Read this in a couple days and it felt like much longer, not in a tedious way it just took up a lot of my brain in the same way a month-long TV show hyperfixation does haha!! :) Cemetery Boys being in the comp titles was very fitting— they’re both queer urban fantasies (also starring Latino leads), with an undead love interest, and a surprising amount of fun in what seems like a very sad premise. Although, yes, there is still room for grief (as is the case in stories surrounding mortality). Plus, the characters being childhood friends excused the romance being a little fast-paced lol (some the logic of their past falling-out confused me a bit, though?)

(Take my Cemetery Boys-specific nostalgia with a grain of salt, though, I was: a) sixteen when I first read it, b) it was the first book I read with a trans MC, c) I’m not Mexican and can’t speak on the rep in that book.)

I’m also a big fan of family being involved in the plot. While a lot of the main conflict hinged on YA logic (ok, why would you be a mortician and not tell your son he’s a necromancer), a lot of that I was still able to overlook. Some of that’s because of personal bias, yes(again, I enjoyed reading this book), but I really enjoyed the way that Jaxon was able to connect with his mom, and even some of the issues the adults had with how he’d try to sacrifice himself for Christian or keep secrets. (I predicted pretty quickly how Jaxon’s dad died.) 

Christian was very sweet. Totally one of those "golden retriever" characters, and sometimes that made him a little corny, but we as readers could still glimpse his worries and desperation to cling onto his half-life. (And, he had a lot of soft moments with Jaxon, of course.) And on the topic of the characters, I thought the friend side characters were entertaining— Regan especially. (Her and Jaxon have very strong sibling vibes. I enjoyed her constant input, too.)

The horror wasn’t very effective, though? I don’t know. I was just expecting more, and the descriptions of the reanimated people and things were more creepy in concept than description. This book feels more like an off-kilter fantasy than a horror romance, imo.

(Bonus points though for this being literally the first romance I’ve read with black leads that *doesn’t* focus around racial trauma??!)  

Honestly, from the romance, to the conflict, surprisingly heavy coming-of-age plot, and the resolution, this is probably the most YA that a YA I’ve read has been (or it’s at least in my top 10). IDGAF! I still found this charming.