We Deserve Monuments brings generational pain and suffering into the light. These are things that many families shove away into those deep dark places and let them fester forever. This book teaches young readers why that isn’t the best move. The author brings us into a world that has so many layers, so many families with their own problems, that it makes it seem as if you’re sitting there listening to your friends talk. This is what makes a contemporary book amazing!

Not only does the main character talk about dealing with the same issues that the majority of high school and college aged kids dealt with over the past few years, but the character is also dealing with family issues that many face at one point in their lives. Also, from an educational standpoint, there are many connections that can be made to tie events that occurred in this book to those that happened in the past. We Deserve Monuments is a must for any school!

(4.5 Stars)

This book left me a complete mess. It made me feel so many big emotions, and so many *different* emotions, sometimes on a page-by-page basis. This is the kind of story that takes you to the brink of being overwhelmed, of holding all these seemingly-conflicted ideas and feelings, without ever pushing you over the edge, and it takes an incredible level of craft in order to maintain that balance.

If you want to talk about messy characters and messy families, this is the book. I really love how truthfully this story excavates how impossible it is to reckon with the realities and lived experiences of multiple generations at once. There are three completely different and valid versions of reality co-existing within this one family: with Mama Letty, Avery’s mom, and Avery herself. Each of them feels the truth of their own experience so deeply in their core, and trying to forcefully map that onto the other people in their family is a huge part of what causes friction and conflict in this family.

And I love that this is another story very much not interested in arguing for the characters’ morality. It’s not about whether any of these characters are correct, whether they’re allowed to feel the way they feel, and it’s not about the person with the least amount of mistakes getting to dictate what is right. They’ve all made mistakes, they have all hurt each other and continue to hurt each other as they reckon with this long-standing grief stemming from their family history and even with the slow-coming grief tied to the family’s impending loss.

And it’s a really powerful thing, especially in a story that centers Black characters, when the narrative isn’t that you have to be a good or perfect person in order to be justified in experiencing your emotions. You don’t have to "earn" your feelings. You do not have to contextualize them in someone else’s reality. And conversely, just because you experience pain doesn’t mean you can’t inflict pain just the same as anyone else.

So there’s a lot of complexity there with all the different characters and all the different kinds of relationships. We see how these characters bring each other joy but they also bring each other pain, and how their actions or choices effect each other in a range of ways they could never predict. And that brings me to how this story is so beautifully challenging the reader to hold all that joy and that pain—and every emotion in between—all at once.

I think that’s really where we find the heart of the story. It’s about firmly planting a flag in the complexity of the human experience, and in the fact that we all want to be loved, understood, seen, and to be worthy of remembrance—in both our triumphs and our faults. It really is such a beautiful, multi-faceted, incredibly expressive story.

My one minor note is that there’s a plot twist towards then end that feels a little bit underdeveloped and doesn’t really serve the story in the way I think it was intended. But even taking that into account, reading this story was still such a memorable and moving experience, and I would highly recommend picking this one up.

“I wanted to cry because I didn’t understand how a world so beautiful could also harbor so much pain.”

Thank you to Netgalley t for my claimed copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Seventeen-year-old Avery is moving with her parents from Washington to Bardell, Georgia, in order to take care of her terminally ill maternal grandmother, Mama Letty. She isn’t happy about the sudden move, especially when her mother doesn’t even have a good relationship with Letty. Moreover, there is some past secret that they refuse to talk about. As Avery settles into her new school and makes new friends, more secrets come tumbling out, and Avery is left wondering if resolving past issues is more important than maintaining present relationships.
The book comes to us in the first person perspective of Avery.

Throughout this story as I followed Avery I could feel her journey and her story unfolding within me. Her being out and proud of her sexuality was super inspiring! This is a profound and beautifully written book, a testament to YA that takes its readers seriously. I really loved it and I can't wait to read more by Jas Hammonds when it comes. This book is not like any other debut I’ve read, it was done right and I feel the author pour themselves into this book. I’d definitely recommend this book for anyone who likes the YA genre as it has a lot of teenage angst, or someone who wants to see queer representation. It works so seamlessly in this.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced copy of this book to read.

This book was super powerful. I love that the character was not only biracial but gay. I think it was super powerful to watch her grow while visiting her grandmother. The part I liked the most was not only how she changed but she changed to be stronger than she was before. A moving story about finding yourself in unlikely places.

This book is a beautifully written coming-of-age story. The cover is stunning, and the writing is so visual. The characters are three-dimensional and the relationships between them felt so real. I also love the way that character histories unfolded throughout the book.

You open a book like We Deserve Monuments and it demands you pay attention. The author came in with such a sure and strong voice, I reveled in the words.

Avery and her parents head down to small town Georgia to spend time with her grandmother who is dying of cancer. There are old family wounds and the book shares the pain of three generations of women who cannot find a way to communicate let alone heal.

Mystery wrapped in prejudice!
Avery goes to her mother’s hometown in Bardell County, Georgia, to take care of Mama Letty, who’s dying from cancer, after being away for twelve years due to the contentious relationship between her mom and Grandmother, Mama Letty. Racism and the Ku Klux Klan destroyed Mama Letty when they killed her husband when Zora, Avery’s mother, was just a baby. Afterwards, Letty drank and checked out and was cruel to Zora and now they continue to be angry with each other. Avery and her father are caught in the crossfire. Scandals and secrets are revealed while Avery tries to break down the hurt between her mother and grandmother before time runs out. Mystery wrapped up in prejudice.

Likes/dislikes: I like the mysteries surrounding the different families in the story and they pulled me into the book. Avery and her father made me chuckle. I like how the author represents all types of people and also the prejudice that still lingers in our society.
Mature content: PG-13 for making out vague descriptions, underage drinking, brief kissing, weed smoking , nondescript kiss.
Language: R for 157 swears and 25 f-bombs.
Violence: PG for murder with no details.
Ethnicity: The characters are predominantly Black and White. Korean American is represented.

This book spoke to my soul. I loved the story, the main character, the heartfelt way that the emotions were expressed. We've all been through something as a teenager that just seems devastating at the time that looking back as an adult was not as bad as we thought. This book deals with a lot of heavy topics (racism, illness, homophobia) so it made me cry but it was a great read.

Avery Anderson wishes her family did not leave D.C. for southern Bardell, Georgia. However, her grandmother's health is deteriorating, so her mother is there to care for her and try to make amends for something they will not discuss with Avery. Soon, Avery makes friends with two other young women, her Black neighbour Simone and the white daughter of the town's most elite family, Jade. Tensions are rising between Avery's mom and her grandmother, but Avery is more interested in learning about her family history, especially about her never talked about grandfather. As she finds out more, she begins to realize that Bardell is full of secrets, and maybe some of them are better left buried.

This book takes a hard look at the racism still running rampant in the southern United States. While the racism of today is more subtle than that of the past, it is still insidious and continues to tear families apart. This book deals with family trauma and the long reach the past can have on the present. Avery's grandfather was murdered and nothing was ever done about it, so her Mama Letty became a shell of a woman. This lead to her drinking, affecting her ability to work and her relationship with her daughter. The two of them are bonded in their pain, trying to repair something almost irrevocably broken. But, Avery wants to help, to be the glue that mends.

Avery is also dealing with warring emotions. She has fallen for her neighbour and friend Simone, but being both Black and queer can be extra dangerous. Simone fears what her mother would do if she every found out her daughter was gay, but Avery begins to suspect something about her mother and Simone's. It's as if the past is being rectified by the lives of these young women, their being allowed to be themselves, to question the world, to shine a light on the atrocities of the past.

I especially loved the restaurant that was a safe haven for the Black and queer community of Bardell and neighbouring towns. It offered breathing room and freedom when Avery and Simone needed it the most. When they needed hope that could not be found in their families, in their community, in their country. It pushed them to seek a different reality to the one that would be forced on them.

This book was so hard to read at times, so emotional and raw. The writing is amazing, the story heartbreaking but also healing. This family is growing, is learning, is leaning on each other for love and support. Mama Letty may not have wanted her family to come back, but their returning to help her actually may have saved her in the end.

And yes, there are a couple of mysteries in this novel and the outcome of the one is shocking, while the outcome of the other is not as shocking as it should be. But, the way that these mysteries are woven into this story, about how this family grapples with these truths and their decisions on what to do and how to let go of the past and embrace a happier future is important.

I enjoyed this, though I didn't love it - but I think that was a me problem, not a book problem. I liked the characters and the plot, but I wasn't blown away, personally.

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.

This is one of the most important books that wad written in 2022. All of the characters are going through journeys that are so unique and impactful. I was completely immersed in the stories and it is so important for this generation of students to read books that share ideas about racial and gender identity. This will be a favorite of mine for a long time.

This book turned out waaaay better than I expected.

My favorite theme of this story is the truth of generational trauma. I liked how Hammonds created more profound talking points about the drama from the past and came to an equal stance on the matter.

The characters were easy to love, roll your eyes to, cry, and grow with. I love the expressions the main character, Avery, had with herself, even as she was still figuring out her worth. I was not expecting the turn of events that ended the book, and my jaw dropped with the revelations. You gotta read it!

I rated this book 4.5 stars. This story was sad but incredible. I loved watching the characters develop over time, and as heartbreaking as it was, I loved the story's outcome.

Intriguing, mysterious and complex with romance. I was impressed at the author's ability to weave all the aspects into the plot but it never felt forced. I love multigenerational stories and this one was done well. Avery was a great main character.

Short review: this book was incredible. Also, probably my favourite book cover of the year, it’s stunning.

This book covers a lot. Even in the blurb, when the publishers pitched it as a romance and murder mystery and family story, it seems like it’s trying to do so much at once. But somehow it works and it never feels overstuffed or confused in its direction. All these parts contribute to the whole.

There’s also some fun humour and some warm, lovely characters who make this town really feel like a home (along with some not so nice folks), each with their own background of trauma and life experiences.

This is really a story about grief. Avery’s grief over the short time she’ll get with the grandmother she barely knows, and the pervasive grief over the loss of multiple people in this town that their family members are still coming to terms with and trying to understand.

Avery doesn't want to leave DC and the normality she has created. especially for a place that has ghost on every turn. But what she doesn't know is uncovering these ghost will uncover who they truly are. We Deserve Monuments takes a magnifying glass to generational trauma and how keeping the past in the shadows will only harm future generations. Hammonds writes with delicacy and intention making the atmosphere tangible and relatable. While not every character is lovable or actions maybe positive the reader can understand the decisions that brought them to where they are.

NetGalley asks "Would you recommend this book to your students." As an educator, and an LGBTQIA+ ally - absolutely. As an educator in Florida, not so much. I think many of my students would love this book with its themes of love and acceptance and racism and healing. There are so many layers and I am thankful for the chance to have read it. Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan's Children's Publishing for the digital ARC in return for an honest review.

We Deserve Monuments is a honest and moving story that follows Avery and her parents from DC to Barbell, Georgia. Avery knows little about her grandmother except that’s she’s terminally ill and that her last visit to Barbell was years ago. Avery being biracial and queer has to cautiously navigate her new surroundings which is filled with racism and homophobia. As she building new relationships in Barbell, she tries her hardest to mend broken family ties and get to know her grandmother, Mama Letty before it’s too late.

There were so many important themes in We Deserve Monuments such as sexuality, racism, friendship and love. But the theme of family really stuck with me as I read about Mama Letty, Zora and Avery.

A lot of families have that thing they don’t talk about. That secret, that trauma, that messy situation. It’s sit under the rug, noticeable but ignored. It’s too painful to talk about. For Avery’s family it’s racial trauma and grief that lingers in the damaged relationship between Mama Letty and Zora. Mama Letty hardened by her past wasn’t able to be present for Zora. Years later, Zora leaves this part of herself behind and rarely shares her family history with Avery.

Avery’s heart to heart with her mother was one of the most touching parts of the novel. Zora peeled back her layers and shared her true self with Avery in that moment. Zora lets Avery in on the difficult family secrets. The things that as you get older humanizes your older relatives in a way you haven’t seen them before. For our young protagonist and for us as readers, it’s a gentle reminder of what it means to be family - Being there for each other in hard times. Empathy and understanding. Forgiveness. Choosing love daily.

“We’re a family… and that means supporting one another. Loving one another, even when things aren’t working out exactly like we planned”.

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds follows three generation of women. After Avery,s grandmother, Mama Letty, becomes terminally ill her mother decides to move them to a small town from DC. Avery hasn’t visited since she was a small child and neither has her mother which has caused a rift between them. Avery tries her best to form a relationship with Mama Letty and is given advice by her neighbor Simone. Simone and Avery form a relationship of their own but in a small town where past secrets and present secrets linger can Avery learn about her past and enjoy the future she was looking forward to. This was a beautiful and heartbreaking (at times) debut. The women in this story were so nuanced and layered. Seeing what the decisions that led and forged each others lives was so interesting. I really enjoyed getting to know all of these characters and seeing them come into their own. The romance between Avery and Simone was so sweet and full of those feelings of first/young love. I enjoyed this novel and am interested in reading more by Jas Hammonds. I gave this 4⭐️.