A realistic depiction of addiction and how it develops and becomes exacerbated in the lives in teenagers. I liked that this story had depth and showed some extremes of addiction without presenting things for shock value. You cheered for Blake (our MC) but you also recognized she has a lot of flaws and that she was likely going to make the same mistakes multiple times. The story did show a cycle without becoming repetitive. I think the complicated relationships were addressed well.

Representation and Content Warnings: lesbian MC, sapphic MCs, non-binary supporting, anxiety, addiction, grief/loss, toxic relationships

I loved We Deserve Monuments so I knew I was going to need to read this one. While the tone of this book is very different the relationships between the characters are so real and live I was drawn into the story. I will say with this book I didn’t love the main character. She was hard to like, but that fit with the themes the book was trying to examine. This book tackled teenage alcoholism, toxic relationships, racism, and gender identity. Blake and her girlfriend Ella have one goal for the summer: get into the exclusive Serena Society. Ella doesn’t have much to worry about her mother is a part of the society of trailblazing women of color, but Blake has a lot more to prove. Luckily for Blake she finds courage in the bottom of the bottle and when she drinks she feels like the life of the party. But not everyone sees the life of the party in her when she drinks and her best friend expresses concern and as much as Blake brushes it off her drinking starts to leak into every part of her life. This book was beautifully written. I loved the diversity that was present in this book.

Thirsty is a YA Contemporary novel that I loved. It’s a fast paced story with compelling characters and an all around powerful story.

Blake drinks because everyone likes her more when she’s drunk. Only she’s really mean to herself when she’s drinking. Former loner from a working-class family, she’s the only member of her social circle who isn’t wealthy. Her girlfriend is charismatic and confident. Her best friend doesn’t care to prove herself to others. But Blake wants to prove herself. She wants to fit in. She wants to be seen. And she finds her courage to do just that at the bottom of a liquor bottle.

I loved this book. Like damn it was so well written that I could just feel it all. I could feel Blake’s desperation. I could feel the love she had for certain characters and how alone and trapped she felt at times. And I just wanted to wrap her up in a hug.

This story is personal to the author and you can feel it in every word. The storytelling is so authentic and nuanced. It had me relating to things I’ve never even experienced, because it was so well written.

I think this book will be powerful for teens to read, but also adults. Because drinking is normal, right? Everyone parties, right? Except maybe not.

Please read this book. You won’t regret it.

(Check CW first)

Thank you MacMillian for an early copy.

"Thirsty" depicts Blake as she struggles with alcoholism, leading up to her freshman year of college. This was incredibly moving story, that covered so many important topics, like: underage drinking, toxic relationships, and race. I really admired how raw, and authentic Jas Hammonds voice is in depicting Blake's story and experience.

This book tore me apart.
Hammonds puts uncomfortable topics front and center -
Family connections. Lack of communication. Sexuality. Addiction. Alcohol consumption as normal behavior. Self hate. Toxic relationships.
Desperate to be a part of her affluent girlfriend's life, Blake forces her into acceptable shapes. Their relationship, started at 14, may have started as healthy, after 4 years became toxic, feeding into Ella's need to dominate. Blake does anything for Ella.
A crucial read for our youth - queer, POC, lack of wealth.

Another banger by Jas!!!!

So many great things about this book - the characters, the timeline, the emotion and logic behind drinking (or not), various parental relationships, I can go on forever! The last chapter “How to be the life of the Party” is probably my fave and will be something I go back and read often.

Hammond showed us how you can be 18 with your own issues but also be an ally to friends going through complex things like gender identity. They also showed us easy it is to fall into partners of drinking and why idolizing our lovers can be bad. I loved Blake’s journey to self assurance and how she was able to overcome her issues while acknowledging this isn’t an overnight process. On the surface this book is about sobriety and what that looks like but I think how Blake was able to overcome can be used as an example for any problem.

I’m only not giving this one 5 stars because I wasn’t bawling my eyes out like the last one but it still moved my spirit and I can’t wait to get a finished copy!

They did it again!!! If you are not reading this sapphire gem, you are truly missing out!!

Blake is the life of the party and trying to get into a secret society with her girlfriend, Ella, and best friend, Annetta. While trying to do this, she is also dealing with the fact that she might just have a drinking problem.

In so many ways, I could relate with Blake and I didn’t realize it until reading the words on the pages.

This story is enlightening, complex, and loving. It’s about family, friends, love, realization, change, healing, and self love.

I can not recommend this book enough!!! I promise you fall in love! Jas wrote the hell out of this book!

Also. Ella can go fall in the deepest pit and I would be so happy!

Thank you to Netgally, the publisher and the author for this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

WOW. Where do I start??? Jas Hammonds does it again, this book covers so many themes. This is a story of self discovery, queer identity, addiction and its complications. I wanted to hug Blake, when wanting to be seen so bad causes you to do anything to fit in and try to stay afloat. Much like We Deserve Monuments, its beautifully written. Can't wait to see more from this author.

thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for a review!

ahhh this was good! i was a little nervous before starting because the subject matter was a little out of my depth, and while i remember ENJOYING jas hammonds' previous novel i couldn't quite remember what exactly i liked about it. HOWEVER i really liked this one too so clearly theyre doing something right. annetta is the winner of my (coveted. trust me its coveted) favorite character of the book award because she is me fr. and i am now a part of the 'we hate ella' club.

as i've said, not too experienced on the subject matter but i'm taking others' words for it that it was depicted well! and considering hammonds has gone sober herself i expect they have done all the research they needed to. i also thought the racial aspects were handled well and i'm using this for the ATY week 14 prompt, a book with a black main character!

highly recommend checking this one out and hammonds's other book, we deserve monuments :) (and both have gorgeous covers which is just a bonus!)

I love Jas Hammonds writing so much. So very different from We Deserve Monuments, but if you are a fan of their writing and YA contemporary, you’ll love this too.

This book was really good and touched on a lot of heart-heavy topics. There were many jaw dropping “what the fuck” moments and the hazing from the society was insane to read about. I thought it touched on alcoholism in college kids REALLY well. As well as the peer pressure to “keep up” and be cool around people you’re trying to impress, and especially the internal monologue of “do I have a problem or don’t I have a problem” when it came to drinking.

I really liked the ending, and I thought the way Ella was portrayed was so well done. Like a very emotionally abusive S/O but in such a subtle way that by the end you’re like “holy fuck this bitch is terrible”

I wished we had a little more personal growth for Bree, especially when her drinking centered around her self hatred. When did those thoughts about herself start? Why did we never see them in everyday thoughts? I think some parts of the MC feel flat because of this, but overall I really liked Bree and I thought her ending was really great

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really liked this book. The character development and plot was amazing. The showcasing of the american black struggle was very good.

This book was absolutely phenomenal! I was obsessed with the characters and plot, I really wanted more from and about Annetta! I adored the relationships and character growth, and Jas Hammonds really did it AGAIN!

Blake is ready to enjoy the summer before she heads to college. She has been with her girlfriend for 4 years and they are going to the same college in the fall where they hope to get into an exclusive Black sorority. This book has great representation and an important underlying message about drinking but it also was trying to do a lot. Some of the situations were over-the-top and others were unnecessary. The ending was better than most of the book so I'm glad that I stuck with it.

♡𝐞𝐀𝐫𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰♡
4.5 🌟
𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 :
•self-hatred
•suicidal ideation
•racial microaggressions
•transphobic
•alcoholic
𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 :
•queer romance
•ya fiction
•secret society
•dual timeline (past and present)
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From the start of this book, i knew it was going to be a little heavy (alcoholism). Just from the first chapter, I could tell Blake (Bee) had an alcohol problem | addiction personality! I liked how Blake character developed throughout this story was done very well. We normally get troubled characters, and they never get help, but this author did a great job! Nattie is a true friend. I mean, ride or die, down to help a friend no matter how that friend could push them away. I loved her character from the jump. Ella wasn't a good girlfriend or friend at all. She is a true definition of a self-centered individual. I never liked her character... just read it when It comes out. So you can judge this book yourself.
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♡𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 May. 14♡
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Thank you, Netgalley, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the (eArc). -eBook for my honest review.

I wanted to reach in the book and give Blake a hug so bad. She just wanted to feel seen and heard. And she felt that most when drinking.

To be honest, reading this was such a reality check. So many of us try to drink the anxieties away to survive in social settings, altering our true personalities.

Big Bad Bee …

Was really just a scared girl trying to figure out what she wanted in life.

I cringed at our interactions with Ella 😩 But loved how Annetta stayed by her side even when Blake was a crappy friend.

*4.5 Stars*

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this book. It was a lot. I really didn't like some of the characters. I really did feel for the main one though, despite all the bad choices she kept making and I really really loved her best friend. Overall, this was very layered and captivating and I didn't know what was going to come next.
(However, reading this while being hangover was a very weird experience...)
But it was really very good, the characters were so complex and it pulled me through the book. The whole book wasn't like everything I read before.
I really like Jas Hammonds' writing and I cannot wait for more books by them!!

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Roaring Brook Press for the copy of Thirsty by Jas Hammond. This is an important read for teens and adults too. If you’re a teen, you will love this empathetic story. If you have teens in your life, this is a great reminder of how trying to fit in and hide past hurts can lead to risky coping behaviors. This is a solid story with beautiful writing and well-drawn characters that come alive on the page. Blake is a sympathetic character and seeing her struggle with alcohol and trying to confront her demons broke my heart. Thirsty would be an amazing addition to high school classroom libraries or as part of a lesson plan.

Thank you to NetGalley and Roaring Book Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As my friend Brittany said, it was a privilege to read this book.

We Deserve Monuments was one of my favorite reads of 2023. Hammonds writes in a way that causes you to hold your breath—to peel back later after layer of her characters and their flaws, struggles, strengths + see them for what they are: PEOPLE. I love how complicated and vulnerable they write their characters. Being a human being is so complex and Hammonds writes in a way that makes you face these complexities head on as the reader. The author’s note at the end of the book RUINED ME.

Blake (I love that her name is Blake because so is my middle name hehehe) has just graduated high school, dating her girlfriend of 4 years, and is working on being accepted into the Serena Society of her new college. As the trials to slowly become members escalate, Blake comes face to face with her problem—alcoholism.

Annette was an incredible friend to Blake, even when they fought. You need people to tell you when you are on the path to self-destruction. You need people who will tell you they are worried about you and that you need to take actions and face the problem. Blake struggles with this realization/addiction throughout the entire book. My heart broke for Blake over and over again as she worked through so much in her life: upholding her new persona, her resentment towards her parents, her desperation to be “fine” in all aspects of life, and keep her relationship in the spotlight. When Annette tells her how means she is to herself when she is drunk, I could not help but be emotional.

The ending of this book was just so so so so good. I cannot express enough how much I loved this book.

Highly, HIGHLY recommend this one, friends. Read it on 5/14/24!

CW: alcoholism, addiction, transphobia, alcohol, racism, racial slurs, vomit, infidelity, gaslighting, sexual content

Jas Hammonds does it again. They are an incredible author. This book explored the nuances of underage drinking, fitting in, and alcoholism. I LOVED IT. Jas is easily an auto buy, top author of all time for me now! I cannot wait to see what they write next.