" in that Jadriel (sp? I'm listening to it) is super hurt by it. It's quirky and young and fun, and I'm loving the mythology and the interplay with language and culture. (Though, anyone else bristle at the idea that ALL bruja are accepted as healers and ALL brujo are fighters? I'm kinda hoping the Uncle is going to end up being a very gifted and masculine healer and end all this gender-driven concept around tasks. ) (hide spoiler)]

[Meredith]

Good points, Allison.

MC is Yadriel.

[Nicol]

Allison wrote: "Through Ch 4:

[spoilers removed]"

I agree but I think Thomas did it for a reason (view spoiler)[ my suspicion its to reinforce that even our gods or traditions can recognize Yadriel's true form, even when the humans won't see past their own prejudices; and to show that validation. But I did wonder what about brujx that are non binary or brujx that identify as a certain gender but are drawn to the other power, what about a mix of both? I can say, it seems fitting though and has been my complaint how binary/gendered ritual roles are and would love a time machine to go to pre contact/colonial times and really see how it was since history and archaeology are seen still through a heteronormative lens. But queer people, non binary people, trans people have ALWAYS existed so I do often wonder what my queer ancestors life was like pre contact, pre forced conversion. (hide spoiler)]

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

That would be excellent, Nicol!!

Meredith, thanks!

Finished
(view spoiler)[

I thought this was very sweet but I felt that in accepting trans it also asked us to conform to the binary, which is something I really dislike. I just think that the world is wide, and none of us fit perfectly in any of the boxes society would just love us to live in. I was super hoping Tio C would be the secret savior against a traditionalist toxic masculine person or white person or something, but no...men are from Mars, women are from Venus or something.

I thought this was one of the cutest and healthiest teen uh...necrophillic romances ??? I've ever read, but gosh, I still just like give no fucks about their fucks, you know? Just be safe, teens, and get consent! And then tell me zero things about it!

I did think dad dressing up for mom was aaaaadorable, and is now what I'm telling my spouse to do when I come back on All Saint's, should I not survive him. (hide spoiler)]

[Stephanie]

Enjoying seeing everyone's comments :)

I read this maybe 6 weeks ago so my memory could be a bit hazy.

(view spoiler)[
I thought this was a sweet story and I enjoyed how funny and honest and moving it was. I loved the way I felt immersed in the world, and that the author didn't feel the need to water anything down (for instance, by translating for us). For me the characters had distinct personalities and I enjoyed reading about them. I thought the romance was very sweet.

Allison, I agree with you about the way it upheld the idea of gender binary, and would have liked to see more flexibility.

Also was super disappointed that the other outcast turned out to be the villain :( I mean this was also what made it so painful for the MC, but to have the only other person who seemed to relate to him end up in this role made me sad.

A part I did like was the way Yadriel's identity was affirmed by Lady Death. I thought it was a moving and powerful scene. (hide spoiler)]

Now that the emotional effect has worn off, I probably would give the book 4 stars, but I'm not going to change it because I don't mind being generous here. Where else are you going to find a fantasy about a trans Latinx MC whose love interest is a ghost?

(if there's another though please tell me I would like it yesterday)

Some favorite quotes:
(view spoiler)[
"We talked it over and came to a compromise," Maritza said.

"She threatened to put a curse on me," Julian supplied.

//

"Yadriel snorted. "You're really taking this 'ghost' stuff literally."

Julian tilted his chin and grinned in a way he could only describe as preening. "I'm very committed to my new lifestyle."

//

"You don’t need anyone’s permission to be you, Yads."

(hide spoiler)]

[Kaa]

Just finished! While overall I really did like the book, I had some mixed feelings a bout a few things:

(view spoiler)[The biggest thing was that I really struggled with some of the plot choices and pacing. I understood why Yadriel didn't talk to his family about what was going on, but it was very frustrating as a reader to be able to predict what was happening when none of the characters was able to put it together. This became even more annoying when Yadriel and his father reconciled, so the excuses for not talking felt very flimsy. Similarly, it might have made sense for Yadriel and Julian, who didn't know that there was a Dark Plot going on, to go out to a party and all, but as a reader I was very impatient to get past that and get to the big finale that I could tell was coming.

Also hated the drama with Julian and Rio. I found it extremely stressful that Julian refused to let Yadriel tell his brother and friends what had happened to him. I think it would be way worse if they had had to go the rest of their lives not knowing what had happened to Julian vs. knowing for sure that he was dead.

I also wasn't a huge fan of either the binary magic system or that the one person who understood Yadriel became the villain. I agree with Nicol about why Thomas chose to portray the magic system the way he did, but I still didn't love that part.

On the other hand, I really liked the rest of the world building and the descriptions of all of the different brujx traditions and cultures. I did really like Yadriel and Julian, and even enjoyed their romance when it wasn't getting in the way of the story moving forward. I also loved getting to see one chapter from Julian's perspective. (hide spoiler)]

Still debating on the rating - this was probably a 3.5 for me, and I'm undecided about whether to round up or down.