Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas Book Review

It’s been a while since I’ve published any reviews. Looking forward to getting back in the game!

Like a warm cup of Mexican hot chocolate with a generous dose of cinnamon and cayenne, Cemetery Boys is a treat for the soul with a love for its culture and subject matter. It’s like Coco crossed with Mars Hayward’s Long Exposure comic and all its LGBTQ delights. Is it a page turner? Not always. But its main focus is its depiction of a magical but partially divided family, and the romance between a jock and a shy outcast. And for what Cemetery Boys sets out to do, it fits the bill.

The first of the so-called Cemetery Boys, the one facing our direction on the cover, is Yadriel Flores, a Brujo, which is Spanish for wizard. He’s part of a magical family living next to a graveyard where some spirits stay for a period of time, and only they can see them. Eventually these spirits have to go, whether by decision or by force, because the longer they’re there, the more their souls dissipate and they turn into monsters. Dia de Los Muertos is coming up, and Yadriel is excited to be able to see his passed mother again, if only for one night.

But something he also wants is to be taken seriously as a soul resurrectionist. It’s something most of the men in the family have been able to do for generations. But Yadriel is trans, and there are some in the family who feel letting him join would be a betrayal. Wanting to prove himself, with his cousin Maritza at his side, he tries to locate his cousin Miguel, who has mysteriously died with no clue as to what happened, and he ends up accidentally resurrecting a freshly-dead spirit of a boy named Julian Diaz. This Julian was actually a classmate of Yadriel’s but they didn’t know each other. It’s now up to Yadriel to figure out how to help Julian pass on while figuring out what happened to his cousin.

I’ll start with the specifics by mentioning Yadriel and Maritza continue going to school when this resurrection plot takes place. And the book takes its time with the different stops these characters end up, including back home for supper, making it quite grounded in reality for a fantasy novel. The book enjoys itself with its proudly Mexican culture, food, artifacts, magic and lore. The characters feel just right, Yadriel a shy but determined outcast, for starters. I yearned for Yadriel to feel accomplished like he deserved to be, and whether he does by the end, I won’t spoil. Maritza is spunky and protective. Tio Catriz is a welcome and layered person of support. Julian, while strangely fine with dying, definitely resembles the local jock with the desire to live to the fullest and put away trauma. The parents and cousins feel like the right mix of wanting to be loving but slow-learning. Julian’s friends have independence, distrust and history.

I would’ve liked more mystery, more exploration into Julian’s death, and more mayhem caused by Julian’s ability to be invisible and still cause havoc. And as I said, Julian being pretty positive with the situation felt sometimes cop-out-y. But for what it is, it’s really beautiful, and that is a romance, and celebration of Mexican traditions and trans people. I know this was published a fair few years ago, but specially right now, we need a lot more stories with heroes like Yadriel, and a lot more stories displaying and humanizing different cultures that too many people turn their backs on. Looking forward to seeing how Aiden Thomas continues things in the sequel!