Eres Mi Calma: Aiden Thomas Returns to the Cemetery in Espíritu
Young adult author Aiden Thomas has returned with Espíritu, the sequel to the New York Times bestselling Cemetery Boys, and I couldn't be more excited. Cemetery Boys first caught my attention not only because it's a queer book, but because it's a queer Latinx book, a mix that isn't seen nearly enough. Throw in some brujx powers, ghosts, and heartwarming friendships, and this queer Latina is instantly reeled in. If you're looking for your next Halloween or Christmas read, or if you just need some queer brujx Latinx representation, this book (and series) might be just what you're looking for.
"Growth isn't a deviation from what we've done before, but a natural progression to honor all those who make this community strong."
The first installment, Cemetery Boys, followed Yadriel, a trans teenage boy trying to find his place in a traditional brujx community and within a family that did not accept his gender or his abilities as a brujo. Long ago, the ancient goddess of death gifted Yadriel's community the blessing of seeing spirits: the men, known as brujos, can release lost spirits to the afterlife, while the women, known as brujas, hold the ability to heal bodies and souls. As Thomas charted Yadriel's journey of self-discovery and self-worth as a real brujo, he also introduced a plethora of lost spirits. Yadriel set out to find the spirit of his departed cousin, hoping to find his murderer and set his soul free. Instead, he found Julian, a restless spirit, and together they joined forces to solve the mystery surrounding his cousin's death.
Espíritu follows Julian, chaos magnet extraordinaire and former ghost, as he deals with newfound powers, the aftermath of being sacrificed, and being brought back to life by his new brujo boyfriend, Yadriel. It was so fun to follow Julian and Yadriel, their rowdy friends, a vegan bruja cousin and best friend, and a mysterious nonbinary bruje as they explore Yadriel's family cemetery in East Los Angeles at Christmastime, ahead of the traditional Dance of Eternal Light. Thomas fills Espíritu with an incredible cast of characters, including generations of brujos and brujas, and a cemetery full of restless spirits that are disappearing. He also gives it an energetic plot driven by young love, grief, kids going against authority to follow their own path, humor with a side of despair, and a dark demon emerging from the past, lurking in the shadows. The book also delves into gender roles, a new character who makes them second-guess tradition, fierce protection, grief, and secrecy, which seems so deeply rooted in the Latinx community, even when there are ghosts nipping at your feet.
The central force of Espíritu is Julian's relationship with Yadriel. Though it started on shaky footing, what began between an uneasy ghost and a trans brujx has evolved into something sure, pure, and powerful. The love Julian and Yadriel hold for each other is like no other I've read: they don't just love, they protect wholeheartedly, even from each other, and they will do anything in their power to keep one another safe. Though their relationship was built on reluctant friendship and mystery-solving, Thomas masterfully shapes its dynamic, from the "will they, won't they" tension of the first book to a more complex, committed relationship in the second. They see things in each other that no one else can, or does, and I found that so beautiful and heartwarming. There is also more tension, and more external and internal pressure, putting their relationship at risks that weren't there in the first book.
"They don't just love, they protect wholeheartedly, even from each other."
In the first book, Julian protected Yadriel. In this one, Thomas explores a shift in their dynamic: Yadriel protects Julian from himself, and the burden of being this shield consumes him. His deep love for Julian and his uncertainty about relying on the older members of his community leave Yadriel to handle all the mysteries of Julian, and of the cemetery, by himself, feeding the fire of the tradition of secrecy. It's a never-ending cycle. One person keeps a secret from another in hopes of keeping them safe, when in reality all that does is push the other person to take matters into their own hands. While Yadriel acts as a shield, Julian acts as the rain pelting against it. He witnesses the burden and exhaustion weighing on his boyfriend, so he strives to preserve the calm, which was a beautiful concept for this book to explore.
"One person keeps a secret from another in hopes of keeping them safe, when in reality all that does is push the other person to take matters into their own hands."
The story explores the heavy burden of living through difficult experiences and processing deep trauma and grief. Grief is a prevalent theme throughout the book, which makes sense, considering every character has gone through a great loss. Although grief can be dark and saddening, Thomas makes sure this book is more than that: the grief provides depth and emotion, but there is also warmth and kinship, comfort and love.
Whenever a character, no matter who, was down, someone always came to the rescue with chaotic sleepovers, card games, or even the offer of the last drop of milk for their cereal. In Julian I witnessed deep signs of trauma and grief: the loss of a father, the burden of keeping the truth of his new lease on life from the people who matter to him, malignant spirits stalking his every move, and the pressure to be reliable, to save everyone from the darkness growing inside them, even though he himself is plagued by the same deep darkness.
Thomas embodies grief as an invisible, deep, dark mark on a person's chest called a marca hueca. The marca hueca is a beautiful manifestation of grief and sadness. It pulsates and grows, seeping into you until it completely snuffs out your soul's flame. It grows or dissolves with the strength of the grief or trauma. When someone you love dies, or you go through a traumatic event, it feels as though a piece of you is missing, so Thomas's image of loss as a hole in your chest that only worsens over time was as haunting as it was beautiful. The only ways to heal it are to let time do its thing or to have some brujx powers up your sleeve.
"Thomas's image of loss as a hole in your chest that only worsens over time was as haunting as it was beautiful."
Overall, I'm happy with the book. Some things did not work for me, like the portrayal of the teenage characters other than Julian and Yadriel, the pacing, and how repetitive things got. Secondary teenage characters seemed to fall flat or were easily mistaken for one another. Aiden Thomas writes many of them on the same note: teenagers are mean, teenagers are douchebags.
In general, the novel holds a very low opinion of teenagers. Rather than presenting a stereotyped idea of a teenager, Thomas could have shown different personalities, which would have added more depth to the story. The pacing was another problem. I'm an avid reader; when a book's pacing is right, I can finish it in a day or a day and a half. This novel took me a week. Although it is a beautiful book with very interesting story elements, I don't think it needed to be over 400 pages. At times the pacing felt too slow and a bit repetitive. I love an in-depth story, but this one felt like an overload of information, some of it unnecessary to get the story elements across.
Nevertheless, Aiden Thomas wrote a beautiful book, with scenes so vivid I could picture them in my mind. Take this description: "A gust of wind blew through the graveyard, carrying with a breath of sulfur and something older—the heavy scents of wet stone, mildew and incense left to rot. Their church had been a place of reverence once. Now it smelled like a wound." Thomas's ability to place readers in the story, as if they themselves were part of it, is beautiful. That skill was the main thing that kept me reading.
In the end, I'd give Espíritu a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars, because despite all the trials and tribulations, Julian and Yadriel rise above it all and become stronger, more confident versions of themselves. I'd been anticipating this second book since Aiden Thomas announced its publication date on social media, and from the moment it was released, I've been recommending it to my fellow readers. There is a queer Latinx spot missing on many of our bookshelves, and I hope writers like Aiden Thomas continue to help us fill it.
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