Reviews tagging 'Deadnaming'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

616 reviews

donttouchmyfeet's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

There was plenty to love in Cemetery Boys, including the character's personalities, character development, cultural relevance, and relatable scenarios. This is the kind of book I wish I had when I was a teen, it would have meant a lot to me to see trans representation. Aiden Thomas's writing style can occasionally feel over-embellished or repetitive in details that ultimately have little weight to the overall story. Avi Roque was an extraordinary choice for narrating the audiobook, I hope to hear Roque again for the second book! As a whole, I appreciate the space Cemetery Boys is holding, and I ultimately enjoyed the book. It comes down to personal taste; while this wasn't a style I normally enjoy, the story was interesting and heartwarming. I look forward to Yadriel and Julian's future shenanigans! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug use, Hate crime, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Outing, and Dysphoria

bookishperseus's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Deportation

Minor: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Deportation

annathechaoticreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

Cemetery Boys found me at exactly the right moment and I’m in love. It’s a great romance but more than that it’s a fantastic exploration of colonialism, tradition and queer identities within a complex immigrant community/family. I laughed, I cried, I gasped, I audibly yelled ”wait…WHAT?!”while reading. The best Y/A book I’ve ever read and a new edition to my Favourite Books of All Time list. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation

amy_in_the_city's review against another edition

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

This was such an interesting premise, and I loved Yadriel! I'm not sure how I felt about Julian. While I liked how playful he was and how he protected those he loved, his anger issues were concerning. The scene where he

got upset threw a skateboard around his friends

felt like a red flag. I did appreciate that Yadriel set firm boundaries and told Julian that his violent outburst was unacceptable and wouldn't be tolerated again, but I would have felt better if we got some indication afterwards that Julian was working on his anger management skills.

The plot was very predictable. I guessed who the villain would be as soon as they appeared and by 10% into the book I had already guessed the villain's plan.

I still really enjoyed the book because I liked the side characters, Yadriel's character journey, and the main relationship overall.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Deportation

Minor: Body shaming, Child death, Hate crime, Racism, Car accident, and Classism

splittedvoid's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.0

A lovely book but it is too slow paced for my taste

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Deadnaming, Self harm, Transphobia, Blood, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

arlingtonchamberofgay's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Transphobia

Minor: Deadnaming, Violence, and Blood

takarakei's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

A great mix of latinx culture, mystery and a lil queer romance. Just amazing characters that were fun to read! Julian and Maritza especially are iconic! I really enjoyed reading about Yadriel's family and was pleasantly surprised by how intricate the storytelling and plot pacing was. Honestly this would make a fantastic screen adaptation!!!

Really appreciate the positive representation of Maritza as a vegan character!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Transphobia, and Blood

Moderate: Deadnaming and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death

animal blood is used for some rituals

elodiethefangirl's review against another edition

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Blood

Moderate: Deadnaming

beareadstoomuch's review against another edition

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing and Death of parent

Minor: Deportation

widowrites's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.5

I almost didn’t read this book because it’s YA and I typically don’t like YA books. I’m too old for them to be relevant, the characters are frustrating for me because they make decisions a teenager would make (yes, I know, I know. They are. This is why I don’t read them). They aren’t written for me, they’re written for teenagers. However, this one is highly recommended, even by older readers who don’t enjoy YA, so I gave it a chance. And I’m really glad I did!

It was a struggle to read sometimes, not because it wasn’t good, but because Yads family was so frustrating. It was so hard to read him being misgendered and dead named, but it was part of the story. It needed to happen to explain why he did things the way he did. And oooh boy did I even resonate with him and feeling guilt about hurting family even when it’s their fault. 

I figured out the plot twist pretty early on… around the 40% mark, but that’s a feature of YA, so it honestly didn’t bother me. It didn’t detract from the twist, because the character didn’t see it coming.

All in all, I really really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it, even for readers who don’t like YA.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, and Dysphoria