LRRC Week 45
I'm writing this a few days in advance, which always feels like such a gutsy move. What fresh horror will you throw at me this time, 2020? What unexpected thing are you going to put in my path, forcing me to edit my captions or otherwise look silly?
#89: CEMETERY BOYS by Aiden Thomas
Can I just say how awesome it is the amount of pretty high profile books we've had this year by QPOC? (And specifically, by trans POC?)
"Cemetery Boys" tells the story of Yadriel, a fledging brujo, who has the power to call and dispel the souls of the dead, as his family has done for centuries. Being trans, unfortunately, means that he has to prove himself to his family as having proper brujo powers. This is all complicated by a local serial killer and the ghost of a boy in his school that he accidentally summoned and is rapidly falling for.
All in all, "Cemetery Boys" is a really fun supernatural YA book. Yadriel, his cousin Maritza, and his love interest Julian, all feel like fully realized characters, and I enjoyed the time I spent with them. I was rooting for their success in the story, and I liked learning about their inner lives.
Also, obviously, always great to see stories set in cultures that aren't just white American. I can't speak to how accurate any of the portrayals of Mexican religion/mythology are, but I certainly enjoyed reading about them.
The one critique I might level is that I did find the plot to be a little predictable, though that might just be due to the fact that I read quite a bit and am a little genre-savvy. Also, I get that the brujx can come back as spirits and thus the mourning process is obviously different, it still felt a couple times like the characters were taking the existence of a local serial killer EXTREMELY calmly.
#90: WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING by Alyssa Cole
Not only is Sydney's Black neighbourhood being gentrified, she begins to suspect that something more sinister happening. Meanwhile, she grows closer with Theo, a white neighbour whose life is falling apart, and who also knows something is up.
This is the first book of Alyssa Cole's I've read, and I realize that thrillers are not her usual fare. I thought this attempt was pretty good! Definitely suspenseful, even if it perhaps lacked a few of the more tense moments I usually expect from thrillers. Also, I did guess one of the big twists almost immediately, but that's not Ms Cole's fault.
Definitely the book's best strength, in my opinion, is weaving the above-and-beyond-the-norm horror in with the every day horror of racism and gentrification and police brutality. Comparing it to "Get Out" feels a little bit stereotypical, but in my opinion it's doing something very similar. Also, Ready Or Not would be a good comparison.
Furthermore, the author does a great job of weaving the community so that you have a good sense of all the people in it, and the ways that they have built a home there. The characters are believable and likeable and easy to root for, their goals imminently understandable. Also, no spoilers, but I thought the ending was really satisfying in all the ways an ending should be.
NEXT WEEK'S AGENDA
#91: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
#92: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn