Cemetery Boys is an amazing novel that follows the story of Yadriel, a Latinx, gay, and transgender teenager, as he becomes determined to prove himself as a real brujo to his traditional family. But doing so, he accidentally summons a spirit who just so happens to be the resident “bad boy” at his school and follows Yadriel around. By helping the ghost of his schoolmate, Julian, this would be the perfect opportunity for Yadriel to prove he deserves being a Brujo in his community. But soon realizes that it is much harder than expected as the two of them grow attached to each other while seeking for the truth.
This story of a transgender teen trying to find acceptance from his family with elements of Latinx culture had me in its clutch ‘till the end. Even though I had a hard time finding the link between scenes and following the somewhat flat writing, I thought the representation was done pretty well considering the characters were shown as teenagers that are flawed, as basically the way most of us are. The aspect of found family within this novel was something I absolutely loved and added a lot to Julian’s character. The other thing that I appreciated was the way Yadriel’s family was shown as how a lot of POC families view their children being LGBTQ+, and reflected the very real experiences of queer poc teenagers today.