This is a well written heart felt book that I think my students need to read. There is something in it for everyone, while people might have different struggles, Blake's journey to accept herself, to deal with her drinking, her upwardly mobile aspiration to cover up her shame, her sometimes toxic girlfriend and lack of acceptance from her parents and how much that hurt, for who she is racially and the lack of guidance from her white mother and for her lesbianism. Other issues are explored as well, i a very relatable story

Jas Hammonds writes such fascinating, well-thought-out characters - I couldn't get enough of this book.

I was initially concerned just because this is the second book by this author and I really enjoyed their debut.
I loved this though and was super excited to read it. This story is incredibly dark and I do urge everyone to look at trigger warnings before starting this book.
But I can see this book being great for certain people who are dealing with addition, as this is a lot of what this book deals with.
This book is fast paced and I might actually have enjoyed it more than the debut? I don't want to say a lot about this book because I feel like it's something you need to get lost in.

Oh, my god, Hammonds has enthralled me completely.

I've read some books that have wrenched my heart, but this one ripped it from my chest and spat it back at me full force. And all I can do it fall on my knees and be eternally grateful.

This book is so beautiful. It's ruthless in its portrayal of addiction, alcoholism, sorority hazing, toxic relationships, broken family dynamics, etc., but there are still many moments that are so unbelievably soft and gooey that it balances it all out (Shoutout to Nettie for being one of the most amazing best friend characters I've ever seen in YA). It sinks its sharp teeth in you and gripes you til the end in the best way possible.

Hammonds' writing is my absolute favorite. I especially love how they implemented 'How-To' into the story. I actually practiced this very technique in classes at college, so seeing it used in a professionally published novel made my heart both soar and feel incredibly fond. Plus, they played with the spacing and italics to make the reader feel what Blake was feeling during her drinking binges - totally warped and off the rails. It takes a great amount of skill to pull that off successfully, and Hammonds has those skills.

Overall, Jas Hammonds is one of my favorite authors, and I will go on to consume everything they grace upon the world.

⭐️: 4.5

Jas Hammonds is a damn genius. I don’t know how I cared so deeply for this MC yet constantly wanted to shake her and yell at her. I have never read a book so frustrating, but that 👏🏻 was 👏🏻 the 👏🏻 point! There were so many audible sighs and groans that came out of me while reading. (I swear this is a highly positive review.)

I don’t do spoilers, so this isn’t one (more of a teaser) but Busch Gardens nearly did me in!!!!!!

Please nobody talk to me for awhile. I’m going to be drinking a cherry coke slurpee and processing my feels. 😤🤬🥴😵‍💫😭🥰🥺🫣🫠

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest rating and review.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Right from the beginning, Blake captivated me. She has anxiety that she mutes by drinking with her incredibly rich girlfriend and all of the country club teens. Her girlfriend, Ella, and their best friend, Nettie, plan to go to the same college in the fall. They also plan on rushing the ultra-exclusive, super-secret, girls-would-kill-to-get-in sorority for women of color, the Serena Society. With Ella always toting around Blake in high society, Blake finds that people seem to like her more when she’s drunk. Blake also feels like her girlfriend loves her more when she’s drunk and not when she’s being a “nervous Nettie” coined by the girls.

Blake keeps going hard, literally. With micro aggressions within her family, her own anxieties intensify the further she gets along in the rushing process. Blake does sketchy things, but she doesn’t have a problem..does she? Her girlfriend loves “Big Bad Bee”.

This trio of girls really clicked with me. The raw vulnerability and reality of Blake’s life is too real to count. I was sucked in by the beautiful prose, unwavering dialogue, and a shy girl who is just trying to find her place in the world.

This is a dark and sparkling novel. Pick it up when it comes out. 5/5 stars. This book made me fall in love with YA novels again.

4.5 stars

It’s the summer right after graduation and Blake and her girlfriend, Ella, have been invited to join the elusive Serena Society. The Serena Society is a sorority that promises lifelong networking and community to women of color. While Ella’s acceptance is given, since her mom is an alum, Blake has to work harder for acceptance.

However, as the pledging gets more intense, so does Blake’s drinking. Soon, she notices that it’s slipping into every other crevice of her life. With success on the horizon, Blake has to decide how far she’s willing to go to make it happen.

Thanks to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for an advanced copy of Thirsty by Jas Hammonds to review! This is Hammonds’ second book, and since I absolutely loved We Deserve Monuments, I was excited to pick this one up.

Tone wise, this book feels different than We Deserve Monuments, while still dealing with heavy issues like addiction, relationships, mental illness, and race. Blake is mixed (her dad is Black and her mom is white), and she struggles a lot with her relationship with her mom because of this. She realizes that a lot of her struggles stem from this relationship, which seeps into other aspects of her life.

This book also deals heavily with alcohol addiction. Blake becomes addicted to the way that alcohol makes her confident, but her close friends notice that it is not doing good things for her mental health. She goes through a process of realizing the roots of her issue and eventually gets on the way to getting help. Though alcohol is the main addictive substance for Blake, her emotional journey can be applied to other types of addiction as well.

We also get a lot of complex relationships in this book, which Hammonds seems to excel at. I remember a lot of that in their debut novel as well. It’s important in showing that relationships that seem good on the surface might have other problems happening underneath.

All in all, if you like books that might deal with heavier topics and enjoy strong writing and characters, definitely pick this one up when it comes out in May!

This book was incredible! I went through such an emotional journey from devastated to hopeful. I found myself really connecting with different pieces of the characters and rooting for Blake.

The premise of the story was so interesting, with the inclusion of a secret society reminiscent of Greek life and the pledging process. Jas did an incredible job creating an intricate story that not only makes you feel for the characters but also touches on the effects wealth inequality, racism, and mental health issues can have on people.

I absolutely recommend this book to folks who enjoy queer and coming-of-age stories.

An incredible look at what it's like to be enmeshed in drinking culture and the choices we make.

Blake wants nothing more than to join an exclusive society with her girlfriend and best friend. When her bestie worries about Blake's drinking, Blake insists that she's fine. Even as her desired life starts to crumble around her, Blake is *fine*. Or is she?

I read this in a day. The addiction portrayal the decisions Blake made are vivid and intense. The writing is stellar and immersive. And it tackles tough topics like toxicity, gender identity, and race. I can't wait to read more by Hammonds!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review!

Drinking is so imbedded in our culture and Hammonds displays that oh so well. Blake finds false courage and acceptance by drinking when she enters high school. Such a chaotic time in most teens life, when they are trying to understand themselves and their place in the social settings the find themselves in. Blake gets mixed messages about her own drinking and her drunk behavior. The story thread of Blake's family had good elements - her mom's comments, he dad's distance, but her parents relocation did not add anything to the story and seemed weird. There were other elements that didn't ring quite true as well. But, the underlying story of teen binge drinking was the key to this book. Good for Blake that she could just decide one day not to drink. Too many people struggle much more. Glad the author included her finding help, support, and a group of like minded people at Jameswell.

Thirsty is a near-perfect teen novel (older teens/high interest). This book deals with not one, not two, but at the very least, three hard-hitting topics.
Blake has harbored resentment for years due to a thoughtless remark from her mother. This does lead to one of my favorite quotes from Blake's brother--"She's a white woman. Of course, she says sh!t like that sometimes."
There's homophobia and transphobia; once again from people who should be better. These issues aren't just given a cursory glance, but the main event is Blake's problem with alcohol. As with so many teens and young adults, Blake needs a socially acceptable bolster, and alcohol is it. I like how instead of just being presented with examples of her behavior and its consequences, we hear how it happened and why--from Blake as well as other characters. Everyone has their own take.
The wrap and ending for this story is just so good and, I have to say, surprising. I was expected the usual tropes-rehab or losing everything and everyone. Instead, Hammonds took a less jaded, more realistic approach and it works.
I could blather on since I've barely touched on half the things in this book. I'll just say that you should read it and enjoy the story!
#NetGalley

I absolutely loved Jas Hammonds' debut novel WE DESERVE MONUMENTS and was very eager to read THIRSTY: A NOVEL. Honestly, I wasn't sure how THIRSTY would measure up in comparison. It's very different--and it exceeded my expectations. It's fantastic!

Blake, Ella, and Annetta seem like the perfect trio of friends at the start of summer following their senior year. As we meet Blake and her girlfriend Ella, they seem like THE couple. Yet, as we're drawn into Blake's story, we see the subtle cracks, written in such a brilliant, nuanced way by Hammonds. Blake's story is especially compelling, from her desire to have a different life from her parents to her fear of not being good enough to her drinking spiraling out of control.

Blake's attempts to deal with her drinking and the continued pressures to keep doing it at all of the Serena Society social events are not easy and are not a linear progression. It's this approach that makes the novel go from very good to outstanding. Too often stories of struggles, like drinking, are treated as problems with simple solutions, which is not very believable.

Jas Hammonds gives us a character who really, really messes up; yet, it's very satisfying to root for her. I am so excited to get this book into my hands and the hands of my students!

This was an amazing book and I really enjoyed it! I really enjoyed the way the book was written, especially in the moments when Blake was drunk and how that influenced her. It was an amazing read!

aww this was such a fun book to read! it developed some great topics and themes that are important for teens

This book took my throat in its fist and never let go.

Welcome to the land of teenage alcoholism— where appearance is everything and money is king. Blake, a gay biracial teen, has always felt othered. The sparkle of class and the party is enough of an high to chase — she’ll chase it to oblivion, over and over again, even if it kills her.

The book centers around the pledging process of a secret society for collegiate black women. If you make it, doors open for you, and any alternative is unthinkable.

For me, the “How to” chapters are where the fist caught my throat. It's unnerving how well Jas Hammonds captures young alcoholism and it's surrounding wake. So many want to watch Blake burn— but the shine of the life she wants is so bright she won't give up the chase and we can't turn away even as she careens towards her bottom.

This book is a triumph— it's a 10/10. It's depiction of young addiction is something I hope everyone will read and share widely. Thank you Jas Hammonds for this layered beauty.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an arc to review.

Jas Hammonds has done it again. They have been an auto buy author since I read We Deserve Monuments, and Thirsty confirms I made a good choice. I was so invested in the characters and couldn’t wait to see how things would turn out. Jas clearly has a thing about writing stories that focus on belonging. They have this way of writing such layered and complex stories that still feels simple in its delivery. For me it’s an author superpower.

I’ll return with additional thoughts.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced eARC.

How do you quiet the negative voices? The anxiety? The depression? So many people suffer from these things and many find ways to deal with them, some good and some bad, none good in extreme. Blake uses alcohol to help her be the girl she wants to be. And the girl she things everyone else wants her to be. When things get out of control as she tries to join a secret sorority Blake has to try to find herself, without alcohol, and with friends and lives new and old. This is a tough book to read. I think anyone with anxiety or depression will see themselves in Blake, in her coping mechanisms, even if alcohol isn’t their method of choice. This book is beautiful, painful and in many ways life changing.

The first chapter is a mishmash of thoughts of biracial, lesbian, party girl Blake, aka Big Bad Bee, and immediately, a band tightened around my chest. Jas Hammonds's story pulled at me like a magnet and didn’t let go until the end.

Drinking. It’s so normal. Partying and getting drunk and maybe getting reckless. Or careless. To let go. The peer pressure can be enormous. Because you can’t be funny when you don’t drink, right? But it’s not only the people around us who force us to drink. What if we only find the courage when we drink? What if we drink because we only then become a funnier and bolder person? Or what if we only drink because we think other people will like us more? That’s what this book is about.

I know about the pressure. I never liked alcohol but drank because other people expected me to. And I didn’t want to be the odd one out. After my second kid was born, I never started again. It just happened, and now I haven’t drunk for years. Sometimes I take a sip. And immediately know why I don’t like alcohol. I just don’t like the taste and the smell. And still, people frown when I tell them.

Thirsty is a harsh story. But also a hopeful one. Blake falls hard. She’s not a happy drunk. She drowns. She wants to belong. And almost destroys herself. But in the end, she also pushes herself up to the surface. And starts breathing again. For herself. No one else.

I believe Thirsty is an important book. For teens to know they can choose their own path. But also for adults. We all can feel that pressure to belong. If we just respected everyone’s choices and saw the beauty in our differences. If we just saw the beauty in ourselves …

This was such a respectful way of dealing with addiction, the characters were everything that I was hoping for from the description. The plot has a great concept and was written perfectly in a way that I was hoping for. It had a great young adult element was and that the characters were perfect in what was going on. Jas Hammonds does a great job in writing this and can’t wait to read more from them.