A beautiful queer Latinx urban fantasy

While 2021 is being A Lot™, queer fiction is bringing me life. In this wonderful tale, [a:Aiden Thomas|17960047|Aiden Thomas|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1623441053p2/17960047.jpg]’s début, our trans teen protagonist is determined to prove that he's a brujo and worthy of recognition as such from his community, and his father who leads it.


This is not the cover, but such a lovely image of Julian and Yadriel (and Lady Death) that I just had to use it.

When the brujx all sense the shock of Yadriel’s cousin dying, he and best-friend Maritza know they can help — and prove his worth. Santa Muerte clearly agrees when she recognises Yadriel’s power and he summons a ghost. But it’s not his primo, it’s adorably irritating bad-boy Julian Diaz, who is definitely not ready to move on into the afterlife. And Día de Muerte is fast approaching.

Delightful, loveable characters work together to solve 2 sudden deaths, and shows us a gay trans boy proving himself, his vegan bruja bestie, a dead gay teen buzzing with wonderfully irritating energy even as a ghost, and a Latinx magical community preparing for the festival where they can share a couple days with their departed loved-ones, with the reality of America’s racism in the background.

This is another of the books I had pre-ordered and started the year with and I wept more than once. I look forward to reading more queer and trans Latinx representation from Aiden Thomas in the future.