Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

27 reviews

saltylane's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.75

Great story, though the first quarter of the book was a bit rough to get through because it hit very close to home. I’m glad I stuck it out till the end, though. I really enjoyed spending time with the characters. I did predict the “twist” at the very beginning, but that didn’t make getting to that part any less enjoyable. 

I just wish all three of the main cast of characters got equal character development—or at least it wasn’t written like the third character didn’t exist when the other two were interacting or something else was going on. I feel like that would have made the characters seem more real and present within the story. 

The story was a little predictable at times, but it also had some surprises. Either way, it only got a little “boring” when there was more interiority than action happening. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent

Minor: Cursing, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Transphobia, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Classism, and Deportation

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Missing kids, poverty, deportation, gangs, group homes,

discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.25

My heart! This is such an achingly beautiful story about family, friendship, identity, and acceptance. It was so easy to become invested in the characters; I only wish there were more of them!

For instance, I would’ve loved it if Julian’s circle of friends (who we meet briefly but don’t get a chance to really know) could’ve been fleshed out a bit more, but I wouldn’t say that the story necessarily feels lacking as is. Just that it had the opportunity for a strong “found-family” element, but doesn’t quite get there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming and Transphobia

Moderate: Death

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Deportation

journey2's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad fast-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

I *LOVED* this book. No pretext, this book is amazing.
 I felt every emotion. I cried many many many tears!
I love reading a story where you feel the love build naturally and honestly as you go. Their love was palpable. The way they saw each other and the passion they felt about everything about each other was so incredible and raw. They cared, they truly cared and wanted the very best for each other and he people that were important to them. 

This book was written with such heart, such beauty and such passion and it has immediately jumped into my favourite book collection. 
 I will read this again and again.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

TW for transphobia, deadnaming, bullying, blood, violence, death, murder, gangs, conversation about cultural appropriation, deportation

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Transphobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Dysphoria

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Car accident, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Deportation

Self-harm for ritualistic purposes.

purrson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the Latinx and queer representation (it’s so rare to felt seen on both fronts), and the magic of the world is so beautiful that I wanted it to be real.  The characters are so adorable and lovable; the MC’s romance was so sweet and compelling, and developed naturally. Despite some aspects of the plot being telegraphed too strongly early on, the story still had some twists I didn’t expect, and i enjoyed the whole read. I especially loved Thomas’ brilliant handling of deadnaming, so the deadname literally never appears in this book. I finished this a few days ago and I keep thinking of it, so I might need a reread sooner than I thought. Definitely recommend this read, especially close to Día de los Muertos!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Confinement, Gun violence, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

jfield351's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed this book especially because it was partly written in spanish, a language i understand! if i had not been able to understand it i don’t think i would have  enjoyed it as much. It did make it a tiny bit hard to read, switching between languages. Maybe if i didn’t know spanish i could have skipped over those parts with no problem. Obviously, the LGBTQ+ representation was brilliant and unlike anything i’ve ever read (especially the trans representation) as well as the representation of the Latinx culture. I learnt more about the day of the dead festival and was charmed by the decorations, the mouth watering descriptions of food and the attitudes towards the day. Blending in fantasy, my favourite genre also made it a very fun read for me. The characters were well written, especially at the start. I read this within 24 hours from 1-2 March 2022. I did guess that

the jaguar knives would have a role in the twist, because they were a seemingly insignificant detail that was mentioned in depth twice. however i had no idea it would be tío catriz (he seemed sooo nice!!) or that the sacrifices would be miguel and julian.

. I was left wondering at some plot holes, such as, if only the one family was gifted with the power to see the dead, why could the whole family see it and not just the ones who weren’t married in? I did read this fast so maybe I missed something. I was hooked though, and I felt pain when Yadriel did, particularly when he faced transphobic comments and also in chapters 22/23. The ending was good, but to me i found it strange how the epilogue was literally just an hour after the ending -

both boys were up and running without pain an hour after they had been dead. the ending felt a bit rushed

. On the whole it was a great book and I want to read more like it!! And I want to read more from Aiden Thomas!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

bexthebookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

2.75

I know this is going to upset some of y’all and I understand ! This is just my personal opinion. 

Romance: The romance was cute and I really enjoyed how Julian’s character was already very knowledgeable and accepting of Yadriel. I did enjoy the sweet moments within their relationship. But I also feel like they lacked tension throughout the book. 

Plot: This plot was going left to right the whole book but also took forever to get to the whole plot. In my opinion the plot shouldn’t be happening at 60% through the book. I feel the resolution was the only time the book sticked to the plot. I also didn’t enjoy the very long chapters , and the chapters were lots of information dumps. 

Representation: The representation is phenomenal! I myself am hispanic and I feel like the author represented their culture perfectly. I did however find maritzas character a little bit stereotypical with being a female hispanic especially with her constant verbiage of “pendejo.” 

I did like the scenes where Julian talks about why he doesn’t speak Spanish anymore that scene felt very relatable. I loved how this book talked about death and grief but not in a morbid way. 

I definitely would recommend this to someone who wants to dip their toes into more diverse reading but I personally feel like it was very underwhelming. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

fromjuliereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the Spanish and the Latin culture and holidays brought into the story. It was so amazing to read. And I really liked the characters! I will admit that I saw the twist coming, it was kind of predictable. But that didn't take away from my enjoyment at all. Perfect read for the autumn season, especially October and Día de los Muertos. 

Definitely check the trigger warnings though!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming, Gun violence, Car accident, and Alcohol

The deadname isn't printed, but there is mention of deadname being used. Definitely some blatant transphobia on the pages as well.

yavin_iv's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Minor: Deadnaming, Gun violence, Abandonment, and Alcohol