Cemetery Boys is a perfect balance between cutesy romance and cultural appreciation. I adored Yadriel and Julian and the themes of belonging and family that surronded them.

The magic system and social commentary that revolved around the Latine experience and culture, for the better and for the worst, where great. As someone who wasn't that familiar with some religious customs it was perfectly explained, and the social topics discussed without dramatically waving a flag to the reader that Look I'm Talking World Issues Here. Things just were. It's part of the world and it's there, and the author managed to have this realistic approach while condemning that they were bad. Yes, trans people are very casually misgendered. It is bad and should change. It also frequently happens without the other person being The Evilest One.

Why it doesn't reach the 5★: I enjoyed the experience, but it didn't WOW me. Even with the innovative setting the plot itself was somewhat predictive, this is very much a Characters Story. For that, I wished there was more. We only get a glimpse of several topics with potential that could've been explored in some extra 50 pages or so. (It also annoyed me the anglicanised usage of Latinx and brujx as a gender neutral term when Latine and bruje are right there and are actually pronunciable, but I recognize is a personal preference)