Aiden Thomas received their MFA in creative writing from Mills College. Born in Oakland, California, Aiden often haunted Mountain View Cemetery like a second home during their misspent youth. As a queer, trans Latinx, Aiden advocates strongly for diverse representation in all media. Aiden is notorious among their friends for always being surprised by twist endings to books.movies and organizing their bookshelves by color. When not writing, Aiden enjoys exploring the outdoors with their dog, Ronan. Their cat, Figaro, prefers to support their indoor hobbies, like reading and drinking too much coffee. Cemetery Boys is their debut novel. You can find more about Thomas online at aiden-thomas.com. You can read more of my reviews of books on TIME's Top 100 YA Books of All Time list here.
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 quinces ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin, Miguel, 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.
This story has so many positives. The trans Latinx rep via the trans Latinx protagonist; the Latinx-inspired fantasy world and magic system; the happy ending (because happy endings should always be strengths and positives!): it's all here in Cemetery Boys. Yadriel is a trans Latinx boy moving through a culture that currently doesn't accept him because of who he is. When he accidentally summons Julian, he now has a way to prove his worth to his family and, by extension, to himself. This story is incredibly important, especially in the way that it depicts trans youth and trans allyship. It is definitely a must read for these reasons. Thomas does not pull punches on the realities of being a trans youth, but there is so much to celebrate about being trans, and this balance is what really makes Cemetery Boys something to uplift and celebrate.
I really love reading books by people who have received their MFA, because there is something incredibly clean and satisfying about their writing. It has that feel as if everything has fallen into place; there is not one stray detail. Take the beach bonfire, for example. Yadriel mentions it to Julian offhandedly, and it comes back to play a part later in the story. Same thing for the story that inspires the whole rising action of the story, and so many other small details Thomas writes into the story. It's so satisfying as a reader to have those details crop up again and again, and to see them put to use in a story. It makes for an even better reading experience, and makes the story overall much more satisfying and memorable.
I got this book from a friend, who had color-coded tabs into the novel, so part of my reading experience was trying to figure out her key (as it wasn't recorded what each color meant). I did crack the code: green was for Yadriel, blue was for Julian, purple was for Maritza, pink was for Latinx culture stories/references, and orange was for the brujx magic system/fantasy elements. Because I was treasure hunting, I felt like I had a renewed appreciation for how authors use cultures to build magic systems. The way Latinx cultures and the imagined brujx system meshed seamlessly with one another felt effortless. I really did believe in this magic, and I was obsessed with all the details we got about the brujx system, whether they were more intimately tied to Latinx culture or not. Thomas also just greatly utilized synesthesia in the story, making it one that one doesn't just read, but one that one also smells and hears and feels. It made the entire fantasy and speculative elements of the book really stand out strongly to me!
Cemetery Boys is getting a sequel here soon within the next couple of months, and if this first one is anything to go by, I'm sure it'll be just as explosive and thoughtful as their debut! Until then, you can find more about Thomas online at aiden-thomas.com. You can read more of my reviews of books on TIME's Top 100 YA Books of All Time list here.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
Comments
Post a Comment