Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars A Neat Concept and a Needed Subject, but too Much Summary and Febrile and Cliché YA Emotion Trans, gay, Latinx high school student Yadriel Velez lives in East LA with his family in an old, low profile brujx (witch) cemetery, caring for graves and spirits. It has not been easy for Yadriel to come out as trans and gay to his traditional family and community, especially because of their strict brujx (witch) gender divisions, with brujo (male) members sending spirits off to the next world by severing them from their “tethers” (key objects from their lives) before they hang around too long and become “maligno,” and bruja (female) members specializing in healing (and financially supporting their families by applying their secret witch powers to mainstream careers as nurses and doctors and psychologists). Yadriel’s mother accepted his starting to live as a boy at 14, but she died almost a year ago, and his father has been insisting that he cannot become a brujo because he’s a “girl.” Thus, the opening of Aiden Thomas’ Cemetery Boys (2020) has Yadriel performing the ritual to become a brujo by himself—supported by his best buddy-cousin Maritza (a vegan bruja, which means she can’t heal cause she won’t use the required ritual animal blood). Yadriel succeeds, gaining the acceptance of Lady Death, the patron/deity of the brujx, but he also accidentally “summons” the spirit of Julian Diaz, a freshly killed (and “devastatingly handsome”) bad boy from his school. (Thus starts the hot ghost boy and sensitive trans boy romance of the novel.) That Julian was killed at about the same time as Yadriel’s well-liked older brujo cousin Miguel and that no one knows where their bodies are is a big mystery Yadriel and Maritza and Julian set out to solve. Then Yadriel can come out as a new brujo to his family and community, AND they can find out what happened to Miguel and Julian, AND Julian will let Yadriel send his spirit on to the next place. AND they only have two days to do it before Dia de Muertos. That situation is too often referenced and summarized through character dialogue and Yadriel’s thoughts. The novel could’ve been at least 1/5 shorter. I liked learning about brujx culture in a Latinx and transgender context! I liked the Dia de Muertos festival information, preparations, and descriptions. I liked the details on Latinx foods, language, familial relationships, countries of origin, and so on. I liked the few dashes of social criticism about things like the police not caring to look for a missing Latino boy living without parents, or parents of another missing Latino needing an interpreter to tell the police about him while fearing they’ll be deported. I wanted more of that kind of thing. I also really liked the transgender and gay stuff, as some of Yadriel’s experiences are poignant and interesting: he uses uncomfortable chest binders to hide his breasts; he feels great anxiety when using the boys’ restroom at school for the first time; he doesn’t like his high school yearbook photo, because in addition to not being able to afford gender alteration therapy or surgery, his family hasn’t been able to afford to legally change his name from his feminine birth name so that the name under his photo is not his real name. The novel features a few other characters in addition to Yadriel who are non-binary or gay or trans. Actually, given his apparent sensitivity, I expected Yadriel to face more criticism, teasing, and abuse, but people seem rather accepting of his gender and sexual orientation—California in the 2020s? Or maybe he’s too self-conscious and melodramatic? One moment we’ll read, “Yadriel had spent years feeling misunderstood by everyone except for Maritza,” and the next, “Yadriel felt that his uncle was the only one, other than his mom, who really understood him,” and wonder if Yadriel’s feeling too sorry for himself or if Aiden Thomas is trying too hard for reader sympathy. And there is WAY too much overwrought, repetitive, cliché, corny YA writing! Heat floods or blooms in Yadriel’s cheeks (nine times!) or claws up his throat; his skin/face grows hot/red (eleven times!); his heart sinks or hammers or leaps or thrashes; his skin crawls; his stomach plumets to his feet; guilt rips him in half. And creative metaphors aren’t always felicitous: e.g., “Exhaustion plowed into him like a truck.” And the climax and aftermath are way too quick and easy. All that said, there ARE some neat descriptions that feel like LA (e.g., “Hazy pollution and city lights washed everything in an orange glow, even in the middle of the night”) and Latinx culture (e.g., “Classically handsome. He looked just like the stone statues that adorned the alcoves of the church. An Aztec warrior reincarnated”). And some neat moments: “Am I dead?” Yadriel winced and gave a small nod. “Yeah…” Julian stumbled back a step, his body wavering in and out of existence for a moment, like a camera trying to focus. “Oh, Jesus.” He pressed both hands against his face. “My brother is gonna kill me.” And some pointed conversations: “He and his family are from Colombia,” Alexa went on, in a way that suggested a double meaning, but when everyone just stared at her, she added, “You know what they export from Colombia, don’t you?” “Coffee?” Maritza guessed in a bored tone. “Crack,” Alexa answered. “I’m half Colombian on my mom’s side, and none of us are drug dealers,” Letti pointed out. And some sweet romance: “Julian was the most alive person he’d ever met. Even as a spirit, he was bright and full of constantly moving energy. A sun crammed into the body of a boy. Yadriel didn’t want to see him without his light.” And I wanted to keep reading, partly to find out what would happen between Yadriel and Julian. And it IS great that Aiden Thomas wrote this book. I remember wishing that Holly Black had written The Coldest Girl in Coldtown (2013) with a Tana as trans heroine instead of with just Valentina as trans supporting character. I imagine Cemetery Boys gives heart to many non-traditional gender kids, while making traditional gender kids more open minded about difference. View all my reviews
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