Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

29 reviews

bookishperseus's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

beareadstoomuch's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It took me a long time to finish, but once I got to the last half, I was more hooked and needed to know what happened. I loved the mix of real cultural elements and fantasy. It was a sweet love story alongside a fantasy hero journey. I think it's a really powerful story for teens and young adults to read and see those with identities that are usually on the margins at the center of a story. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

hexagonal_flowers's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nikoops's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Cemetery Boys is a mystery wrapped in a coming-of-age story. Yadriel knows who he is, but it is a bit harder to get his community and family to acknowledge these truths. It’s ever harder to focus on that when there’s the mystery of the ghost boy and other missing people. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

livreads16's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

This book is like a hug. The characters are well written, the plot is so interesting, pacing is almost perfect, and the end will have you crying your eyes out. I will probably re-read this at some point.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

rieviolet's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I listened to the audiobook version so this is going to colour my review/rating a bit, because I'm still trying to get used to this medium of reading, and my mind doesn't always cooperate and tends to wander a lot.

I felt like the beginning and the end of the story were stronger and more memorable, whereas the middle part was a bit slow and, to be honest, I remember very little of what happened, it all kind of blurred together.

I really liked the representation of the trans experience thorugh the character of Yadriel. We got to see the big and more evident aspects of it, but also the little and everyday details. 

I appreciated the cultural elements, as well as their more fantastical re-imagination; though I think maybe at times the author verged into overexplanation. I also liked the interspersed sentences and expressions in Spanish.

I wasn't quite sold at the beginning on the romance but, as the story progressed, it got better and I'm not ashamed to say that
when Julian said "mi querido"
I screamed.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

gemstonejasper's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a fun book. The audio is great. I loved the trans rep in Yadriel. As a trans person myself, I really related to him. Julian has ADHD. That's not up for debate as far as I'm concerned. I have ADHD and relate to him so much. I loved the characters. I will say that Yadriel was kind of a jerk at times. I think growing up in a graveyard may have desensitized him to the very real horror that Julian found himself in. He's dead and doesn't know how that happened, and none of his loved ones can see him. That's a lot for anyone, especially a kid. But Yadriel keeps asking, "are you okay?" Like no. He's not ok. He's dead. Stop asking. But I loved all of the major characters regardless of that. It's a cute paranormal romance that touches on some interesting themes and I would recommend it.

I didn't care for the twist villain. He was the only living adult who supported Yadriel, so I'm not sure how I felt about him being a twist villain. But it was still good.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

njh_books's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

A bunch of friends recommended this one and I'm glad I read it. It was thoughtful, sweet, adventurous, heartwarming, a bit spooky, a bit historical, and a bit dramatic all rolled into one.

Reading this story also over the dates they happened added a bit of extra magic to it. Finishing the story in the early morning/late night hours of Dia de Muertos was like being in the story.

 
I will say I saw Tio Catriz as the murderer pretty quickly. I had my suspicions earlier on, but my red flags went up when Lita told the legend of Bahlam. By the time we got the half heard argument between Catriz and Enrique (which Yadriel thought was about him), it sealed the confirmation for me...and that was 100+ pages before we actually found out Catriz was the murderer.

I enjoyed all the friendship shown in the story and the interactions the characters had. It felt so realistic and also just kids being kids in the circumstances they find themselves in. Maritza was wonderful and I enjoyed the scenes with her dogs.

Julian and Yadriel are quite cute and the playful teasing is fun. The slowly blooming relationship was reminiscent of teenage years and I loved that Yadriel's mom, Camila, got to meet him in the epilogue. The reunion with his mom was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. 
 

Apparently the book should have sequel in 2024, so looking forward to that! 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jodierose14's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings