Book Review: Cemetery Boys
Written by: Malcolm Boyles
Cemetery Boys by: Aiden Thomas was by far my favorite book I’ve read this year.
The way Aiden Thomas writes pulled me in so quickly that I almost ended up reading the whole thing in one sitting. They elegantly captured the essence of fall and it was very easy to imagine myself right there in the same place as the characters.
This story centers around Yadriel — A 16-year-old gay, trans, Latinx boy — who, with success, performs a ritual his family had denied him in front of Lady Death, unlocking his magic powers as a brujo. Soon after, he learns that his cousin has unexpectedly died and his spirit is missing. Yadriel sets out to find his cousin’s body and release his spirit into the afterlife. If he can do this, he feels that it would prove to his family that he is not only a brujo but a boy.
While Yadriel is searching for his cousin's body, he makes a mistake and accidentally summons the spirit of Julian Diaz, a very handsome dead boy. Julian accompanies Yadriel on his quest to find his cousin’s body while Yadriel also takes on the task of helping Julian figure out how he died and what happened to his body.
This mystery intertwined with budding romance is what I feel really forms the plot of Cemetery Boys. The love story mingled with uneasiness as Yadriel moves closer and closer to learning the truth about everything kept me absolutely glued to the pages. I needed to know what was going to happen next.
What stuck with me the most as I was reading this book was how deeply I could feel Yadriel’s emotions. The frustration and determination in trying to prove himself to his family, the sadness of being told you are loved but not being treated like the person you are, the hurt in knowing that some people may never understand. Aiden Thomas has this way with words that makes it so easy to fully grasp what Yadriels life is like and the things that go through his head as a young trans kid. It resonated with me because they are some of the same things I thought about myself and my life when I was a young trans kid.
Yadriel’s family claims to accept him but make comments like his father telling him to “stay there with the rest of the women,” or his grandmother telling him that he will always “be her little girl” and you can truly feel the pain, and how deep it cuts Yadriel to hear these things from the people who are supposed to love him the most. He wants to be close with his family and his community but this creates a lot of resentment as he isn’t sure if he will ever truly have a place there. While he goes through this, he also grows closer to Julian. It warmed my heart how quickly Julian learns to understand, accept, and support Yadriel, telling him things like “you don’t need anyone’s permission to be you, Yads,” and asking him “why do you have to prove anything to anyone?” On one hand, you can see how validated Yadriel feels because it's true, he shouldn’t have to gain acceptance to be himself. On the other hand, however, you can feel how conflicted he is because he knows he’s going to have to find a way for everyone to see that even Lady Death knows he is a brujo. If she sees him as a boy, why can’t they?
While I would love to continue going on and on about how much I loved this book there are so many twists and turns and beautiful moments that I would hate to spoil so all I can say is that if you love magic, young love, and mystery, you’ll love this book too.
