Review: Cemetery Boys

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Happy spooky season, friends, with this review of Aiden Thomas's recently National Book Award-nominated debut novel - and while it was supposed to have originally come out three months ago, I'm glad it instead came along on the verge of fall. Helpfully, reading this book now seems to have helped chase away a bit of the Bay Area's smoky skies and heat waves - for now anyway, because climate change and all that. But while Yadriel's brujo powers are more linked to the souls of the dead, I'd be willing to credit him with helping usher in some nicer weather as I read his misadventure about meeting a dead boy whose soul needs to cross over OR ELSE. 

Of course, Yadriel doesn't have it so easy as a budding brujo. The vast majority of his family of brujx doesn't really understand his trans identity (they deadname and misgender him all the time, whether consciously or not), and they never properly celebrated his quinces - which is why the book opens with Yadriel and his cousin Maritza (also something of an outcast because she lives vegan and brujería involves more than a little bit of animal blood) finally conducting the necessary rituals in secret before Lady Death herself. 

That's when the recently deceased Julian appears. 

And that's also when Yadriel learns that one of his cousins has mysteriously died as well. 

While the family scrambles to solve that mystery - and generally gets nowhere in the search, naturally - it's up to Yadriel to figure out who killed Miguel, as well as Julian. Because he's a smart guy and he can guess there's some link to it - maybe he's read a few YA novels in his time? I kid, I kid, but there are a few elements of this story that run on the predictable end - most notably, the murderer's identity. 

One thing that Thomas gets absolutely pitch-perfect, though? Characters. Specifically, Yadriel and Julian, all of whom are extremely well-developed and well-rounded as personalities. Yadriel, especially, benefits from being #ownvoices for Thomas, and Julian is so incredibly fleshed out and detailed - especially when he starts telling Yadriel about his family - that you can't help but fall in love with him right alongside Yadriel. Thomas also does a great job of making the story move simultaneously at a fast clip and stay immersed in the atmosphere of Día de Muertos, highlighting traditional elements from all across Latin America - Aztec and Maya nomenclature, café cubano, Julian's Colombian family, and more. 

All I'll say to finish this review is that now there are two great novels named Cemetery Boys by trans authors to recommend. Aiden Thomas and Z Brewer make some damn good reading, don't they both?

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