The Cemetery Boys by Heather Brewer

Published: March 30th, 2015

Publisher: Harper Collins

Pages: 288

Copy: Publisher via Edelweiss

Summary: Goodreads

When Stephen is forced to move back to the nowhere town where his father grew up, he’s already sure he’s not going to like it. Spencer, Michigan, is like a town straight out of a Hitchcock movie, with old-fashioned people who see things only in black-and-white. But things start looking up when Stephen meets the mysterious twins Cara and Devon. They’re total punks–hardly the kind of people Stephen’s dad wants him hanging out with–but they’re a breath of fresh air in this backward town. The only problem is, Cara and Devon don’t always get along, and as Stephen forms a friendship with the charismatic Devon and something more with the troubled Cara, he starts to feel like he’s getting caught in the middle of a conflict he doesn’t fully understand. And as Devon’s group of friends, who hang out in a cemetery they call The Playground, get up to increasingly reckless activities to pass the summer days, Stephen worries he may be in over his head.

Stephen’s fears prove well-founded when he learns of Spencer’s dark past. It seems the poor factory town has a history of “bad times,” and many of the town’s oldest residents attribute the bad times to creatures right out of an urban legend. The legend goes that the only way the town will prosper again is if someone makes a sacrifice to these nightmarish creatures. And while Stephen isn’t one to believe in old stories, it seems Devon and his gang might put a lot of faith in them. Maybe even enough to kill for them.

Now, Stephen has to decide what he believes, where his allegiances lie, and who will really be his friend in the end.

Curlypow's thoughts:

How to describe 'The Cemetery Boys'?  Lets go with a pinch of Poe; a soupcon of King and a liberal dash of weird and we might just about be there.  This is a strange book that was more than a little disturbing.  I'm not even sure that I really enjoyed it, but I have to admit that I read it pretty much in one sitting and never considered putting it down. It's not quite horror, not quite supernatural, but very atmospheric and quite engrossing.

Cara and Devon are strange - very strange and the way they warp Stephen's mind is so disturbing. Even after finishing this book I'm not entirely sure what happened. And what's with the crows? Seriously! I almost feel that I need to read it again to find out if I missed anything. 

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