I FINALLY READ THE VERY FIRST BOOK ADDED TO MY GR TBR LIST!! I read this book over a whole month so excuse me if I misremembered events or names :3
[3.5 stars]

TWs: Use of blood in magic, deadnaming, death of a parent (mentioned), gender dysphoria, homo/transphobia, misgendering

Thoughts:
I LOVE the Latinx culture here like omg (i'm not latine but filipino lolzz). There are some similarities between Latinx and Filipino culture, which are evident through the multi-generational households and strong community/family bonds. I really love the inclusion of different spanish accents (puerto rican, cuban, colombian etc.) and the diversity is just *chef's kiss* There's queer rep, obviously, but I'm so glad to see transfem representation (Flaca)!! Another thing I love about Cemetery Boys is the found family aspect (Julian's friends and eventually everyone else) like OUGHH it makes my heart swell every time! I loved how the author wrote the atmosphere (at the cemetery, on Dia de Muertos, the underground chamber thing, and the aquelarre) and how vivid they all are to me :) Also!! The bits of brujx history, latinx culture, and the story of Lady Death and the jaguar god is just so good and really interesting to read about! I love that :DD
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Okay, this is gonna be controversial but. I didn't really like Yadriel :( There was just something about him that didn't click with me, I don't know if it's because he came across as a little self-centered to me at some points in the book, or maybe he was a little whiny? I loved Julian though, I thought he was a really interesting character. I totally didn't expect him to be this silly, kind, and funny 'bad boy' and his unpredictability made me instantly love him.  Maybe that was what Yadriel lacked -- the element of surprise in his character.

Anyhoo, I need to talk about the plot. The book starts with lots of exposition about the brujx and the cemetery, but I felt that there was way too many details at such an early point in the book. Yadriel is introduced, as well as his cousin Maritza (love her btw), where they both are sneaking into the old church so that Yadriel can be blessed by Lady Death to be officially a brujo. I can't remember the exact point when Julian comes into the picture but there he is, a spirit and incredibly distressed, but it's okay because he's fine with being a ghost anyways (i LOVED this part, it completely surprised me that a recently dead guy is more worried about his brother getting mad than the fact that he himself just died a few minutes ago). THEN one of the brujx dies mysteriously but his body is nowhere to be seen. Fast forward many pages to the end (on the eve of Dia de Muertos) where the missing brujo's and Julian's bodies are [REDACTED] for the [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] was the villain in the underground chamber. 

Here's where I felt the story finally picked up. All i can say for the ending/climax is that The Villain was kinda predictable BUT I felt sorry for them because their ending was so quick and sort of swept under the rug at the end of the story. I wanted more reasons behind their sudden rise to Villany, and in the end, it didn't deliver quite the punch to the twist I was hoping for.

Another thing I must point out is Yadriel and Julian's relationship. I was hoping for more zing to their relationship and a genuine liking towards each other but the writing was so passive that it diluted parts of their interactions. I thought the halloween party at the beach was beautiful, and so is the ending. There are obviously some parts where I really liked Yadriel and Julian's interactions, but most of the time the interactions were repetitive and sort of boring.
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Whew. There were definitely more cons than pros for this book in my opinion, but I still liked it. That ending at the aquelarre was just magical (AND SO IS LADY DEATH APPEARING!!) and the trans and gay representation is amazing. As always, take my review with a grain of salt :)