#cemetery reviews

[cemeteryreviews]

Cemetery Reviews #2 - Campo Santo

Campo Santo is the old cemetery of Zapatoca. It's quite small, and people are no longer buried there. Even so, what you see there is very special. There's a mausoleum, and although there are few tomb inscriptions, the ones that remain are quite old. I saw one from 1819, a death one year before independence. There is also a tomb of a German fugitive who lived a semi-feudal and lavish lifestyle in the 19th century.

Although his colonization and trade projects failed and his life ended in ruin, he has a tomb enclosed in its own fence. The guy also has a street named after him. Even if the foreigners who come here don't end up doing much, it's still cool to remember them because it's curious that they pass through here. The chapel is very small and only has a few benches, but the tombs, already piled up among themselves, are covered with grass, moss, and the trees surround the site. To get there, you can also climb a street with long stairs, and from the end, you can see the town from above. In a way, it's like you have to climb a little closer to heaven to see the site.

For these reasons, the bits of history, the curious characters, and the location, I found it to be a very beautiful place with a very fulfilling atmosphere.

8/10

[hfayereads]

Cemetery Boys is a thrilling YA book which has been banned in several counties in my home state.

According to Pen America, there have been a recorded 10,046 book bans in the 2023-2024 school year. With Florida and Iowa leading the way.

Of most of the commonly banned books, 44% featured people and characters of color and 39% featured LGBTQ+ people and characters according to Pen America.

Cemetery Boys features both characters of color and LGBTQ+ characters. This book was a thrilling adventure, the writing and characters were well developed. (The second book comes out in 2025). This book shouldn’t be banned. Banning this book and stories like this one erases people’s stories and perspectives.

Banning books like this one is a disservice to students everywhere.

Read banned books and support authors.

[veeveetheheretic]

another rousing weekly recap of my work.

[museandquill]

Books With Queer Romance Reviews

Hello, welcome to the second addition of Muse and Reviews, this time over YA Queer Romance novels. Now these books will mostly be YA Romance, but there will also be books with romance as a side plot

1. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him. When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

I adore this book, I adore Yadriel, I adore Julian, I adore Yadriel’s cousin Maritza, I just love this book. This book actually made history by being the first New York Times Bestseller List by an openly trans author with a trans character. Even though I am not Latinx, I related to Yadriel in such a deep way because of my own experiences with being trans in a fairly conservative family. I love the relationship between Yadriel and Julian and I personally envy the relationship between Yadriel and Maritza. When it comes to the urban fantasy aspect, I think it blends very well with the world. This book also talks about Latinx gods and goddess, mainly Santa Muerte, and Mexican traditions.

I think this book is a good introduction to YA romance since it’s not mainly just a romance.

2. Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after. When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages—after publicly posting Felix’s deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned—Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn’t count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi–love triangle.... But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself.

This is another book that I really connected with due to the fact the main character is trans, and also that he's an artist that has been struggling with feeling like he is too complicated to love. This book focuses on self love, gender identity, racial identity, and social pressures. It has been awhile since Ive read this book but I do remember very much enjoying it, especially since Felix is not a completely perfect character

3. The Extraordinaries by TJ Clune

Some people are extraordinary. Some are just extra. New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune's YA debut, The Extraordinaries, is a queer coming-of-age story about a fanboy with ADHD and the heroes he loves. Nick Bell? Not extraordinary. But being the most popular fanfiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right? After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without the reluctant help of Seth Gray, Nick's best friend (and maybe the love of his life).

I was recommended this book by my high school librarian about two years ago and it was a fun and fairly light hearted read (at least compared to what I usually read) Nick truly imbodies the super fan inside all of us. I mean who wouldn't write fanfic about actual superheroes? I love Nick, I love Seth, and the book does a wonderful job at showing Nick's ADHD. This book was absolutely adorable 5/5 stars

4. They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day. Adam Silvera reminds us that there’s no life without death and no love without loss in this devastating yet uplifting story about two people whose lives change over the course of one unforgettable day.

Of course I had to talk about They Both Die at the End. God damn you Adam Silvera, I love this book and hate it at the same time. It's amazing but horrifically sad. Obviously the ending is spoiled in the title but god does this book give you a sliver of hope. Thoughts and prayer (in a nonchristian way) to anyone who reads this book, bring your tissues!

5. Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgemond

Infatuation. Reincarnation. Damnation. Gem Echols is a nonbinary Seminole teen living in the tiny town of Gracie, Georgia. Known for being their peers' queer awakening, Gem leans hard on charm to disguise the anxious mess they are beneath. The only person privy to their authentic self is another trans kid, Enzo, who's a thousand long, painful miles away in Brooklyn. But even Enzo doesn't know about Gem's dreams, haunting visions of magic and violence that have always felt too real. So how the hell does Willa Mae Hardy? The strange new girl in town acts like she and Gem are old companions, and seems to know things about them they've never told anyone else. When Gem is attacked by a stranger claiming to be the Goddess of Death, Willa Mae saves their life and finally offers some answers. She and Gem are reincarnated gods who've known and loved each other across lifetimes. But Gem—or at least who Gem used to be— hasn't always been the most benevolent deity. They've made a lot of enemies in the pantheon—enemies who, like the Goddess of Death, will keep coming. It's a good thing they've still got Enzo. But as worlds collide and the past catches up with the present, Gem will discover that everyone has something to hide.

I just finished my second read through of this book and god do I love this book with my whole heart and soul. Complicated main characters, interesting romance, old gods, and queer people in small towns, what more could you need. If this book had zero fans I’d be dead. If this book at one fan it’s ME. It’s a why choose romance with a fight between fate and creating your own life. I want to do a whole deep dive into this book and doing an in depth analysis. This book is not for the faint of heart or only wants perfect main characters. No one in this story is perfect, especially Gem, Willa Mae, and Enzo. (And anyone who says Willa Mae is perfect hasn’t ACTUALLY read the book and I will die on this hill)

[wlwvampirism]

Honestly I think my best reviews are when I've had time to marinate on my thoughts

[teatime-tangents-and-toys]

My favorite photo art piece of Living Dead Dolls Series 12 Chloe, who was buried alive. Read her full review and photo session here.

[sheepisharchives]

It has been long enough since i’ve read Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas that I decided to reread it again and oh my god. I feel as if I am reading it again for the first time. I went up to chapter 9 last night and I truly was having a rough time putting the book DOWN!!!! I was up until 2:30AM….

I think what Aiden Thomas created was truly a masterpiece.

side note: a family member of mine shares a name with a character in the book and it’s so funny to envision them in some scenes LMAO

[softness-and-shattering]

Two mini reviews, partly brought to you by tumblr autosaving - Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. I wasn't sure what to expect; I really liked The Sunbearer Trials (Ive not yet read the sequel), and DNF'd Lost In The Never Woods because it was the wrong type and intensity of dark and spooky for me at the time. Cemetery Boys is a freaking delight. Maybe my least favourite part was the villain reveal, it made sense but either it wasnt foreshadowed enough or I just wanted better for that character? idk. But this isnt primarily a plot book, its a romance, and its a story about community and acceptance, and figuring out how you fit into the world when you're not the shape you're expected to be. And it did really well with both those aspects. I also appreciate that with so many stories, real and fictional, about people who have to leave their communities to find themselves, I appreciate a story of someone who never once thinks maybe I need to leave, and instead forges on to create space for himself in his community and his heritage. That's not everyone's story and thats totally fine. Our experiences are diverse and we deserve diverse stories. Its all good. As for the romance, its really believable. Its quite an opposites-attract situation, from Julian's aggressive queerness and non-issue with Yadriel's transness making his albeit and unexpected presence a breath of fresh air to Yadriel, to their growing understanding of each other's lives and admiration for the strength of each others convictions. (When Julian is upset about his friends and Yadriel nevertheless pauses to set that boundary about ghost-safety, that was hot.). And the ghost aspect! (this is not a mini review anymore lol). I was not really sure how that was going to go, and then cheering for them, and then wondering what the heck they were gonna do about ongoing ghost-itude and the finiteness of that situation, and actually I really liked how it went. The romance and how they push each other and grow to understand each other is fun, romantic, sexy, heartfelt. Remarkably sexy given that one of them is a ghost who cant be touched. (Spoilers for a sec - the scene on the car where Yadriel reaches for Julian's jacket to pull him closer and there's nothing there to grab? Oh that feels like grief.) The book is quite a bit about grief. Missing parents, missing support networks, missing opportunities to be yourself and be accepted. Its about a guy who can communicate with ghosts and its set around Dia de Meurtos, there's grief themes.

I also really love Maritza, showing off another aspect of (gender) non-conformity, that its not only trans people who have trouble fitting fairly strict defined roles. (Julian's friends do so similarly). Almost all the Spanish I picked up from context, but how Julian refers to Yadriel at the end I knew I had to look up that word specifically and oh my heart. Overall really enjoyed. probably 9/10 second, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. I havent read the books/comics, I have seen the movie. This show....for at least the first half I had no idea what the rules of the universe were or what exactly was going on or what themes exactly were being explored. I was definitely entertained though. The last few episodes manage to make sense of the first few and deliver on those themes in ways I quite liked. I liked that Ramona is the "manic pixie dream girl" and then almost immediately gets upstaged for that role by Envy Addams. I normally am annoyed at stories in which some boring guy "gets" the manic pixie dream girl and certainly doesn't appreciate her - you know the kind who goes on reddit and complains that she wont stop talking about slugs or decorates their whole house in anime? And I know scott pilgrim is a comment on that trope. I like how its about scott but its not really about scott. Largely its about Ramona and her friends (and her exes). And the others recognise that scott isnt so great, or so smart, and also that if Ramona likes him thats cool. He can be a "lovable idiot" and shes not automatically making a mistake with him. If they're happy they're happy. (and of course the ways that *could* go wrong, but arent destined to). Plus the music is fun, the visuals are bright and pretty. It might lean overstimulating for some people, I had to stop and think about my spoon levels between episodes. Thats what I got for today. Two very different fun stories I recommend like 8-9/10, not perfect but a damn good ride.

[visplay]

Chris: Cemetery Man is an R-rated French comedy / horror not unlike Evil Dead about a graveyard attendant and his coworker who have problems with animated bodies, better than most, Watch: On Subscription Service.

Richie: This movie was too weird for me, I just couldn’t really get into, it’s a curiosity so Watch: When Free.

[daizine2008]

Cemetery boys

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🌟

[thenefilim]

Review - Seven Cemeteries (2024)

It's an action horror/comedy take on The Magnificent Seven as Danny Trejo raises his old crew from the dead to take on the cartels,

https://www.voicesfromthebalcony.com/2024/10/18/seven-cemeteries-2024-review/

[sophiesbookishthings]

June Reads 🌈

Hi! I've got a little preface before this month's list. Every June I like to try to exclusively read books with LGBTQ+ rep. I do tend to kind of do that throughout the year anyway since I'm queer (biromantic asexual and nonbinary) and that's just the type of books I naturally seek out. But in June I make a point of it and try to read books where they are specifically the main character. It's also preferable if the author is also LGBTQ+ in some way. I believe representation in the media is extremely important and I like to support that whenever I can. Anyway, buckle up, this one is gonna be long.

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

This book has 3(!) asian bisexual polyamorous main characters by an asian nonbinary queer author. This book was like if ancient China met Pacific Rim, then make it queer and feminist. I was not in love with the first part of this book. The main character was (understandably) out for revenge but didn't seem to really think through her plans well. She was also really mean. It did make sense for the character at the time, though and it made sense, since she really didn't think she would live long enough to have further plans or for it to matter that she was mean. It was just a bit frustrating to read. She did have character development throughout the book and did ultimately turn her anger specifically back toward the oppressive government. I loved watching each dynamic of the romance develop throughout the book. I think it was really well done, and the three characters fit really well together. It was also a great contrast to the harrowing dark nature of the rest of the plot. Then the ending! The ending was such a great payoff from the rest of the book. The twist was foreshadowed so well, and I did pick up on it a bit. I knew something was up with the "aliens." The second book is supposed to be out later this year, I believe, and I can't wait to read it.

4.75/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

Leather and Lark by Brynn Weaver

Okay, this one isn't lgbt. Oops. I had it preordered and had to read it immediately. I do think I liked the first book in the series a bit more, but this one was still fun. It was kinda enemies to lovers and had a marriage of convenience. The fmc basically did arts and crafts with her victims (who were typically child abusers/molesters), and the mmc was a professional crime coverer. I really liked how hard the mmc worked throughout the book to be forgiven for things that happened when the 2 mcs first met and the gradual reveal of why it was so bad for the fmc in the first place. I'm excited to read the next book because I feel like the two main characters are going to be super interesting.

4.25/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson

.....Okay, I did another non-lgbt one. But it's Sanderson, and it's a novella okay. I don't really have much to say about this one except that Wyndle deserves financial compensation or something. That poor spren is going through it. I'm really intrigued to see how Lift is going to deal with being a Radiant and interacting with the others in Oathbringer after this book, though. I think she's gonna add a lot more chaos, and it's gonna be fun. Oh, and I still love Szeth, and someone needs to help him. I know he's a notorious assassin, but he is the saddest, wettest, most pathetic guy, and he's having a whole existential crisis.

4.25/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

This one was really good. I've had it on my shelf for a while. I get why everyone was talking about it a few years ago (when I should've read it lol oops). The main character is a gay transgender Latino (same as the author) boy whose family can summon spirits and heal. Powers which are unfortunately traditionally gender based. Through the book, he tries to prove to his family that he belongs with the men of the family while also helping a spirit he kinda accidentally raised. I really loved Julian, and the eventual relationship between him and Yadriel was really sweet. I listened to this one on audio, and I have to mention that I loved Avi Roque as the narrator. They did a great job. Then there were two twists at the end, one I saw coming, and one I didn't. The one I didn't see coming was really neat and made a lot of sense considering there is supposed to be a sequel.

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Loveless by Alice Oseman

I tried to read this book at least twice before I finally got through the whole thing. I had to get it in audiobook cause that is my trick to getting through books that are hard for me to get through for whatever reason. And it absolutely wasn't because I didn't like it. It was the exact opposite. Alice Oseman never fails to make me cry when she writes aro/ace characters. She herself is aro/ace, I believe, and the way she writes her aro/ace characters is the closest I think I've ever read/seen in media to my own experience. This book felt too much like looking into a mirror, and that made me have A Lot of Feelings. Even trying to read it this time was tough, and it took me a while. Georgia's experience navigating through the transition between college and high school felt a lot like mine. Though, her college experience ultimately went significantly better. Her desire for connections felt a lot like mine. Though she did achieve that in a way, I very much did not. I loved the various representation in this book. Sunil was a particular favorite of mine. And i loved that they were Shakespeare theatre kids. Very much like me lol. Ultimately, I really loved the conclusion that friendships can be just as important and fulfilling as romantic or sexual relationships.

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I liked this book a lot. I love a good morally gray woman who won't apologize for her questionable choices. I also love a good queer period piece. And this book is mostly set in old Hollywood which fascinates me because of the contrast of how glamorous it looks versus how much of a nightmare it actually was for anyone who wasn't a straight cis white male in a position of power. There was also a really sweet found family element in this book, and I'm always a sucker for that. It also had an interesting narrative structure, which I enjoyed, because it was framed as an interview. So this book really checked a lot of boxes for me.

4.75/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang

I really liked the premise of this book. Two men meet in ancient China, fall in love, and meet over and over again throughout various lifetimes. The endless palace concept intrigued me as well. Unfortunately, the execution fell flat for me. I wanted this to be a love story, and I think it was supposed to be, but it felt like more of a lust story. And there's nothing wrong with that, but it felt weird to me when it was framed as a love story and then barely delivered. It didn't feel like the two protagonists actually got time to get to know each other and fall in love before they were declaring that they were in love, especially in the lives they live after the first. And this declaration happened later in the book as well. There was very little romantic development. It would have been more interesting to me if they had to make the effort to fall in love in each life, but it never seemed like they did. Even in the first lifetime, it seemed like their love was orchestrated. It also never explained why they were reincarnating. I think the jade thing was supposed to be the reason, but it wasn't explained well at all. And, considering the title, I thought the endless palace would come into play a bit more. It didn't. It was mentioned briefly that the palace was seemingly endless, and that was about it. Ultimately, the ending failed to pull the whole story together like I hoped it would. I basically got 0 emotional effect from this. I felt like basically nothing happened and that there were so many loose ends that were just left unexplained. And if you do choose to read this tw for sexual assault/coercion.

The First Bright Thing by J. R. Dawson

2.5/5 ⭐️⭐️✨️

When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O'Neill

This book was weird. But I kinda loved it, I think. The two girls the story centers on, Marie Antoine and Sadie Arnett, are based on Marie Antoinette and the Marquis de Sade (which is directly referenced in the book and it made me laugh). It follows them through years of both their friendship and rivalry and how Maire's privilege and Sadie's libertinism impact their relationship (both platonic and romantic). It has very heavy themes of 19th-century feminism which can seem very harsh at times when read through a lense of modern feminism, but I do think it was ultimately executed well. It also had themes of classism and the privileges that come with being in the highest upper class and how that can affect ones beliefs. It's also very queer. I was a little worried about the way it was queer at first because it seemed pretty heavy on hating men but i think that was very much due to the time period and the extreme amount of priveledge men had in the lives these women were living in. This book also had a few twists that, even though I picked up on a little early, still made me gasp when it was revealed. And every character in this book is flawed and kinda awful in some way, which was part of what made it such a fascinating book to me. Like I said, I love morally questionable women.

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I kept seeing and almost picking this book up at the bookstore until I finally just got it on audio from the library. This book had found family and a magic circus. But it also had a pretty prevalent theme of the effects of an abusive relationship that kinda caught me off guard because that wasn't necessarily stated in the description of this book. It was actually one of the strongest elements of this book, I thought, so it seems odd to me that it wasn't one of the main points of the description. Then there is a plot point in which they try to stop WWII. I think this book could have been just as good or even better if that had been excluded because it didn't really seem to go anywhere. But also upon reflection, I believe the point of it was to show that even though terrible things may happen in the future you can't necessarily change them and have to live in and make the most of the present. And I kind of love that as a concept. I really liked the relationship between the ringmaster and her wife. They were really sweet and another one of the strongest parts of the book as well as the friendship between them and their other friend who helps them run the circus. I think I still have more thoughts about this book, but this is already long, and I'm not coherent enough to articulate them lol

3.75/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

[veeveetheheretic]

reupload of my weekly recap for this week because of errors in the previous upload. 🫣

[thechaoticreader]

🌞July Reading WrapUp🌞

Stats

Total Read: 4

Average Rating: 4.5⭐️

Most Read Genre: Horror

Most Read Format: Physical Book

DNF Count: N/A

Books

Title: Cemetery Boys

Author: Aiden Thomas

Genre: Y/A Paranormal Queer Romance

Format: Physical Book (Library)

Rating: 5⭐️

Start Date: June 17

End Date: July 3

Title: Mr. Harrigan’s Phone

Author: Stephen King

Genre: Short Horror

Format: Physical Book

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Start Date: July 23

End Date: July 23

Title: The Life Of Chuck

Author: Stephen King

Genre: Short Horror

Format: Physical Book

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Start date: July 26

End date: July 26

Title: Maeve Fly

Author: CJ Leede

Genre: Horror/Slasher

Format: Physical Book

Rating: 4⭐️

Start date: July 29

End date: July 31

PS. I’m counting each short story in an anthology as its own separate book!

[dreamygunjan]

Thursday Murder Club Moodboard

[travelingviabooks]

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: fiction, fantasy, lgbtqia+, romance, young adult

Country: USA

Review:

I liked this book. All of the characters were loveable and well written. I liked the story overall. But for some reason, I didn’t fall in love with this book the way that I wanted to. Maybe because I found myself predicting everything that was happening. I’m really not sure because this is honestly a great book. I liked everything about it and I will be reading the sequel.

Would I recommend this book?: Yes