Review: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

I found out about Cemetery Boys on Twitter, and I immediately needed to get my hands on it. A queer paranormal young adult novel; what’s not to love? Additionally, this is Aiden Thomas’s debut novel, which makes it even more exciting to read. It was just my luck that I picked up the book right as school got extra busy, so I didn’t get around to reading it until earlier this year. It was absolutely worth the wait and I’m so excited to share it with you!

Summary

Yadriel is a 16 year old who is desperate to prove himself to his family so that he can join the ranks of brujos protecting the cemetery and serving their Lady of Death. In order to do this, Yadriel completes his quince ritual on his own and ends up summoning the ghost of one of his classmates. But when the time comes to complete the ritual and send the spirit to the afterlife, Julian is not willing to go. In order to complete his quince ritual, Yadriel joins Julian on a quest to discover how he passed and to ensure all of his friends are going to be safe without him.

Review

One of the foundational elements that connects all of my favorite books is the characters. I want to be able to empathize with them, even if I’ve never gotten the chance to, for example, summon a ghost in the middle of the night. I fell in love with Yadriel from the very first page, and it’s not just because we’re both Cancers, though that may have helped. In addition, the cast of supporting characters is equally compelling, from Julian, the supposed bad-boy of the high school, to Yad’s extended family, including his cousin Maritza and his uncle Catriz are fully developed with unique traits, desires, and faults. This is as much a story about ghosts as it is about acceptance, both self-acceptance and acceptance from family or community. This would not be possible without the cast of characters that Thomas introduces to us, especially without the diversity of the characters’ backstories.

At the start of this book, Yadriel, a trans teenager, has not been accepted by his family, which results in the inciting incident of the novel. This identity plays a key role throughout the novel, sometimes the driving force moving the plot along, and other times in the periphery. Throughout the narration, Yadriel’s pronouns are respected, even when discussing him prior to his transition, serving as a great example for how language can be inclusive and welcoming to trans people. Additionally, something that made me throw my hands up in excitement is the lack of deadnaming throughout the text. While Yad’s deadname is referenced a couple times, it is never specifically stated, which was intentional, according to Thomas. No one, including fictional characters, owes anyone their deadname, and it was exciting to see how it can be handled in novels.

The inclusivity of language is addressed throughout the novel. Yadriel and his family are Latinx, and many primarily speak Spanish, which is an inherently gendered languages like many other languages. The grammatical gendering that exists in Spanish, French, and others, creates a unique challenge for people transitioning or closeted.

When I first picked Cemetery Boys up, I didn’t expect to experience a mystery or thriller aspect as prominently as I did. All of the talk I’d seen surrounding the book was focused on the queer elements of the text, which I do agree are incredibly important and well executed. I won’t spoil the ending in this review, but I loved it! The worldbuilding is handled in such a way that Thomas provides us with all of the pieces to the puzzle without making the essential information seem out of place in the narrative. Essential information to the way Yadriel and his family live is woven into the larger narrative, without it feeling like we were pulled out of the narration to get an information dump. They were just simply parts of life to these characters, and as such, slowly introduced to the reader as they come up. I was honestly hooked from the very first line!

Final Thoughts

I was sitting in my college apartment living room when I read the majority of this book (in one sitting, I might add), and my roommates were thoroughly entertained by all of my reactions to the seemingly endless reaction-worthy moments in the book. I think I almost threw the book at least three different times, each time in the best possible way. The reason I read it all in one sitting was because I just couldn’t stop thinking about the story long enough to get anything else done; I physically had to finish it before I could do anything. The breadcrumbs spread out throughout the novel all come together in an ending I’m unlikely to forget anytime soon!

This novel is great for middle and high school readers, as well as anyone else who wants to pick up the book. There are some discussions of familial loss and transphobia, which could be uncomfortable for some readers. However, I believe this book can be used as a way to begin a larger conversation about these topics and should not be shied away from.

I read the 2020 hardcover edition of Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas.

If you’d like to pick up a copy for yourself or a friend, check out the following links:
Bookstore Link: Link
Barnes & Noble: Link
Amazon: Link