This was (thankfully) almost as good a book as the first one.
Yadriel and Julian remain the main draw of this series; their relationship is sweet, healthy, and #couplegoals. I was so very grateful that Thomas refrained from the bane of my existence: taking a couple that had a great buildup in the first book, and then inventing some ridiculous, convoluted reason to break them/cause conflict in the second just because the plot needs something to flesh it out. There is relationship drama in this book, but it’s familial and not romantic.
Which is the main problem in the book; even more than the supernatural problems (ghosts are disappearing, Julian is starting to see strange black marks on people, and a bloodthirsty god might be trying to break through to Earth) the largest problems are the secrecy and lack of communication that prevails. Julian isn’t talking to his friends or brother, Yads’s community (especially his father) is keeping things from him, Rico knows things but is waiting for Julian to tell him things; it’s a mess. But Thomas saves what could have veered into “well now it’s gone from normal to irritating, unbelievable, and bordering on DNF-worthy” by the sheer fact that he has people talk things out, mature, learn from their mistakes, and most importantly, apologize. And there is an appearance of a character from Cemetery Boys that shows that grief and anger and conflicted and complicated, and nothing ever wipes away all that came before.
This book is also very strongly,unapologetically rooted in the LA Latinx community; if you don’t know Spanish, or are not too familiar of Latinx food/customs, an Internet search will probably be your best friend. (Like the fact that I did not know enough to realize this is more of a Christmastime book than a Halloween one.) There is one scene near the beginning of the book that reminds me a bit of Hector from Coco.
There are a few things that did detract from my enjoyment: the big battle at the end of the book is a little rushed and convoluted. The mysterious nonbinary Brujx Angel, that makes an appearance and becomes integral to the plot is basically a cipher, and I have no idea why within ten minutes of meeting them Julian is all but swearing a lifelong commitment and will accept no criticisms towards them.
For a bunch of High Schoolers. this group has an extremely immature/borderline Puritanical view on shirtlessness, or anything sexually related. (I suppose it’s meant for humor; it’s just not that funny.) Julian’s friends border on being more the concepts of characters than actual characters. There is at least one misprint (a sentence is repeated a paragraph apart). Lita, Yadriel’s abuelita, reads like an overly flirtatious Latina version of the grandmother from Mulan.
And for some unknown reason, other than to show life still happens in the midst of insanity, the characters take a moment in the middle of the world potentially ending to have a sleepover.
Even with all that, I really enjoyed this book, and I’m sorry that there is really no logical way to continue the story after this. I might pick up his other books though, to see what they’re like.
