Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

34 reviews

bencaroline's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicide, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Deadnaming, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

"Terminal illness" is a good approximation for the magical condition of this world where one can temporarily continue 'living' as a ghost-type spirit. Treated extremely compassionately in the text. I am editing this after looking at the other content warnings; I would contend that the transphobia in this book is moderate at most. To me (a trans person), this is first and foremost a book about trans joy--no that that would negate extreme transphobia, but to me the depictions of trans acceptance and euphoria are WAY more present in the book than the negative bits, and I want to say that. There are no graphic depictions of transphobic violence, and iirc only brief descriptions of familial rejection or bigotry; Yadriel's family/community has a lot of latent transphobia, BUT, they seem to be working towards embracing his identity.

mirichasha's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Blood

Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Child death, Racism, Violence, Medical content, and Death of parent

human sacrifice????

spiritedfaraway's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I listened to the audiobook and it was everything and more! I have so many feelings about this book and I don’t know even know where to begin! I fell in love with the characters and their stories and the friendships in this are just so lovely. I need to gather my thoughts better, but I will be back to write a longer review later.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Kidnapping

There is also gender dysphoria, misgendering, strict gender roles and dealing with parental death.

alouette's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

As expected, I really loved this book. An own voices story about a trans latinx kid, filled with magic and mystery and romance? Beautiful premise, and well executed to boot, if not a bit cheesy at times. The character dynamics and the characters themselves were probably my favourite part, but of course I also loved the descriptions of the rich culture behind Día de Muertos and all of Yadriel's family (despite their flaws). Yadriel himself was a very lovable, relatable character, same with Julian and Maritza in their unique ways. And the twist, while I saw it coming, was absolutely fascinating and engaging. While I usually have qualms with books that only take place over a few days, the pacing of this one was magnificent as well, and (mostly) believable.

Before I stop myself from going on too much of a ramble, I have to mention how the way Yadriel's deadname was never said made me very happy. He wasn't reduced to who people expect him to be, who they thought he was- he's Yadriel, and he's awesome, and no one can take that away from him.

music pairing: domestic bliss by glass animals

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Death, Transphobia, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Kidnapping