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When Stephen’s dad says they’re moving, Stephen knows it’s pointless to argue. They’re broke from paying Mom’s hospital bills, and now the only option left is to live with Stephen’s grandmother in Spencer, a backward small town that’s like something out of The Twilight Zone. Population: 814.
Stephen’s summer starts looking up when he meets punk girl Cara and her charismatic twin brother, Devon. With Cara, he feels safe and understood—and yeah, okay, she’s totally hot. In Devon and his group, he sees a chance at making real friends. Only, as the summer presses on, and harmless nights hanging out in the cemetery take a darker turn, Stephen starts to suspect that Devon is less a friend than a leader. And he might be leading them to a very sinister end…”
The Cemetery Boys is different from what I usually read, but when I read the synopsis (and saw the pretty cover), I couldn’t resist picking it up.
The story is dark and mysterious, and these effects are emphasized well in the initial setup of the book. It has all the perfect ingredients for a spooky story: a small, quiet town where everybody knows everybody and nobody ever leaves, a mysterious tale from the town’s past that everyone seems to believe, and a few mentally unstable parents with chilling messages. Each time a character is introduced, you can almost feel the mysterious tension surrounding them through Brewer’s words. Each resident of Spencer seems to have their own unique story of the town and its history, which creates a puzzle-like effect in which things seem to fall into place. The experience is entirely immersing and leaves you feeling like you’re in the room with the characters, trying to solve the mystery.
What I loved about this story is that, as I said, it had all the right ingredients for a dark and creepy story, but it also manages to pull them all together in a way that makes sense and keeps the reader interested. Not only do the characters seem to come alive on the page, but the setting descriptions really make you feel what it’s like to live in Spencer. In their small town, kids hang out at the “playground,” which is really the local cemetery, which makes for a few interesting scenes.
When Stephen meets his first friends, a girl named Cara (who may be more than a friend) and her dark, brooding twin brother, they don’t hesitate to share their own creepy Spencer story of a friend who drowned in a refrigerator. Their story sets up the background of the town and the history of the bad things that happen there, even before Stephen discovers the real threat of Spencer—a threat that might put him in more danger than he knows.
The story is full of suspense and betrayal at every turn of the page, and by the end you’ll want to reread the story just to see what clues you missed the first time around. It was surprising and exciting, and a reading experience that was very different for me, since I’m not one to read a lot of creepy mystery stories. I’m definitely glad I picked this one up, because I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. This is a very quick read at less than 300 pages, so if you are looking for something short and suspenseful, I would recommend The Cemetery Boys.
(PS I’m also planning to read The Blood Between Us by the same author, so if you have read it let me know what you thought!)
I’d love to hear what you thought of the book, or what you think I should read next!
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Happy reading!
