This is a debut novel, and thinking about that shocks me because this was a BEAUTIFUL story that simultaneously made me laugh, cry, and want to hug every member of my family extra tight! I've been recommending this to everybody recently, and I'm so excited to see what else Jas has coming!

We Deserve Monuments promised a deep dive into complex themes of family, race, and history, but ultimately I felt like it fell short of its potential. While the premise is compelling, the execution feels somewhat predictable and lacks the emotional depth one might expect from such a weighty subject matter. The novel's characters, while likable, remain somewhat superficial, preventing readers from truly connecting with their struggles. While there are undoubtedly some poignant moments, I wanted more. I had such high hopes for this book, but it just didn't resonate as deeply as I had thought it would (and yes, I realize the irony of that statement given then I am an adult, white woman). So obviously take my background into consideration before turning this book away! I had heard such great things that my review alone shouldn't be the reason you don't pick it up.

I thought this was going to be a four or five star book while I was reading it. And while I really did enjoy the book and it was a beautifully written story, the ending was a little disappointing. Very disappointing. It felt too rushed and there were a lot of unanswered questions.

I love YA, but definitely felt my age reading this one because I wanted to cry when the characters made choices that made things harder for both themselves and their families. The poor grandmother! That being said this is absolutely worth picking up, and if you have a 17 year old in your life, this is a great rec.

This book should be required reading. It was so beautifully written. It was hard to read in parts. There was a lot of anguish and hurt throughout these pages. But wow it was fantastic

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds is a YA contemporary story with painful historic roots. The Anderson family motto is “focus forward,” but Avery and her mother, Zora, learn that always pushing ahead and only looking to the future can leave you mired in the past.

Avery is a driven student with high goals. Her life revolves around AP classes, test prep, and college admissions deadlines. Or it did…until her family abruptly moved south to Bardell, Georgia to care for her grandmother.

Avery doesn’t even know Mama Letty. She only has vague and violent snippets of memory from visiting when she was five-years-old. Naturally, she’s full of questions, which Zora refuses to answer. As family secrets slowly unfold, Avery pushes Zora and Letty to reconcile before time runs out.

We Deserve Monuments is full of unforgettable characters written with emotional depth. And Hammonds has done a beautiful job weaving together the trauma, bitterness, and resentment of the past with new found friendship, acceptance, and love.

If a story’s setting is important to you, this one is a stand-out! Each location carries its own piece of the story - its own theme and emotion - which together form a well-rounded sense of place. Sweetness Lane is family and abandonment, Downtown Bardell is hatred and revenge, the “perfect spot” along the river is carefree friendship, the train station is love, and The Renaissance is pure joy.

We Deserve Monuments is a book everyone should read.

This book was so amazing it made me laugh, cry and feel angry. I didn't know what to expect from this book but it was such an amazing read. The book was beautifully written and it left me feeling all the feeling and raw. A well crafted coming of age story that will make you feel everything under the sun. I loved seeing every perspective through Avery's eyes. Highly recommend.

Powerful, stunning, well crafted. The rich background tensions of Hammonds' novel create a delicious drive towards a compelling and satisfying conclusion. A must-buy.

We Deserve Monuments is an impressive debut novel. I loved and empathized with Avery right from the start, and couldn’t help but fall in love with Simone and Mama Letty as well. This book tackled a lot, and at times felt like it could have been further developed, but it’s a great read regardless. This is one I’ll be recommending and I can’t wait to see what Hammonds writes in the future.

Moving and being the new kid is always hard, even harder when it’s your senior year. Although for Avery, the move might actually be a good thing after her recent breakup. The change of scenery, Bardell, to take care of her terminally ill grandmother whom she hasn’t seen since she was five, is not the easy road at all. There is a main story plot line and a couple of lesser plot lines that eventually make sense together in the end.

This is a must read book-a "mirror" book for some of my students, but more importantly a "window" book for my students to gain some insight into another's experience so different from their own. An excellent story weaved with voices and timelines.

Avery Anderson is 17 years old and being uprooted from her home in DC to small town Georgia to look after her ailing grandmother along with her parents. Avery is very city and looks out of place in this country town and her nose piercing has everyone asking her is shes a lesbian. Avery is a lesbian, but isn’t necessarily ready to be open with the people she’s just met. Avery’s mom left home after graduating, and never looked back, her strained relationship with her mother has caused Avery and her grandmother to have.a nonexistent relationship. When Avery lays eyes on her neighbor Simone Cole she’s immediately smitten. As she watches the interaction between Simones mother and her mother she realizes there’s a tension between them that is odd. As Avery and Grandma Letty spend more time together Grandma Letty begins to break down her walls as she tells stories of the grandfather Avery never knew. Family secrets are soon revealed and everyone’s life is forever changed.

I really enjoyed this YA book. I love the way it explores family dynamics, healing, self love and acceptance. This book was so well written anyone could read it from YA to adults and thoroughly enjoy it.
Thank you @netgalley and @macmillian for this ARC. #YA #teen #YABooks #lgbtqia #blacklgbtqia

A poignant read.

We Deserve Monuments takes us to the South as a girl battles with being herself around her family, navigating school and friendship in a close-minded place, and what it means to love on your own terms. A coming-of-age and identity story told alongside a mystery of generations and family struggles, Hammonds bring to the light what it means to be queer and black in the South in the past and how that impacts the present.

This story is heartbreaking and heart soaring all wrapped in one.

A family filled with dark secrets. Two girls who fall in love, yet have to hide this from the rest of the world. A rich history of systemic racism and privilege still seen in the actions of those in power today. A story that needs to be shared.

Everyone should read this book. Jas Hammonds wrote such a gripping and powerful book that engages the reader in every page.

It was a thought-provoking read. Our teens repetitively check it out. Readers become engrossed in the story from start to end,

New town. Racism. Colorism. Small town.
Ya book with family secrets that impact the new generation.
I loved the storyline. The acceptance of who the main pov is.
The mom. Coming home after leaving and practically escaping the small town. I will say there’s a death and I cried so much.

This is one of my absolute favorites of the year and perhaps one of my favorite YAs ever. I have so much to say yet nothing I say will do this book justice.

Thoughts 💭
This book is exceptionally written. I am an avid YA reader and while this story is accessible in the way YA stories are meant to be, the storytelling/flow of it is so unique and more of what I’d classify as adult contemporary. Parts of it reminded me how Brit Bennett uses the Greek chorus in different parts of The Mothers.

This book hit home for me in so many ways. The heart of this novel is about generational trauma and how the three women, Avery, Avery’s mom, and Avery’s grandma, all reckon with it in different ways. Trauma from being Black in rural Jim Crow era Georgia, being raised by a neglectful but grieving mother as a result, and then being separated from family history for years and feeling disconnected. Trauma that spans and takes new shapes with each woman. Trauma that is not neatly resolved by a single conversation.

Admittedly, because of my own family trauma that is very different from that in novel, I found this difficult to read at first. My knee-jerk reaction was to wonder why Avery would even want a relationship with someone who was hard to love and, in turn, made her feel hard to love. But once I regrouped and parsed through my own shit, I returned & fell even more in love with this book. Everyone needs to be able to heal their trauma differently. For me it is space and distance. For others it’s getting closer to it. It was beautiful to see her work through it in her own way, and, in turn, make me reflect differently on mine.

It’s also deeply queer. The kind of queer that is so enmeshed and woven into the storyline that the identities come as a pair, rather than separate. It’s not a coming out novel, but rather just a coming of age.

Read if you like: Coming of age, pansexual MC, Black families, biracial MC, explorations of grief, stories about being Black & queer in the south, very complex characters

⚠️TWs: Racism, police brutality/KKK, homophobia/lesbophobia, death, murder, cancer, grief, alcoholism, abandonment/neglect, outing

What a stunning, stunning debut. Hammonds expertly weaves together themes of family, love, friendship, and our relationship to the past and future. A total stunner I'll be thinking about for ages.

Hello Again,

I have wanted to read this book ever since I saw the cover image online. I never even read the back of the book but I knew I would want to devour this story, something was just saying this will be a great read. So when I got super duper lucky and the publisher shared a copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions, I couldn’t help but jump in!

SPOILERS AHEAD

Avery has a great life in DC. She lives with her parents, goes to a school she likes, has great friends, makes good grades, and is looking forward to her senior year. But all of that changes kind of suddenly when her family has to temporarily move back to her mother’s home town. Avery’s entire family lives there and she has visited but never spent a ton of time there. This is all changing now, as Avery’s grandmother is dying. Avery is going to be attending school there, living with her grandmother and parent’s in her mother’s old childhood home, and getting to know everyone a bit better. While this is not the senior year Avery envisioned she is going to try to make the most of it and this life experience.

I loved this book more than I could have ever imagined. I found myself caring about and loving every character not just our main character. Avery’s family is wonderful and her new friends are also kind of interesting and fun! I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone (you may be able to pick up a copy on your Libby app)! On a final note, I want to mention this absolutely drop dead gorgeous cover. It’s stunning and is now one of the books that faces out on my shelf.

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

****Thank you so much to the publisher for the ARC copy in exchange for my honest opinions.