This YA contemporary was absolutely stunning and I can't believe it was a debut! Jas Hammonds is definitely an author to watch.

It follows Avery, a biracial Black queer teen, as she and her family move back to her mom's hometown to care for her dying grandmother. There, Avery uncovers dark family secrets and learns about the painful history of white supremacy there. She also discovers new friends, falls in love, and finds herself.

This will be on my list of favorite books of the year. Absolutely beautiful and perfect. I can't wait for its release so I can recommend it to everyone!

Where do I even begin with this book? Look, I love to read books with family thrifts and how they navigate through it. But this book? There’s soo much to it, right from the fact that we are dealing with three generations of individuals here, each of them equally significant for the book.

Abuse and neglect is hard to grow out, just like discrimination, crime, and hatred. This book was more than Mama Letty on the verge of death and reconciling with her family. It was more than two girls falling in love with one another. It was about a young person finding out that her mother was far from perfect, and there was more to her than being a mother… she had a mother and a complicated relationship with her. It was her realizing that her grandmother had years of hurt and experience buried within her, wishing she had a chance to spend more time with her. It was about lost relationships but finding each other again, it was about realizing that some scars never heal but you can work your way around them.

This book made me feel why novels >>> hicksian demand. IYKYK lmao. I hope Jas Hammonds writes more books and I am able to devour them all! *evil laugh because I will make sure to read all of their books*

Thank you @hearourvoicestours for allowing me to be part of this Book Tour showcasing We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds.

BOOK REVIEW: Avery Anderson's life gets uprooted during her senior year. Going from fast paced diversified D.C. to small town Bardell, Georgia is a culture shock for her, especially since she's the only openly out LGBTQ person.

Avery not only has to navigate home life where her mother and grandmother, Mama Letty fight like cats and dogs nearly everyday. Mama Letty being on death's doorsteps doesn't mean the past becomes a clean slate. In fact it shines a spotlight on the secrets hidden in the closet. Those secrets impact her social/school life with the two friends she's made, Simone and Jade.

I wholeheartedly give this book five stars. The enticing storyline, twists, relatable characters, easily a book I'll recommend.

●Possible spoiler● Avery is biracial and in one scene talks about a "friend" calling her 'barely black' because of it. As a multiracial person, I can sympathize as well as being a mother to multiracial children. It gets annoying never feeling like you're enough or having to prove yourself because you may not fit the stereotypical mold.

There are so many individuals who deserve monuments/recognition, but don't. Why? Either they are virtually unknown to the masses or they don't fit the mold that majority wants publicized. Bravo Avery! Bravo Jas Hammonds!

So for anyone and everyone, go purchase We Deserve Monuments.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan for the advanced readers copy!! It was a adorable and incredible read!! Definitely wish i could read for the first time again

We Deserve Monuments deserves to be on everybody’s TBR. Trust me when I say: this book absolutely wrecked me. I haven’t cried over a book in so long, but I quite literally had to pause my reading to grab a box of tissues. Everything about this book is incredible. Parts thriller, romance, and coming of age, this book hit all of the stops! When Avery is forced to move to her mother’s hometown for her senior year when her grandmother’s cancer worsens, she is thrown in a small town world full of mystery, history, and so much more. Hammonds writing is simply spectacular. Such simple moments became full of meaning in this book because of how poetic the writing was. Don’t get me started on the storytelling. Wow. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading because suspense was built from the very first page. My heart was warmed by the romance and moments of family bonding. This book is the perfect fall read and I cannot recommend it enough!!!

Words cannot describe how much I loved We Deserve Monument. The book follows Black, lesbian Avery, who has to return to the small town her mother grew up in because her grandmother is dying.

The relationships between the black women in this book were especially striking.
Avery's grandmother is left gruff and mean as a result of the racists history of the town.
The relationship between Avery's grandmother and mother is full of so much pain.
Avery has to learn to exist in a town as an out lesbian and a biracial girl in a town that is small minded, bigoted, and filled with a history so many try to pretend never existed.

That being said this book is still filled with so much Black girl joy and belonging.

I highly recommend this book!

Special thanks to the author & netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy.

This was such an amazing read I don’t think I’ve read anything so far that brought me to tears!!!!! KUDOS to the author because I truly loved this. I was so wrapped up in this story ya’ll ommmmg this is a must read.

From the time Avery and her parents arrived in Bardell it was so much tension between them and Mama Letty. Sad it took for Mama Letty to become ill before they decided to visit her again. The last visit to Bardell ended in a disaster and nobody seemed to want to discuss it. Everything was such a secret with this family.

But Avery’s persistent attitude and wanting to know about her grandmother was what their family needed to resolve years worth of pain and hurt they all held onto. But this was not an easy task for Avery because Mama Letty was a piece of work. She came off as mean and stubborn initially but to see her relationship with Avery blossom was beautiful.

I think of all the characters Mama Letty and Simone were my favorite. Simone so free-spirited and positive even with dealing with secrets of her own. Mama Letty was a tough cookie and she definitely had her reasons. I loved how she didn’t back down and took ownership of the broken relationship she had with her daughter Zora. By chapter 25 I was in TEARS which wasn’t expected.

Overall this book was remarkable and I most definitely recommend!!!!!

Words cannot describe how much I loved this book 😭 WE DESERVE MONUMENTS follows Black, lesbian 17 year old Avery, who has to return to a small bigoted town because her grandmother is dying.

🌸

The relationships in this book, especially the Black women, literally brought tears to my eyes. I cant count how many times I cried. But while most of my tears were borne from a relatable pain to Avery and her mother and grandmother, this book is still filled with so many moments of Black girl joy and belonging; finding yourself, and your place, and where you belong.

🌸

I highly recommend this book! It has a wonderful FF romance, a great theme about family and friendships, and the writing was just genuinely gorgeous! Just make sure to check for content warnings.

🌸

Thank you so much to @hearourvoicestours , the author and publisher for the review copy! This in no way affects my review 😊

We Deserve Monuments is a poignant and gripping coming of age story that follows Avery, a queer biracial (Black & white) teen who moves to a small Southern town with her parents to help her dying grandmother, Mama Letty.

This is a slow burn, character driven novel where the reader watches Avery navigate the complexities of familial trauma, anti-Blackness & homophobia in the south, intersectional identity, love, small town secrets, and family secrets.

I immediately fell in love with Avery. So many of her struggles were ones that I’ve also faced growing up, which was pretty difficult to read.

When it came to Mama Letty, her story was by far the most heartbreaking. Her story really highlights the cruel history of America’s past.

While this story is incredibly sad at times, there are moments of joy. We get to see Avery find her place in this new community and even fall in love with the girl next door!

Overall, this is an incredible debut, but get those tissues ready! This one will definitely have you in your feelings.

"Magic was actually two shades of lipstick staining a shared Coke bottle. Magic was sweat-slick dancing to mantle-deep beats, magic was renaming constellations after Black women because who else could be worthy?"

I was already intrigued by this one from the synopsis and beautiful cover and it was definitely worth that and more! I loved the exploration of the different relationships - whether that be the friendship between Avery, Simone and Jade, the beginning of Avery & Simone, or the mending of the bond between Avery’s mom and Mama Letty (absolutely LOVED her! 🥰), the beautiful representation and existence of the queer community (In serious need of a Renaissance and the community inside! 😍), and the added bonus of a mystery woven in.

I felt seen in so many areas while reading, and though pieces of the story hit me deep in my feelings, I’m extremely grateful for the experience I had with this one!

*Thanks to Roaring Book Press, NetGalley and Hear Our Voices Book Tours for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.*

This is an ambitious but brilliantly executed coming-of-age debut that focuses on Avery as she tries to make a home for herself in a small Southern town and get to know her dying grandmother. Avery, her family and friends, and Mama Letty are all memorable and realistically drawn characters, and while this novel is emotional and complex, it was also very fun to read about Avery making friends and falling in love for the first time. Avery slowly learns the history of her own family as well as the dark history of the town, and following the mysteries definitely kept me turning the pages. I am so impressed that this is a debut and know I will be picking up the next thing Jas Hammonds has to offer us. I can't wait to recommend this to teen readers who are looking for complex queer characters, deep family relationships, and richly drawn settings.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful book. It tells of one family's attempt to heal from the past, both what they have done to each other and what has been done to them. It is a story about racism, both past and present, about homophobia both past and present. About three girls with intertwinned family histories, that threaten to destroy their friendships. It is also a love story of two girls and a love story of healing from the hurts we have caused each other 4.5

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I am happy to say it has lived up to my expectations.

The. book follows the protagonist Avery as she moves to a small town as a senior in high school to live with her grandmother. Throughout the story, we follow Avery as she learns more about her family's past and the relationship between her mom and grandmother. We see how Avery begins to embrace herself more but also how her mother's relationship with her grandmother comes to affect her.

This book deals with extremely heavy topics revisiting the past, but Hammonds does a wonderful job tying it to the present time and how it affects those today. There are so many themes in the book that are tied perfectly together. It was a balanced book about hope and friendship while revisiting heavy topics.

I loved Avery, Simone, and many other characters in the book. All were well rounded dynamic characters that I loved following along with. With that said, I do feel at times that the book is much more character driven rather than plot driven which did slow down the story in some parts, but this is only minor to me and didn't drag the story on for too long.

This should be required reading, wow. It's that good. I was in awe by the emotion brought forth from the main character and the journey she has to go on. Wow, just... wow.

4.5 stars for sure! Only took a half star away for how some of the scenes dragged on. Overall, I absolutely adored this novel about family trauma, reparations, culture, grief, etc. I cried many times and I can't wait to tell all my library teens to read it when it comes out!

While I was enjoying the book, it moved very slowly and I could see where exactly it was going. It could tell it wasn’t going to meet the needs of my book club. Therefore I abandoned it to move onto something else.

This book had me sobbing towards the end.

Avery had what she thought was a good life in DC. She had two friends, one became a girlfriend. But the relationship ended and things felt weird. She wanted to finish her senior year and get into a good college. Avery's grandma is dying from cancer and her mom decides to move them in with Mama Letty in a small town in Georgia. Avery's mom and grandma had a falling out and Avery hasn't seen her in 10+ years. She doesn't want to be there. Not only do Avery's mom and Mama Letty fight, but Avery and her mom start fighting too. It's always super tense. Mama Letty isn't the nicest person, but Avery started to get her to warm a bit. She wanted to know all about Mama Letty and her grandfather that she never met. She found out things that were terrible and started to understand why Mama Letty was the way that she was. Avery doesn't want to make friends, but she becomes close to Simone and Jade. Simone lives next door. Jade's family is old money and they live on a plantation. Her parents are terrible people and it causes problems between her and Avery at times. Avery starts to have feelings for Simone and tries to hide it. Things in this small town are still not progressive. Simone and Jade have a no dating anyone pact. The longer Avery is in Georgia, the more she starts to open up and be herself. She doesn't have to be perfect anymore.

I loved Mama Letty. Her relationship with Avery made me cry. The book had some chapters that were about other people in the past and I enjoyed those. It really added to the story. This was an emotional read and very character driven. It was easy to love all of them. I wanted to know about the unsolved crime and I'm glad there was something about it towards the end.

I gave this book 5 stars. It's a great debut novel.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a link for netgalley.

Warnings for racism, homophobia, murder, cancer.

We Deserve Monuments is an incredible story of how prejudice affects three generations of women - Letty, the grandmother, Zora, the mother, and Avery, the daughter.

Avery is a high school senior, getting ready to apply to colleges and follow in her mother's footsteps as an astrophysicist. But when her mother gets a letter from her grandmother Letty's next door neighbor that Letty is dying of cancer, Avery is dragged to Bardell, Georgia with her parents.

To say that Letty and Zora are at odds with each other would be understating their rancor. Letty doesn't want Avery, Sam and Zora at her house. She is rude, grumpy, dismissive, and completely unwilling to do anything to improve her health, like stop smoking. Zora has brought Avery to Bardell just once in her life, and Avery barely remembers anything from that visit, other than the fighting between her mother and grandmother. Zora's motto in life is to "Live Forward," not revisiting the past or discussing it at all. Avery knows very little about her grandmother or her grandfather Ray, who disappeared before Zora was born.

At first, Avery plans to just survive her time in Bardell and focus on college applications, and her plan to go to Georgetown University. But her next door neighbor, Simone, captures her heart the second she sees her, and Avery can't help but become friends with Simone and her best friend, Jade. The best friends welcome her with open arms, and support her as she tries to connect with Mama Letty, discover what history her mother is hiding, and find out about her grandfather, whom her mother and grandmother don't want to talk about.

I don't want to spoil any of the plot, so I'll stop there, but I will say that this book touches on the Jim Crow South, racism, the Klu Klux Klan, murder, infidelity, trauma, bisexuality, queerness, and love. Each generation of women has their own burden that needs to be shared before healing can occur.

Hammonds has written characters that absolutely come to life in your mind. What I love about them is they're so flawed, but they're trying. And you want to cheer them on and try harder yourself, because this book brings up your own issues with race, sexuality, and trauma. The women in this novel are strong and hardheaded, but love deeply and fight for what's right.

This is a book that people of all ages should read - don't let the Young Adult label make you think it won't deeply affect you. I definitely cried for the last 100 pages or so of We Deserve Monuments, and loved every minute of it.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this wonderful novel.

This book is so phenomenal and heart wrenching and absolutely perfect. I found it utterly unputdownable and love Avery, Simone, Zora, Carole, and Mama Letty so much.

When Avery’s mom learns of her mom’s cancer diagnosis and that it’s probably the end for her, the Anderson family packs up and moves from DC to Bardell, Georgia. Avery wants to find a way to fix things between her mom and Mama Letty before her death, but that’s hard to do when grappling with a history of grief and trauma that stretches back decades, plus secrets that maybe are best left buried.

This is a story that grapples with healing from intergenerational trauma as well as cycles of abuse and the work of breaking out of them. It is a story of family and secrets, but also friendship and love. It is a hopeful story, even as so much of it is dealing with painful parts of history and grief. I loved the way there are chapters that give background and perspective, because this isn’t just Avery’s story but also a story of Mama Letty and Bardell’s dirty secrets.

This book was exactly the emotional, cathartic read I needed. I love that it ends with hope and love and moving forward, but not losing touch with personal history. And truly one of the best parts of this book is Renaissance, a community built on found family and acceptance - there are only a few scenes there, but it’s a place that truly sets the tone of hope and acceptance that feels central to this book. All in all, please read this if you like emotional contemporary stories that also deal with trauma and love and messy family.

[review will be posted to CannonballReads November 27, 2022]

I loved this gem of a story - every single person felt alive and authentic. Nothing in this story came easy, which is more true to life than most books. I loved all the love and identified with the grief. I cried and never wanted the story to end. I am not sure the mystery aspect was as well developed as it could have been, but I didn’t really care. I do wish some aspects of her grandfather’s story had come full circle. All in all, it was still one of my favorite books of 2022…