Cemetery Boys: Espíritu

Cemetery Boys #2

by Aiden Thomas

Julian used to be a ghost and now he can’t stop seeing them.

Ever since being sacrificed as part of a forbidden ritual, Julian has been able to see and communicate with the spirits of passed brujx. And that would be okay, if it allowed him to be part of his new boyfriend's community. But Julian’s also seeing other shadows in the corner of his eyes, glowing eyes in the dark, and “dark spots” on people – gaping, black gashes that are somehow wrong. He did ask his new magical boyfriend about it, but Yadriel has never heard of anything like it either, and he’s so busy with his new Brujx responsibilities, trying to figure out where all the new malingos are coming from, that Julian hates for his problems to ruin what little time together they have.

Then, a strange new brujx shows up. Ángel, as a nonbinary brujx, can heal the living and release the dead, but more than that, they can also see the same dark spots as Julian. Despite Yadriel’s reservations, Julian eagerly accepts their help. But, Ángel’s ruthless methods feel wrong to Julian, who wants to move away from hurting others.

With the shadows growing darker, and the discovery of a gaping dark spot on his friend Luca, Julian has to decide who he wants to put his trust in, and just how far he’s willing to go to save what is his.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, LGBT, Queer, Romance, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 8, 2026

About the author

Aiden Thomas is a New York Times Bestselling author with an MFA in Creative Writing. Originally from Oakland, California, they now make their home in Portland, Oregon. As a queer, trans, Latinx, Aiden advocates strongly for diverse representation in all media. Aiden’s special talents include: quoting The Office, finishing sentences with “is my FAVORITE”, and killing spiders. Aiden is notorious for not being able to guess the endings of books and movies, and organizes their bookshelves by color.

Their debut novel, CEMETERY BOYS, was published on September 1st, 2020.

Reviews

[Darcey]

A JULIAN-POV SEQUEL TO CEMETERY BOYS??? GIVE IT TO ME NOW.

edit jan 2025: sadly this has been pushed back to september 2026, but ah well, i trust aiden to make this book absolutely amazing with the extra year 💪

~~~

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

Espíritu was such a gorgeous book about love, family, grief, and acceptance. As always, Aiden Thomas filled it with amazing trans and non-binary rep, as well as the most PRECIOUS romance ever. I love love LOVED that this book didn’t add any romantic angst or relationship drama – Yadriel and Julian were simply comfortable, loving, and devoted.

“This was Julian. Fierce. Loyal. Ready to go to war for the people he loved. And every time he did it, Yadriel fell just a little harder.”

I believed Cemetery Boys (aka one of my favourite books ever – so funny, adorable, interesting, fast-paced) to be a standalone, but I thought this addition was so valuable and well written! The POV split between our two protagonists added a level of depth that I really appreciated, and I truly adored getting more of Julian’s hilarious, ridiculous, loyal, gorgeous family. This book really focused on communication, protection, and support, and it was all depicted so beautifully by Julian’s group. And, of course, I adored Yadriel, Maritza, and their chaotic, complicated family!

“The weight of memory pressed down like a storm cloud, but he didn’t have to weather it alone. Not this time.”

Grief was definitely a present theme throughout this story, which made sense, because all of our characters had suffered such loss. It didn’t put too dark of a turn on the story though, providing depth and emotion, with the rest of the book so warm and comforting that it burned away the heartbreak.

“Sometimes people cling to their pain because it’s all they’ve known… Or because they’re afraid of what comes next, if they let it go.”

Overall, this was a valuable, touching, adorable continuation of our favourite characters. It also had a bit of a Christmas atmosphere running through it, which I loved! There was also some connection plot-wise to Book #1, so I’d recommend a reread if it’s been a while, and if your memory is as shocking as mine. So glad I read this!

[Lance]

Okay so THIS is the correct page for the Cemetery Boys sequel… slay!! Apparently this is coming out in a year 👀

[annes_mesmerizing_books]

What do you even say about a sequel you loved without spoiling the first book for anyone who hasn’t read it yet?

Since Cemetery Boys is told from Yadriel’s perspective, I assumed we would get Julian’s POV this time. But when I found out Espíritu is a dual POV, I was over the moon!

This story takes place around Christmas and explores more of the Brujx traditions. From the first chapters, the found‑family theme pulled me right back in. That is really the heart of the book for me: showing up for each other, even in the smallest ways. And can I also say how much I loved the brotherly love between Julian and Rio?

The only reason I rated it four stars is because I kept forgetting details from Cemetery Boys. That is completely on me, since I read it in 2020 and should have done a reread before starting this one.

But trust me: as a sequel, this is absolutely satisfying.

Thank you, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and NetGalley, for this awesome ARC!

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[Book Riot Community]

Book Riot’s Most Anticipated Books of 2026:

The graveyard gays are back! It's been almost six years since Aiden Thomas first introduced us to Yadriel and Julian (and my fave Maritza, a real one). This fall we're headed back to the graveyard in Espíritu, which follows Julian as he navigates life post sacrificial ritual. Things are mostly pretty sweet—except for the part where he sees shadows in his eyes, glowing eyes in the dark, and these ominous dark spots on people that no one can explain. There's also a mysterious new nonbinary bruje in the mix, one who Julian is drawn to but Yadriel is looking at with some side eye for their cutthroat approach to brujeria. Let's gooooo. —Vanessa Diaz

[phoenix *ੈ✩‧₊˚]

rtc!!!

[Grapie Deltaco]

Thank you, Macmillan, for sending me an early copy!!!!

This was one of my most highly anticipated releases of the year as a long-time Cemetery Boys fan and this sequel did not disappoint.

Yads and Julian are back with a sort of new, sort of familiar familiar enemy disturbing the locals spirits. The book is very Julian-centered, which I appreciated because it gave us deeper insight into his relationships with Yadriel, his brother, and his friend group/found family.

This story was heartbreaking, heartwarming, dark, funny, and hopeful all at once as well as features a very interesting. supernatural approach to exploring how trauma lives in the body.

Aiden Thomas loves writing stories about the healing nature and importance of community just as much as I love to read them. This sequel was awesome.

CW: death (including loved ones/parents), grief, violence, attempted murder, mentions of transphobia

[~.•stella•.~ {take me to camp half blood}]

I SWEAR IM GONNA EXPLODE IF I DONT GET THIS IN MY HANDS SOON

[lost in epilogue | ཐི༏ཋྀ​​݁ ₊ ݁ .]

"You’d be surprised how often things go sideways when you hang around with ghosts and gays.”

it's been four years since i read cemetery boys, but it was surprisingly easy to slip right back into this!

it was fun to reunite w this crew. while CB focused on yadriel, julian definitely took center stage in this sequel. after his more-than-near death experience in CB, he's now grappling with the after effects of that experience. since this takes place about 2 months after, everything is very fresh still.

there is the introduction of a new non-binary bruje in town, angel, further expanding the traditional cultural roles of their magic communities. but something is going on in town, including with julian himself and the sudden appearance of dark shadows no one else seems to see... except for angel.

julian must also juggle not only his new love life, but his secret new world of magic from his best friends and family. something that only further alienates his post-mortum self from his previous life before.

i had fun reading this one. the mystery and pace moved quickly, there were some spooky moments that added to the ambience, we got some excellent laughs (esp from maritza, my fav!), and some excellent food and brujeria ritual descriptions that transport you right into the pages.

thomas always delivers a fun and sweet time in his fantastical stories, and this didn't disappoint!

an honest arc review <3

[Olivia]

NAH 'CAUSE WHAT THE FRICK

[Booksblabbering || Cait❣️]

A sweet and tender book where the supernatural is almost a side plot to the tale of self-discovery, acceptance, and friendship. 

Whilst Yadriel was the main character of Cemetery Boys, Julian is the focus here. There is also a new non-binary character which demonstrated the capability of expanding traditional cultural roles of their magic communities.

I kept mixing this up with The Sunbearer Trials and that’s on me. Likewise, I did not remember enough of book one and lacked that connection to the characters. 

I never regained that love for the characters as there was a lot of ‘tell’, not show, as well as repetition that slowed the pace down. 

The relationship between Yadriel and Julian was present, but I took a backseat to personal reflection and growth. The found family was better than ever, but the intimate moments were fewer than I had expected for a sequel (no, I don’t mean physically, but the quieter moments). 

I won’t be rating this as I don’t think it’s fair due to my own disconnect and forgetfulness of book one.

Audiobook gifted by publisher. 

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[Aster]

IM SCREAMING

[clown_the_basking_shark]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ashley Shea]

Because the release date is so far away, I cannot even start talking about this without spilling all the secrets! Everything I'll be talking about is in very general terms...

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH and I cannot wait for the world to be able to enjoy it. I loved Cemetery Boys immensely when I read it for all the reasons. And here's the thing... I didn't LOVE the The Sunbearer Trials (I really liked the first one, specifically I was not super psyched about how they wrapped the duology up with Celestial Monsters), and if I'm being honest, I didn't like Lost in the Never Woods. So imagine my nervousness: I loved Cemetery Boys, my first Aiden Thomas read, and from there, it just went downhill for me. So when I heard they were releasing a book 2 in the Cemetery Boys series, I was so so nervous! I begged silently for this to be amazing, and was prepared for it to be a letdown.

I can confidently, with my whole chest, say this did not disappoint (and also I'm sorry for doubting you, Aiden). AT ALL! The pacing was great, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. The thrills were legit thrilling, I got goosebumps, gasped audibly, my husband regularly asked me if I was OK just by looking at me (I think I looked worried for a week straight, just constant worry face!). The heart of the series is also on full display. Grief is handled with grace and kindness; friendship, found family, love, joy, peace, and acceptance, all major themes that are communicated so well by everyone's words and actions. If this were just a really nice book about finding your family and loving who you want to love and accepting others and helping your loved ones through their grief, it would still be a really heartwarming, well rounded book... But then you add in this amazing magical element and the thrilling action and it's just perfection.

I don't want to just leave it at that, so, let me see what I can say, based on the book description, to set up future readers to be sure they pick this up...

Picture this: we're just a few months past the events of the first book, and Julian is still thrilled to be involved with Yadriel and Maritza and the rest of the brujx community, making friends with the spirits and enjoying time with his boyfriend and their snarky third wheel, but he's been having nightmares, hearing whispers in the dark, and now there's a pulsating dark mark on his chest that only he can see. Because one of my favorite things ever - good communication - is utilized throughout this book, Julian keeps Yadriel and Maritza abreast of all that's going on. Soon, some of their favorite spirits from the cemetery start going missing, and there's an uptick in malignos wreaking havoc in random places, like behind the Jack in the Box. Enter Angel, a nonbinary bruje from Texas who's traveled to LA en route to visit their family in Mexico. They save Julian and the gang and Julian quickly befriends them, seeing another soul in need of a place in his found family. Then the impossible happens: Julian sees a dark mark over his bestie boo bear Luca's little chest, and Angel reveals they can see it too. And so follows a thrilling adventure where Julian wrestles with feeling drawn to Angel because he feels understood by them in a way even Yadriel - who is still supportive - can't right now, but also this niggling worry that the way Angel is doing things is too violent and too suspicious given everything that's going on with the spirits.

I didn't expect (although I should have given Thomas more credit) this book to tie in so so well with the first one, being such a perfect continuation given the time lapse between book 1 and book 2 release, but clearly they were spending that time making it absolutely perfect, and that needs to be celebrated. I didn't expect the book to deal so heavily with grief, although I should have, right? Book 1 deals so heavily with magic I didn't really think about grief and letting go and being at peace with lost loved ones but book 2 is FULL of touching moments of saying goodbye and living with [healthy] pain, allowing those we've lost to occupy a space in our hearts. I loved the message of grief being manageable when it's surrounded by love.

I cannot wait for this to be available to everyone. I love this series so so much. Thank you so much to Aiden Thomas and the publisher and NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Rosa]

I am a bit sad about this one. I still love the characters and their banter and all that, but I did absolutely not care about the plot this time around. It was just kind of dragging on and a bit boring. I think it might have worked better if the book was shorter.
The audiobook narration was great though.

[Aubri]

This book was such a disappointment. I loved Cemetery Boys and was excited to see a 2nd book. However, that excitement quickly dwindled as this 16-hour audiobook dragged and dragged. There was SO MUCH repetition of almost identical scenes, particularly with Julian. His character was irritating and nonsensical - his behavior made no sense and the book provided no rational or reasoning for it. And there was no redemption arc for his shitty behavior besides a half-hearted "oh, sorry about that."

Ángel was created entirely to be a 2 dimensional foil for the two boys. Their background was intentionally kept cagey and we learned almost nothing about her. The way her character was handled honestly felt transmisogynistic and deeply performative.

Julian and Yadriel's relationship felt more like friends or brothers rather than teenagers who are dating. Julian was portrayed as having almost an addiction to being in Yadriel's presence - as soon as Julian got home, he'd leave again because he HAD to be with Yadriel. This was weird.

As was Julian's random badgering of Yadriel around his binder use; this was shoehorned into other conversations and felt very forced and probably written because some cis editor felt the need to emphasize how "dangerous" binding is and used Julian as the pushy cis voice to tell a trans person how they're doing it wrong. As if dysphoria is irrelevant and less real than a cis person's concern, and any gender-affirming actions must be 100% "safe" because "girls" must be protected. It felt incredibly tone-deaf in our current climate. I expected better.

The family relationships felt hollow and painfully stereotypical, as if nothing in book one ever happened. Even Maritza felt unreal and way over the top but with no substance. There were basically no deep authentic conversations in this book at all.

And honestly, the amount of disappearing these kids do with literally no consequences from their families is unbelievable. To do what they do, families would have to be straight-up negligent (which doesn't play true with these characters). They'd have been actually grounded and on "house arrest" in the first 25% of this book. This book ignored even its own internal logic.

This read like a TV show that had a great first season and then they fired the entire writers room and everyone just skimmed the season 1 scripts. Everyone felt like caricatures of their book 1 selves, and I just found myself more and more upset with the author and editor for doing wrong by these characters and making me read a 2nd/3rd draft.

Also, I read a lot of YA and older children's books. And this book exemplifies YA written in a way that I would have hated as a teenager. These kids are not portrayed as resourceful but instead as stubborn and foolish. They push forward, never talking to adults, not because the adults are untrustworthy or dangerous, but because "we don't talk to adults." It was entirely circular logic - "we don't talk to adults because we don't talk to adults."

As a person who was surrounded by harmful, abusive people as a teenager, I resonate with YA books with teens that don't have adults they can talk to so they have to figure it out themselves. But this isn't that. I found this book to be a spit in my face, as if teenagers are just stupid willful creatures who don't talk to grownups just "because." Many teenagers have very good reason for not talking authentically with adults. But these teenagers were just a caricature of that, which I found deeply insulting.

[Sekido]

guyyys OMG its getting a squeal who wants to buddy read this pleaseee

[Kelli]

This is the sequel I didn’t know I needed—but I totally love!!!

This was GREAT!!!!

I really appreciate how this second book goes further into Julian’s family life, really adding more nuance to his relationships, especially his relationship with his older brother. I like how their shared grief over the loss of their father is depicted. Even when it’s a shared parent, the loss can be very isolating because it’s so hard to put into words and even harder to tell someone how it feels. I think this story demonstrates that well for a young audience.

Also, I enjoyed the rest of our merry band of diverse characters.

They truly have, like, maybe one brain cell between them? I can’t believe these kids are saving the world—and yet.

Brain cells aside, their hearts are in the right place and together, they can take down any evil spirit.

Again, I think this series just has an overall powerful, moving message.

We can save each other.

It’s such a lovely message—and one that is very needed right now.

Together, we have so much power and it can be channeled into love and into helping each other.

I got a little teary towards the end of this book because it was just so nice to see these young people breaking generational curses and working through their trauma by bringing it to light and letting friends share burdens. It’s the kind of gentleness and the kind of living-out-loud bravery we need, too.

Anyway.

I would like MORE of this please! Aiden Thomas, when are you writing your next book???? I hope it is soon—or, you may find me in your walls!!! Just kidding. Unless…👀

[Sophia Barsuhn]

I don't think I've ever been as baffled by an author's success as I am by Aiden Thomas's (and by extension, Holly West's success, as she's been Thomas's editor from day one). Five books in, and I am still waiting for the success to feel earned. There is so much wrong with this book that it feels impossible for me to cover everything in this review.

But, as always, I feel like I should start by talking about the (few) things I liked. I liked the scene on page 193 when Yadriel and Julian were making candles in memoriam of their parents; that was pretty sweet. Pages 274-276, where Julian and Rio share a moment of grief and healing together, was fairly well-done. There was a cool little contrast between Angel and Yadriel on page 165, how Angel's dagger "seethed. Sleek. Lethal. Made to hurt" in contrast to Yadriel's dagger feeling sacred. And bonus point: there was only one instance of that godawful phrase "a surprised laugh jumped in Julian's chest" throughout the whole book! That's a stark contrast to the nine in Celestial Monsters, fifteen in Cemetery Boys, and a whopping twenty-three in The Sunbearer Trials. However, all of these mildly good things are not enough to save the book.

Par for the course with Aiden Thomas, the writing and editing are just absolute dogshit. I think the most egregious example I can give of bad editing and proofreading is near the bottom of page 395. "They stood to the side while Lita and the others made their way back through the cemetery, leaving the old church behind." That sentence, word for word, is repeated after a brief paragraph break. That alone tells me that nobody was paying attention while proofreading, but I have plenty of smaller (though no less egregious) examples. In this 415-page book, we have fourteen hisses, nineteen huffs, twenty-one smirks, twenty-six snorts, thirty instances of someone blushing/flushing/cheeks or ears turning red with embarrassment, thirty-four swallows, and sixty-two mutters. It also doesn't help that Julian is noted to be "swallowing guilt" on page 49 and then again on page 50, or when characters muttered three times in one page (as happened on page 204). A good editor would have noticed things like this and suggested ways to fix it, but, much like almost everything else Thomas has ever written, I don't think anyone actually edited this book.

The way this book is written reminds me of when you're twelve or thirteen and you fancy yourself a writer. You think that more is better, so you're going crazy with metaphors and similes and descriptions. You're still finding your own voice, and eventually you learn to dial it back a little. Somehow Aiden Thomas, despite being five books in, is still writing like a twelve-year-old. This book was so incredibly overwritten, and so much of the writing was filler. So much of it was taken up with characters having meaningless, boring, unfunny conversations (pages 34-38 are a great example), or the narration repeating information we already knew, or just taking forever to get anywhere. There was no flow between paragraphs; everything felt clunky. This book has no business being 415 pages long. I genuinely think you could cut at least 200 pages and miss nothing.

I last read Cemetery Boys in 2023, but I think that even if I'd read it right before jumping into this sequel, I still would not know anything about Julian's friends. They're literally just names on a page. Luca's gay, Flaca's trans, I think Rocky's a lesbian but I'm genuinely not sure, and I have no idea about Omar. I don't even know what they look like! Human beings are more than just sexuality and gender identity! I had no reason to care about Luca being a pawn in Angel's game, because despite Aiden always describing him as tiny and cute and having homophobic parents, believe it or not, that's not a fleshed-out character.

The misogyny and sexism is still prevalent and it makes me angrier with every book. Maritza has no character beyond being a wisecracking hothead, and it's almost funny how irrelevant she is to Yadriel and Julian. Like Y and J will have an entire conversation with Maritza standing right there, but it's like she's got a switch hidden in her that Aiden flipped to off, like, "Shut up, girl. The boys are talking". When the cemetery is being guarded on page 341, of course all the guards are men. Lita is the most stereotypical grandma ever: cooking insane amounts of food and flirting with younger men and throwing chanclas around and just being endlessly kind and wise. It really grates on me, how little she feels like a character. For an example of a fictional grandmother who feels like a fully-fleshed out character, please read Homecoming and Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt.

If you take out the very unnecessary swear words and innuendos, you have a bottom-of-the-barrel middle grade book. Yadriel, Julian and Maritza are all supposed to be sixteen or so, but they felt like thirteen-year-olds at the very most. Yadriel and Julian had absolutely zero chemistry with each other, which is also an Aiden Thomas staple, with the exception of Lost in the Never Woods. Perhaps all the characters feeling much younger than they are also contributed to how unfunny the humor was in this book. The phrase "booty beatboxing" on page 53 sounds like something a twelve-year-old would think was funny, and also had the added bonus of making me cringe out of my skin. The overly long gag on pages 21 and 23 of Maritza freaking out over seeing Julian's nipples was painfully unfunny and completely ruined the serious tone the scene was going for. I understand that humor is very subjective, and I get the sense that Aiden Thomas was chuckling throughout the writing of this book, thinking about how funny they are. I, on the other hand, never even smiled.

There were no stakes in this book and absolutely no tension. To be fair, it's hard to maintain momentum when characters spend several pages sitting around, recapping something that we just saw happen, or shoving exposition down our throats in the most boring way possible, but when you want us to believe that a bunch of people are going to die, people we are theoretically supposed to care about, maybe you should pick up the pace a little, maybe make it so at least one character actually dies or at least gets hurt without us immediately knowing that everything will be okay. In Tolkien's The Two Towers, for instance, during The Battle of Helm's Deep, even though I know that Aragorn and Théoden will win the day, I'm still incredibly tense the whole time I'm reading, because Tolkien knew how to build tension and make us care about his characters. Aiden Thomas does not know how to do that.

There were a few times where I was reminded of other, arguably better media while I was reading this book. The release of Bartolomé on pages 44-46 reminded me strongly of the movie Coco, especially with the guitar playing. On pages 369-370, the scene where Bahlam summons a jaguar out of the cenote is straight out of The Road to El Dorado. I'm sure there are plenty more that I'm missing, but those are the ones that stuck out to me.

I know I'm going to publish this review and think of even more things to add, because there is just so much wrong with this book that needs to be discussed. For now, I will say that this book very narrowly beats out The Project by Courtney Summers for my worst book of 2026, and the only reason is because if someone said I had to read either The Project or Espíritu again, I would pick The Project. As much as I hated that book, I could easily read it a second time. Espíritu, on the other hand, I never want to read again.

[Jenna-booklooksbyjenna]

these characters already mean the world to me, so seeing them so strong, powerful, and loved makes this book feel extremely special. Thank you Aiden!!

[kate]

Cemetery Boys is one of my favourite books and following that up was always going to hard but Aiden Thomas absolutely nailed it. This was beautiful. It had everything I loved about the first book, with an added focus and exploration of grief and mental health. It was magical, hopeful, moving, special and a joy to read. A very easy five stars from me.

[Jasmine Galloway]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cemetery Boys came into my life at the perfect time and this book did the same.
Everything I loved about the first book is done EVEN BETTER in this one (I didn’t think that would even be possible).
I loved every moment of this book (even as I was sobbing). The family dynamics are done so so so beautifully and I love the way that trauma impacts how the characters form and maintain relationships.
I also LOVE the way trauma and healing and grief are handled.
I loved getting a deeper dive into the characters that I loved from the first book and I loved getting Julian and Yadriel’s perspectives in the chapters.
I love learning more about the traditions of the brujx and building up the mythos in this world. I need 100 more books on my desk next week.

In short, I loved everything about this book and it was worth the wait.

[Sharon]

CW: [graphic:] violence, blood, grief, death, panic attack/panic disorder, [moderate:] death of a parent, child abuse, medical content, [mentions of:] transphobia

I wasn't sure where the sequel to Cemetery Boys was going to be headed, but I'm very glad we got it! This book gives Julian a story of his own while adding a very moving epilogue to Yadriel's story, tying up a couple loose ends from the first book.

[cael]

this COVER REVEAL OH MY GOD this is everything to me we are so back

[yienne ౨ৎ]

SHUT UP THERES GOING TO BE A BOOK TWO????????
i literally remember reading this back during covid oh my god. im actually SO sat.

[Samuel]

It pains me to have to give Espíritu 2 stars but there were too many issues with writing style and flow for me to rank it any higher. I would first like to focus on the positives though.

Yadriel and his family remain as loving and tight-knit as ever. The dual pov was an interesting choice for the sequel, as Yadriel's story and motives were arguably stronger and resonated deeper for me. Aiden Thomas continues to weave tradition, spirituality, and complex discussion of teens from tough backgrounds in a digestible manner. His attention to the trans body, voice, and trans joy is what drew me in to their work to begin with. I was happy to see bits and pieces of Yadriel's journey but puzzled that he was sidelined in a series that started with him as a protagonist to begin with. Catritz's redemption and relationship with Yadriel tugged on my heartstrings and was a perfect ending for him, controversial as that might be.

Unfortunately, this book was chalk full of repetition, not just with descriptors and actions for certain characters, but with chapters rehashing themselves when it was Julian's POV. Julian's story line had one too many characters to focus on and the consistent overlapping dialogue between his friends distracted from the larger plot. The tension between Rio and Jules, Rio and Luca, and Rio and Angel fell incredibly flat, reason being the amount of characters to keep track of. There was no time for me to develop an appreciation or understanding of who these people were. On the other hand, when we were given more insight to Julian and Rio's father, I felt their story line flourished more. I also feel like there was a missed opportunity for Julian and Rio to see the spirit of their father leading up to the climax of the book.

Which leads me to Yadriel. I would have loved to have the main focus return to him again. The tension between himself and his father, not feeling like he is taken seriously was severely lacking. His frustration felt misplaced and came out of nowhere--granted, he is a teenager and it would have been great for there to be more depth and perspective rather than his father rolling over immediately.

Overall, there was so much going on in the book that it would have been better to choose one perspective to follow. I don't mean to gripe about the author's choices or what I personally think would have made the sequel better. I still want to celebrate Thomas' work and contribution to writing mainstream gay trans relationships for a vastly underrepresented and silenced group of people. As said in previous reviews, The Sunbearer Trials holds a special place in my heart, and I feel that Thomas thrives when we focus on a fictitious and fantastical setting, rather than the present day.

[Anneka]

3.5/5 ⭐️

[Ash]

Could have benefited from being edited and condensed down more instead of feeling slow & repetitive.

[may ✨]

3/5 stars — Read the full review on my blog
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan UK audio for the audio ARC and the opportunity to read and review.

I had high expectations because I loved Cemetery Boys when I read it in 2020, but for multiple reasons the sequel didn't feel as developed as the first book. A few paragraphs from my review :

My favorite thing about Espíritu is the magic and universe, and I was so happy to see more of that in this sequel, because I remember it being one of the best things in Cemetery Boys. Aiden Thomas really brought so many beautiful things into their story and carefully put together the magic system—brujeria—in a very visual way. In Cemetery Boys, I remember feeling like we were slowly unfolding the brujx’ world and discovering it. Here, it is different. You’re already fully immersed in it but it’s like opening new drawers here and there. Really lovely.

I feel like the story didn’t know what it wanted to be, and ended up doing everything only halfway. The romance, the found family, the action and adventure. None of these aspects felt fully developed. While the first book had a clear focus and direction, Espíritu had too many and then, none at all. The ideas were great, and the plot was pretty interesting but it ended up being predictable and really suffered from a pacing issue. The first half dragged, it took a while to build the action because there was too much to introduce and throughout the entire book, you have slower scenes—sometimes repetitive scenes—constantly pulling you back.

I had issues with the lack of character development, weak dialogues (unnatural, didn't sound like real teenagers), a generally juvenile voice and a bunch of excessively light-hearted scenes that felt out of place.
The truth is, the characters have enough light in them that they naturally bring to the story, we don’t need it to be exposed in dedicated scenes. I even think Aiden Thomas’ writing in general and the universe and magic of the duology all have a lot of light and hope which really counterbalances the darker and heavier parts of the plot.

If you're interested in my full review, it's on my substack!

Despite everything, I still think there's a lot of good things in this book. If you've enjoyed Cemetery Boys, you should definitely read this sequel :)

[Stefani]

I read Cemetery Boys in October 2020, and absolutely loved it. I watched all of Aiden’s virtual events talking about the book. I bought fan art, read the book two more times. Bought Aiden’s other books, loved those too, they have become an auto buy author for me.

Not gonna lie, I was nervous/excited about a sequel to this book. The first one wrapped everything up so well, a solid standalone, I was worried a sequel would live up to the first one.

But it does, in its own way. We get Julian’s POV in this one, and that boy stresses me OUT 😂. Yadriel continues to be his anchor, his calm, his peace, his focus when his brain is all over the place. Their moments together are big, but quiet and sweet, not the main focus of the novel but just these lovely step aside, breathe, forehead touches before diving back into the action.

There’s a heaviness that was there in the first novel, beautiful lines about grief that really shake you while you’re reading. Found family also a key theme. Theres a scene with Julian and his brother that had me in tears.

The visuals, the FOOD, all things I remember as standouts from the first one, and so much care in the traditions and little moments.

Overall, I thought it was a really wonderful sequel. Honestly this would be a whole series really, Julian, Yadriel, and Maritza solving mysteries in the cemetery 😂. Every book a different story, one of Julian’s friends could take along in each one. It would be a fun time, I’ve buy them all.

If you haven’t read Cemetery Boys yet, or any of Aiden’s books really, you should. And then pick this sequel up when it comes out on September 8. I’ll be getting my copy from one of my local indie bookstores ❤️📚.

Thank you @netgalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

[davdashaaa]

Awww, this was SO fucking cute 🥹🥰
I honestly had such a good time with this one. The plot was interesting and fun, especially for a YA book, but what really got me was everything underneath the story

Family — both the one you’re born into and the one you find along the way🫂
The connection we have with people who are no longer here. The importance of remembering them, carrying their stories with us, and not letting them simply disappear🩵🪦

And yes… I cried. 😭
Not constantly, but definitely a couple of times, and I’m blaming Aiden Thomas for that

But obviously, the biggest reason I was emotionally invested was Yadriel and Julian🥹🥰
Their connection is just… AH. Especially the way Yadriel supports Julian without always needing to say anything. Sometimes he just stays, loves him, understands him, and lets him know he isn’t alone
THAT kind of love🥹💞
No grand speeches needed. No complicated bullshit. Just I’m here. I love you. I’ve got you.

Yo también amo 👻🩵🛹🪦🫂💞

This whole story left me with such a warm feeling, and honestly, I’m very happy I got to spend more time with these characters🥹

5/5 ⭐️
1/5 🌶️