Cemetery Boys - Adrien Thomas

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⭐ 8.5/10

(Originally written by Magdalene)

Yadriel is a trans boy who comes from a long family line of brujx, and he just wants to prove to them that he's a real brujo. So he tries to bring back the spirit of his cousin who recently died... except the boy he brings back is NOT his cousin, and he's not willing to cross over until Yadriel helps him check on his friends and tie up some loose ends.

Boy was this fun! And it's also just really cool to see more queer characters in genre fiction as well, plus with a setting that's not typical for fantasy/paranormal fiction. Yadriel being trans plays a big part in the story, as his family keeps misgendering or dead-naming him, plus he needs to deal with things like his binder being too tight and not knowing which bathroom to use. Plus this new issue of how his new ghost friend keeps distracting him in math class. There are some mystery elements to the story too, since he wants to find out who killed both Julian and his cousin. And romance!

The story was very cool, the representation was great, and the climax was very exciting. I wasn't sure how the author would bring things around at the end, but I liked what they did to make it a happy ending.

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