The Cemetery Boys

Good, reading it and then the other Cemetery Club

I picked this up when I was at the library with my kids. Thought it looked interesting.It felt like a weak rehash of Lost Boys. Boy moves to new town to get a fresh start due to family problems, moves in with grandparent, finds town has a dark secret, falls in with tough-guy crowd that may be connected to that dark secret, falls for the only girl in that tough crowd not realizing her link to that crowd's leader... leader even has platinum blonde hair. David, is that you?There's enough deviation that it's not the exact same tale, but the amount of overlap left this former 80s kid groaning inwardly. Toss in a few dark gothy cliches - Tarot cards, clove cigarettes (I'm not sure kids even know what these are now?) - and some random social justice talking points (confederate flags, pro-life bumper stickers, pro-gun bumper stickers - doesn't add or detract from the story, just feels weirdly planted)- and you've got a dark brooding tale for the modern age.It's not the worst thing I've read, but I'm surprised to find it's a New York Times bestseller. Even thinking back to my gothy, occulty, everything dark younger years, I can't see myself loving or re-reading this. Even several decades past that point in time, I find myself annoyed that Cara's tarot deck seemed to only include the major arcana. I tried like heck to get into doing tarot readings but there were just too many things to remember and put together. I would have enjoyed seeing the tarot explained in a move conversational manor... but even witchy, mysterious, dark Cara seemed to have a very limited understanding. Either Cara and Stephen had horrible shuffling skills, or Cara wasn't playing with a full deck.

Book wasn’t purchased as a “used” book but it sure looks used. Plus the original receipt purchased in 2016 was tucked inside it. It’s a Christmas present so I didn’t return it.

I was a fan of Z Brewer's Vladimir Tod novels, so I eagerly picked up their first standalone novel. Then I let it sit around for ages. The copy compares it to Hitchcock and Hinton, but the movie it brings to my mind is The Wicker Man. (And now Midsommar, though the book predates that movie by some years.) Protagonist Stephen might have seen some horror movies, but there were some obvious gaps in his fandom that might have helped him.Stephen is a city boy who has been forced to move to the small town his father grew up in - specifically, the home of his horrible grandmother. His mother had to be institutionalized, and with the bills piling up, his father couldn't afford to keep their house. Stephen hates his grandmother, the boring town of Spencer, and his father for getting them into this situation.I felt so old reading The Cemetery Boys. All I had was sympathy for Stephen's father, who managed to get out of the regressive town he grew up in only to get forced back, all while trying to do the best by both his wife and child. What a horrible fate. Thus, I did appreciate that part of Stephen's journey is learning to appreciate his father.The bulk of The Cemetery Boys focuses on Stephen's relationship with Devon and his twin sister Cara, who Stephen crushes on hard. To no one's surprise, the twins are bad news and keep getting Stephen deeper into trouble.There aren't too many surprises in The Cemetery Boys, but there is a nice sense of place and a truly sad conclusion. It's a decent read for young horror fans.

daughter likes it