It Was a Very Different Scenario in the Brujx Cemetery

~Cemetery Boys~
By Aiden Thomas
Amazon ~ Powell's

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

Bestowed by the ancient goddess of death, Yadriel and the gifted members of his Latinx community can see spirits: women have the power to heal bodies and souls, while men can release lost spirits to the afterlife. But Yadriel, a trans boy, has never been able to perform the tasks of the brujas - because he is a brujo.

When his cousin suddenly dies, 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 not his cousin. It’s Julian Diaz, the resident bad boy of his high school, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie off 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 think I first saw this one through my library's new release emails, but I've since seen it all over the web. I was especially drawn to this one, not only for my curiosity about the brujx traditions, but because of the trans main character. Having a trans sibling, I'm all for supporting the trans community and learning more about their experiences. On the other hand, with my grandma's recent passing I was very hesitant to dive into a book dealing directly with death and lost spirits, and so I ended up putting off reading at all for a couple months. But, after an overly long hiatus I decided to finally take the plunge and find out if this book was really worth all the hype.

I'll start off by saying I do not in any way resemble the characters portrayed in this book: I am a mutt of Western-European and American whites; I am a cis woman; I've always identified as straight, though I'm probably on the Ace spectrum; I'm in my 30's; I've only ever lived in suburban Indiana and Oregon; and I'm nowhere close to vegan. So in all regards, I cannot in good conscience vouch for any authenticity in this story's representation of its characters, setting, or depictions of cultural heritage.

All that being said...

As I stated in my intro, I have a trans sibling. They were afab (assigned female at birth) and their journey has included binding, hormone injections, name changes, and top surgery. They are non-binary, present as masculine, and use he/him/his and they/them/their pronouns. I have lived in the same household as them their entire life (besides my 3 years at college), and while we aren't the most intimate of friends and have by no means discussed the entirety of their feelings and experiences, I am an ally and will do my best to support them and all members of the trans community. It is through this lens that I offer my feelings and review.

Yadriel certainly has it rough: it's one thing to be true to yourself, it's another to convince your entire community that they have to change. Not only does he have to go through the typical growing pains that all teens experience in one way or another, but he also has to prove to himself and his family that he exists and can do the job he is constantly denied. Seeing him struggle to be happy with himself, craving external validation, feeling inadequate and anxious and alone, resonated deeply with me. Having read many instances of the opposite being true, I can only praise the fact that the main character is so universally relatable to those who may not share any labels with them at all.

As for his problems that were unique to the trans experience, like deadnaming or restroom discrimination, I thought these were all handled with respect both to those in-the-know and those not. Yadriel's deadname comes up a couple times in the narrative but is never actually printed in the text of the book, allowing those who are not familiar with the concept of deadnames to instinctively understand the taboo of using them without going into a long, drawn out explanation. Rather than the name itself, the focus is instead given to the feelings the deadname invokes, further de-mistfying what is a foreign concept to some. And when more elaborate explanations of trans issues are called for, they're given organically to other characters who either request or require the information as part of the plot. I think on the whole, this is an informative and well-crafted introduction to some of the struggles of the trans community that keeps the power and focus in the hands of trans characters, rather than their transgressors.

The other main characters, Maritza and Julian, were fun but were a bit lacking at parts, though that may be due to having little to no POV. Maritza seemed the most badass of the trio, what with being able to forge daggers and stand up to threatening people with ease (and her two hounds at her sides), but I was disappointed with how her struggle was handled. She is able to perform bruja magic, but refuses to because it calls for animal blood and she is vegan. Yadriel, our POV character, doesn't ever seem to take her struggle as seriously because veganism is a choice she made. And look, I realize that the struggles that vegans face are hardly comparable to the plight of the trans community, but it seems like he's expecting Maritza to have an easier time torturing herself for her healing magic, that she should just get over it and be thankful. And then her resolution to her struggles in the end feels so...anticlimactic and confusing, once you take a step back and think about it for a second.

So she works her healing magic using human blood, which is usually a no-no because it's too powerful and drains the brujx. But does this only apply to the brujx's own blood? I think it all hinges on the question of whose blood does she actually use to save Yadriel? Is it the uncle's? Or Yadriel's? Or the sacrifices'? If the later two, then apparently anyone else's blood is on the table, but if the former then it seems like it has to be a dead person, so as not to accidentally kill anyone in exchange for the healing. So does she just have to collect blood from crematoriums in order to work now? So many questions left unanswered!

Like, I'm happy she gets some resolution, but I'm frustrated that she never really gets vindicated for her choices, or even acknowledged for her perseverance. Basically, I think she's awesome and I want to know even more about her.

Julian, on the other hand, was better fleshed out (for a spirit) but just didn't interest me as much. Or maybe he just didn't have as much left to wonder about? He's very up front about things, asking questions that need asked, saying what needs to be said, getting things done. At least, that's how it is when others are involved. In respect to himself, he's a bit more closed up, stating multiple times that he doesn't like to talk about feelings. He's like the perfect best friend, and a great support for Yadriel in his time of need. I guess I am curious what he fought with his brother about, since, like I said, he's almost selfless to a fault.

Maybe his brother was telling him to get his life together so he could move on to better things, and Julian argued that he was happy where he was and didn't want to leave anyone behind? Yeah, that sounds plausible.

But yeah, a good balance of tough guy, mischief maker, selfless support, and childlike curiosity made Julian a joy to follow, but didn't leave much to the imagination.

I mentioned at the beginning that I had a lot of anxiety coming in to this book over how much death would play a part. And while, yes, death is a necessity in the process of dealing with spirits, I'm happy to report that I was able to make it through without any major breakdowns. The brujx community works to both prevent premature death through healing magic, and to aid spirits who have become tethered after death to pass on. The book does not linger on the action of death itself, but rather focuses on the people involved and the steps required for passing peacefully. It also, thankfully, didn't focus on the death of a family member, despite Yadriel recounting his grandfather's death in his sleep, and his mother's death still weighing heavily on him. I will admit I had a good cry in the epilogue when the brujx's family's spirits are back during Día de Muertos, and was glad I had the audiobook shepherding me forward.

Speaking of the brujx traditions, I really can't comment on Yadriel and Maritza's community's depiction other than to say it was fascinating. My only exposure to Latinx American culture is what I've seen previously in media, like The Book of Life and various other 'kids' movies and shows. In other words, I have a feeling the Latinx author definitely has more knowledge of the community than I do, so I'm just gonna leave it alone. I would be interested to know which aspects of their history and deities are purely fantasy and which stem from the real culture, but I can probably just research that on my own.

I have very little negative I can say about this book, but if I had to nitpick something, I guess it would be that I figured out the twist very, very early on. It's one thing to have ample foreshadowing so that people can't complain about a plot twist coming out of nowhere, but the elements are called out and practically winked at over and over and over again, making it more akin to announcing the menu for the next day's lunch—we know exactly what's coming, but knowing won't make it arrive any sooner. That's not to say the story was completely predictable or boring, just that its strengths lie in the relationships and world-building, and not so much in crafting a compelling mystery.

Overall, this book was a magical read. Cliche, I know, but being the first book I've ever read with a trans main character, and one of only a handful with a queer main character, I had a lot of hope riding on this to be great, and it delivered in spades. The story came off as entirely respectful of everyone involved, including those who fill some antagonist roles. And I know I've used the word "respect" far too many times already, but I'd also like to add "upbeat" as a descriptor, as this book manages to keep an uplifting and hopeful tone throughout its narrative, even when addressing the hardships and traumas that people in these communities often face. I will definitely be seeking out any and all stories Aiden chooses to tell (including any that return to Yadriel's neck of the woods!) and I encourage anyone and everyone to give Cemetery Boy a try. After all, most people only live once.

Read by Avi Roque
Unabridged Length: 13.8 Hours
Listened at 2.25x Speed

As is common with me and my library checkouts, I waited until mere hours before this book was due to actually start reading it, so I may have sped up the audio a bit more than was recommended. And yet, even at over twice the normal speed, I still found it easy to read along with and completely understandable to listen to when my eyes got distracted. So...maybe try tinkering with your playback settings, even if you don't normally?

Not much else to say quality-wise on this one. The narrator did a great job with their voices, making enough of a distinction that even without the text I think I could follow who was speaking. And as is common with stories that incorporate non-English words and names, I greatly valued being able to hear the proper pronunciations (Brujx as brew-hex was especially helpful). The only pronunciation I questioned was Julian, who was constantly given an H sound (Hulian), as is common in Hispanic names, but was also called Jules with a J sound (Jewels)—not a huge hiccup, just something I noticed.

Overall, a great production and enjoyable reading experience that should satisfy any audiophile. But if you don't normally check out audiobooks, there is a big reason to check out this one: it includes an amazing Q&A session between the book's author, Aiden Thomas, and audiobook reader, Avi Roque, in which they each ask the other questions about their experiences writing & narrating this book. I'll admit, I never really think much about the audiobook readers beyond their performances, but it was great to learn about Avi's process, their struggles, and their joy in bringing this story to life. And I loved hearing the two of them just gush over each other, especially Aiden's excitement of learning the reader was going to be Latinx, Trans and Queer! Definitely an extra treat to top off a great audiobook.

[Btw, in searching what pronouns to refer to Avi with, I found out they are credited as voicing an upcoming new character in The Owl House! So looks like I'll be hearing them again real soon — SO EXCITED!!!]