The Cemetery Boys audiobook

finished in 1 day! deliciously twisted!

Thanks to Goodreads First Reads I now own an ARC of this book! And thanks to HarperTeen and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an e-galley of this title. I have to say that I am one of the biggest fans of Heather Brewer, and consider myself to belong to her minion horde. I've met her several times, and plan to meet her again any time she is in my town or at some event where I'm at. She's such a great voice for young people, and her stories are all very good! Okay, I'm not very good at gushing I guess, that was kinda silly. So here goes my review of this book!A majority of the book does take place in a cemetery like the title would lead you to believe. The main character is Stephen, and he has just had to move with his dad back to the small town where his dad grew up. They are having to move in with a grandmother that he never knew. And she seems really particular from how his dad tells them that they have to move in. And once she shows up, Stephen sees that his dad wasn't kidding. They've had to move because Stephen's mom kind of had a breakdown and had to go into a mental institution. His dad has lost his job, and they can't afford his mom's medical bills anymore. Stephen's first introduction to the small town was a guy just standing outside his house staring up at the house. But Stephen isn't the kind of guy to act scared, nope, he yells out the window that he's going down and immediately heads down to confront the guy. The guy is gone by the time he gets down there, but has left a leather book, a journal on the sidewalk. Stephen grabs it and goes chasing after the guy. On the way he runs into a girl named Cara. A girl he'd already seen at a diner in town when she'd had to convince her mother to leave after the mother had been yelling at people that they were going to burn!If you want to read the rest of my review you can go to my blog, Lisa Loves Literature.

Z Brewer has always been one of my faves. Back in my high school days I binged Vladimir Todd over and over. I distinctly remember going to Borders (RIP Borders) and requesting a great YA read that would keep me hooked. They presented me with Vladimir Todd and instantly I was in love. Z Brewer's writing has always done it for me, and this book was no different.This book is spooky and intense, but in a good way. Stephen is forced to move when his Mother is hospitalized due to mental illness. His Father decides it's a grand idea to move back to the creepy small town he used to live in and move in with his Mother. The Grandmother? A bit weird and scary, let's be honest. So, Stephen moves to this tiny town with creepy lore and thinks he finds some friend. The Cemetery Boys basically describes these buddies he hangs out with (they go to The Playground a.k.a. the local cemetery). We learn there are rumours and myths about the town and many deaths that have occurred there. While Stephen tries to cope with being new in town, liking a girl and trying to fit in, dark mischief occurs... And Stephen will never be the same.SO SPOOKY. This helped get me into the Halloween spirit, even if that wasn't its intention. I did think the middle half of the book was kind of slow and I would have liked to see the lore come out sooner, but that's a personal preference. The story goes har and fast suddenly when the action starts.This book is twisted, and if you're an avid reader like me you'll probably figure out the ending early on. Otherwise, it's a great book! I can see why some readers love it and others don't. As a big fan of Z's writing, I was all in. I enjoyed it and stayed along for the right. Maybe this is another one of those niche books? You'll love the ending or you'll want to whip the book across the room. Or both.Four out of five stars.

I was so intrigued with the concept of The Cemetery Boys, the idea of a town that has it's own folklore, an urban legend that Stephen who has moved to the town of Spencer with his Father gets involves in when he befriends twins Devon and Cara and their friends.The legend is to be rid of the bad times in the small town a human sacrifice is to be made to the Winged Ones, and the good times shall prevail, the residents of Spencer take this lore seriously, Stephen takes the stories with a grain of salt but the more he hears and the beliefs of his new friends gradually has him believing in the possibility of the Winged Ones.With a burgeoning relationship with Cara and his new friendships, Stephen finally feels like he has a place in Spencer but things aren't want they seem, and when odd things begin to happen that point to Devon, Stephen must decide how involved he wants to become and whether he can overlook the disturbing events that seem to be occurring.Full of suspense, mystery and a sense of eerieness this book will have you on the edge of your seat as we discover whether the Winged Ones are real or just a figment of the towns imagination.I really enjoyed this story, this was the first book of Heather's that I've ever read and I hope to pick up some more books of hers at some point, a great and original standalone.

I received a copy of this ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.I've been meaning to read a book by Heather Brewer for a long time now as she is a wonderful St. Louis author, a terrific person, and an important advocate against bullying. When I heard Heather speak about this particular book, a mix of small town small-mindedness plus a bit of horror and paranormal, I thought it was a perfect place to start.The Cemetery Boys is a combination of Lord of the Flies meets small town horror, and it succeeds in spades. The narrator is Stephen who is forced to move to small town Spencer (which could be argued is a character in its own right), and who meets two twins in pretty short succession-- Cara, who is destined to be his love interest, and is probably my favorite character in the whole book, and Devon, the mysterious leader of the pack of boys in town that seem to be involved in nebulous activities. The whole book is shrouded in lingering evil, suggestive by the raven feathers that seem to float around every chapter. But the evil is truly in the psychoses of a small town. The characters are rich and deftly drawn. Stephen is a likeable main character and undeniably BOY. Brewer does a terrific job with the mood and setting, and Spencer was vividly real to me. I grew up in a small town (although not quite as small as Spencer), but I felt like those details were just perfect. I felt claustrophobic reading the book, just like I did when I was a child living in that town. Cara is fascinating as a character, and she definitely stole every scene she was in. I liked that she was different than most female characters in YA that I've read about. And I wasn't expecting any twists in the book, but suddenly, boom! I was completely floored by the last 50 pages. Overall, a ominously moody YA novel with a mixture of horror and suspense, and a terrific characterization of a small town as well as its inhabitants. I need to read all of Brewer's other books pronto.

The Cemetery Boys was my first Heather Brewer book but if it’s any indication of her talents as a storyteller, it definitely won’t be my last. The Cemetery Boys is an intriguing mix of horror and paranormal and it hooked me from the very start.I honestly can’t tell you what I expected from The Cemetery Boys. It’s unlike anything I’ve read and the synopsis really didn’t give me a clue what was going to happen. I think that’s the perfect way to go into this one. The prologue and first few chapters are intriguing enough to hook you and that’s all you really need to keep going. As I read I actually found myself getting more invested because I didn’t know what was going to happen. The story truly was unlike anything I’ve ever read.Heather Brewer’s writing is simple but gorgeous. I found The Cemetery Boys to be an extremely easy book to read because the writing was straightforward but in no way dull. Heather Brewer’s descriptions were so well written that I had no trouble picturing everything in my head. It helped set the atmosphere of the story and I adored that about the book. I also adored that Heather Brewer managed to completely capture Stephen’s voice in her writing. I’d heard that she was good with male MC’s but this was the first time I’d seen it for myself and I completely agree with everything I heard.The town of Spencer was an awesome setting. It felt like the town itself was a character. There was so much mystery and history to the town. Everyone who grew up there knew what was going on but Stephen was an outsider, finding out about everything for the first time. The folklore and stories that he was told were beyond captivating and definitely pretty creepy.Overall, The Cemetery Boys was my first foray into Heather Brewer’s books but definitely not my last. The writing, the setting, the characters, and everything else about the book added up to make a fantastic story that kept me on the edge of my seat. Paranormal/horror fans need to check this one out.

The air suddenly filled. My breath came out in quick, gray puffs. And then I heard it.Vwumph-vwumph-vwumph. When I first discovered The Cemetery Boys I knew right away that I wanted to read it.  I immediately thought of the 80's classic teen-horror movie The Lost Boys and hoped the author gave this story the same vibe of horror, teenage humor and adolescent hormones surrounded by the strange and supernatural. Overall, the story gave me mostly what I had hoped for and ended up being a fun and chilling read. Feathers, an abandoned cemetery and the darkly charismatic villain. The Cemetery Boys is centered on the strange mystery that surrounds the small town of Spencer and the legend that seems to have roots in its very beginnings. A story of creatures that seem to be straight out of an urban legend. Our protagonist Stephen finds himself wondering just how much of Spencer's legend is based on truth, and just how do his new friends fit into the story. Led by the darkly charismatic Devon, Stephen soon finds himself part of this rebellious punker group hanging out in an abandoned cemetery. The problem is, rumor has it the town is in a bad way and only a sacrifice can restore the town. With a forbidden attraction to Devon's sister Cara, and the increasingly dangerous actions by his new friends take a sinister turn, Stephen will have to figure out what exactly is the town and Devon hiding. Something wicked comes this way. I loved how the story opened up immediately with a flash forward to a very extreme moment that sets the whole tone for the story and makes it clear that there is something wicked that comes this way, and Stephen just might not make it out alive. Dark and sinister, we as the reader, know that there's trouble ahead for the town of Spencer, and in particular it involves Stephen and Devon. We don't know what exactly, but we know it is coming.  Welcome to Spencer, population 814. Home to a sinister legend. In need of a sacrifice. The story then takes us back to the beginning where Stephen finds himself with his dad, living in the tiny, rural town of Spencer, population 814, with his slightly angry and eccentric grandmother. For an adolescent teen, a boy at that, life is now over! Teenage boy humor and hormones combine with a supernatural mystery in a fun way. I found myself eye-rolling at some of Stephen's antics when it came to Cara and teen love/lust, but it was all in good fun. What kept me hooked to the story, of course, was what was behind the legend-those creatures mentioned and the knowledge of what was going to lead to that very scene that The Cemetery Boys opens up with. Devon is so dark, I just knew he had a connection, but what?  Heather Brewer slowly closes in the sinister plot, pulling it tighter and tighter, just like an old Hitchcock movie-never completely showing you what's behind the curtain, until the end where you feel yourself grasping at the noose she tightens on you!  You fascinated me, but I wanted to know what really makes you tick. My main issue that I had with the story, despite really enjoying the mystery and supernatural aspect, is the fact that I felt the characters needed to be fleshed out more, and in the end they were all a bit vague feeling. I knew in the end, what made them tick, but over the course of the story it all felt a little too surreal, making it hard for me to connect with any of them beyond the surface. In the end ... The Cemetery Boys delivers plenty of chilling atmospheres and supernatural mystery reminiscent of the show, The Twilight Zone, with Stephen's voice delivering humor and boy-adolescence to round out this darker story. An unforeseen twist at the end made this a fun and entertaining, horror filled read. My rating: 3.5-4 Stars. I liked it! PLEASE NOTE: A courtesy review copy of this book was provided by HarperTeen in exchange for my fair review. Thank you, HarperTeen for the review opportunity!

It's The Lost Boys, only without vampires. Seriously though, I was thoroughly entertained by this story. It's told very cinematically and has that feel of nostalgia and a hint of the sinister. Masterful build of suspense. I'm a little nonplussed with the ending; I found it quite irritating. However this is very much worth your time.

Phew!I thought I’m not going get some sleep last night. O.oThis book is quite creepy & freaky.I am not a big fan of horror books & flicks, most of the time when I started reading/watching it by the first quarter of half of it I stopped reading/watching it. I love my sleep and I don’t want to dream these things. GOSH!!! Hell to the NO!So… I surprised myself for finishing this book and I finished it around 11:30pm and everything is dark except my book. Well… I am gonna thank my blanket for protecting me from the Winged Ones. *MC’s Corner* Note: Spoilers.• What ‘the Winged Ones’?It’s a lore in a town called Spencer in Michigan (I am not sure if this town really exist, don’t ask me) about these mythical creatures that brings bad in town. Bad lucks & horrific accidents happen everywhere and the people in town ‘believe’ that to appease the Winged Ones is to offer a human sacrifice.• Heather Brewer made me believe in this book. I felt like she’s telling somebody’s story, this lore of some town. And Stephen, the protagonists, I felt connected to him. It was like I am him, feeling his sadness, his problems and his curiosity, especially. I love every page, everytime I turns it I just kept on wanting clues and answers. I did and… the ending is so unexpected, unpredictable but it all made sense. It was like on exam and there is question with multiple choices and you answer is wrong; you wished you chose the other one. *thumbs up*• The Characters: o Stephen Truax –due to his mum’s illness he was forced with his dad, Harold, to move back to Spencer, a small town with a small population, to his bitch of a grandmother. He is desperate to find friends and then he met the very opposite twins, Cara & Devon, and Devon’s friends ‘the Cemetery Boys’ (they weren’t actually called that in the book but they do hang out on the cemetery, which they called ‘the Playground’).And then he learned the odd history of Stephen and he started to gather more information… that soon is going to turn his world upside down.o Harold Truax –he is Stephen’s dad. When he was young he did everything just go escape Spencer and he did and he never looked back. Little does he know that he just can’t get away to Spencer. o Cara –he is going to be Stephen’s girlfriend.#SPOILER She’s going to give you clues. She uses tarot cards. o Devon –the leader of ‘the Cemetery Boys.’In the start of the book there is this scene that he is going to sacrifice Stephen to the Winged Ones. So while reading the book all I think about is how is that going to happen. (That is not a spoiler.)• I love the way it ended. But I don’t like how it ended.This book is twisted-ly good and I am looking forward to the books Heather Brewer is going to write next.• CLUE: You’re gonna burn. *MAJOR SPOILER* ARC provided by HarperTeen (HarperCollins Publishers) & Edelweiss in exchange of honest review. Thank you! @gleekidMC