#HearOurVoices tour: Cemetery boys

 

Synopsis:Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

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 ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin 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.

Published: September 1st 2020

Pages: 352

Rating: Solid 

REVIEW: Traditions shouldn't be static. This need of Yadriel is strong. Gaining his magic is a hearts desire but 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 ritual himself. Aaai, Yadriel summons a dead boy's ghost by accident. And he knows him, it's Julien Diaz. The rumored bad boy of the school. How the heck will they solve this?

This story is colorful it it's characters, scenery and culture. It has a charming cinnamon roll of a lead, Yadriel; a witty best friend more than a cousin Maritza, infused w love to the Latinx culture and a slow burn of a romance. This book about dead gods, ghosts, passing on and dealing with grief breathes life on every page. It does acknowledge the realities of queer pain and queer trauma but it is clearly written from a place of love and joy. You feel that Aiden Thomas had joy writing this, writing about a gay trans guy fitting in the world and falling in love.

The romance is magical. You feel the slow growing tension, see both Yadriel and Julian opening up and becoming familiar with each other. Nothing is forced. Talking about magic, how it is written feels fresh. I had to re read passages again, even the scary high tension ones. Animation is the only medium that can adapt Thomas scenery and how it feels reading his words. A truly warmth glow. Cartoon Saloon is the right choice w latinx creatives heading it of course.

I'm hope that trans people, trans boys and guys will see that they are loved. That they deserve love. This is a joyous book and I can't wait to see people enjoying that same warmth the characters, especially Yadriel and Julian have for each other.

Aiden Thomas's socials:

TWITTER | INSTAGRAM 

TO PURCHASE: LIBRO FM | BOOKSHOP | BARNES AND NOBLE 

Review: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Lies Beneath (Lies Beneath #1)[ add to Goodreads]
by Anne Greenwood Brown

Published by  Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Date publication:  June 12th 2012
Source: netgalley
Rating : 2.8/5

Synopsis:  Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistable good looks and charm on ususpecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him 

My thoughts 

Cover : What’s that on the surface? Blood? Bloody excellent plus a malicious mermaid. Perfection [ I love green]


Book : Lies beneath was  one mine  10  highly  most anticipated releases of 2012 .  Sad to say it was a letdown.

I expected  a dark book. What the synopsis said it would be. Not that dark at all. Not even grey [ a color joke , I think =^_^=[random meow] TVD[the vicious deep was not that dark but fun . LB  was boring. Link to the vicious deep ]  I dove into Lies beneath . Instead of a tsunami I experienced a tiny ripple.

The plot was slow and I became bored at page 150. The beginning was ok. We  meet  Calder White  and his ‘’sisters’’. Maris [a crazy bitch], Talulah [ a murderous pinky pie, who ‘’accidently’ kills her  romantic flames] and last but not least the native bombshell  Pavati . They request Calder to return home[ cold lake  Superior ]from his Caribbean vacation  to avenge the murder of their mother and kill the  grown up son of the man that did it decades ago. The story lacked that extra something. I did not fall for the characters  or care for them except Calder and Talulah [c’mon she reminds me of pinky pie/ I’m a proud brony]

I have to give props to the mermaid lore. Some what creepy . They feed off of the energy of happy humans, they transform in water which allows them to travel on land, and their bodies radiate signals to draw innocent souls to the water.
And to lily for being suspicious  and not falling for Calder at first sight. The romance was weak but ok

I was disappointed when  I had finished Lies beneath. At least Calder’s  narrative help my trough it. Sad to say  I did not love it. Maybe I’ll continue the series. Read  my review with a grain of salt. A lot of people liked it even some blogging comrades of mine , maybe you will too

trailer

 one of my favourite trailers and a soothing voice. To lure, to kill
sad i did not love Lies Beneath 

Review : The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova

The Vicious Deep (The Vicious Deep #1) [add to Goodreads]
by Zoraida Córdova

Published by Sourcebooks Fire
Date publication :May 1st 2012
Gifted [tnx shelagh]
Rating : 4.5/5

Synopsis:For Tristan Hart, everything changes with one crashing wave.
He was gone for three days. Sucked out to sea in a tidal wave and spit back ashore at Coney Island with no memory of what happened. Now his dreams are haunted by a terrifying silver mermaid with razor-sharp teeth.
His best friend Layla is convinced something is wrong. But how can he explain he can sense emotion like never before? How can he explain he’s heir to a kingdom he never knew existed? That he’s suddenly a pawn in a battle as ancient as the gods.
Something happened to him in those three days. He was claimed by the sea…and now it wants him back.

My thoughts

Cover: Awesome currents and an acient tridend . Green , my beloved color

Book: Tristan Hart, a teen life guard.A tanned sarcastic dude with a great bod.[ girls i approve you all to go ga ga and drooling over him]. He’s living a great life, cool school swim team/life guard squad, great best friendfrend and a loving parents. But his life is not a calm sea anymore. He dissapears after a rescue in the crashing waves of a sudden storm. 3 days later ,he resurfaces on the beach at coney Island abd does not know what occurred on those days. His dreams are haunted by a terrifiying silver mermaid. He was claimed by the Sea and now it wants him Back.

This tail was sweet[ And so was his]. I’ve never been to brooklyn or coney island and only saw it in movies.But I could feel being at the beach and the brooklyn vibe.My mom visited brooklyn when she was younger so asked her how it was being at coney island. Z Cordova can create a atmosphere . Some parts in this book felt disney ish, darker disney but still fun, airy and a good hearted.

I bet you all know this is a mermaid book.[I think].I fell in love with merpeople through disney’s ariel [ I <3 gingers . And a ginger novelist as a life partner would be dreamy] But rather few or none are being told from a male perspective. From a merman[sounds corny] a merbro[ lame] a merdude[ I like that term better. Tristan is not lame or a wimp] Me being a dude. I long for the male voice in books. Their reactions in situations and thoughts

The caracters gave the book its drive. From Tristan complaining of his glitteringly but masculine boy blue color.The arguing of Trisan and Kurt and the curiosity of Thalia. His “cousins’’. To the guts and spunk but still girly ness of Layla , his bestest best frend .

The Vicious Deep is written in 1st pov. I expected it to be darker but I got a fun some what light hearted book with quite some moments of darkness and terror.I cant wait for book two . I speculate something fishy is just around the corner[ yes I used a overly cliched pun] Want some hot merdudes. One of them telling the story. With something that could be romance. Jump in and dive and give The Vicious Deep a try. A fun summer or beach read. A great read for both sexes.

the trailer



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