4.5 stars. This book was a slow burn, that [in the end] blew me away.

In the beginning, Avery is a compliant teengaer, going along with her parents' decision to move her from DC to Georgia just before her senior year of high school. Avery strives for maturity and pitches in to help, not fighting with her parents and not even voicing much displeasure about their intentional uprooting of Avery's life. Once we got through that sunshine and rainbows fluff, the truth set in and the story was set on fire.

Jas Hammonds threaded a complication narrative through three generations of women that not only discussed historic racial events, but also the long-lasting effects of every day choices. Characters were multi-dimensional and flawed, but not overtly dislikable; in fact, I kept wanting them to "right their ships" and the more real the conversations became, the better the book became.

In the end, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough, there weren't all nicely wrapped endings, and the book had far more depth and intellect that I'd expected after the first 30-40 pages. This is one that could definitely hold the attention of students and give them something to discuss in a profound way.

I'll tell my students about: language, LGBTQIAP+, mystery, murder, cancer, death, racial violence, oppression, discrimination

**Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the free ARC prior to publication. All opinions expressed here are my own.**

This is such a great book. The family tensions and family ties with the added context of declining health were written beautifully. Reckoning with the past is difficult for anyone, but the added stakes of this book made it impossible to put down.

Thank you so much @hearourvoicestours, netgalley, and the publisher for this arc!!

We Deserve Monuments follows Avery on a journey of self discovery, when she is forced to move from her carefully thought out life in DC to help take care of her sick grandmother in small town Bardell, Georgia. CW: racism, cancer, death, grief, gun violence, homophobia.

I really liked this book. It was filled with both light and dark moments that flowed seamlessly together. There were moments when I laughed out loud and moments I teared up getting caught up in my emotions while reading. I love the title of this book and seeing Avery learn more about herself and her family. You see the built up resentment, the secrets, the generational trauma and I thought it was handled realistically with care.

Mama Letty was my favorite character! She was an angry and bitter old lady and to me her moments were the best. As the story continued to unfold and more of the reveals happened I always found the moments Avery spent with Letty to be refreshing and eye opening.

On top of this book being a sapphic romance, coming of age, ya contemporary there was also a mystery sub plot. As much as I enjoyed this book, I was not a fan of the ending to this particular storyline and I will be bitter about it for a very long time!!

I definitely recommend this book if you enjoyed books like Darius the Great is Not Okay or The Ghosts We Keep (if you haven’t read those books you should!!! lol) or stories about grief and lots of family drama.

This book was such a great read. I loved getting to know the characters and seeing their lives unfold. The main character was easy to connect with and her grandmother, while intense, was a great example of strong characterization. I’m looking forward to recommending it to students!

I LOVED this book! Realistic fiction is not usually my jam, but I got an advance copy from Netgalley and half-heartedly decided to give it a go. I was hooked. Immediately. The characters are warm, vivid, and real,--I fell in love with Avery, her funny and relatable dad, her aloof mom, and most of all her cranky grandmother in the first few pages. As Avery tries to settle in and build a relationship with her grandmother, she discovers a decades-old mystery and family trauma that no one will talk about.
I'm buying this one for my library, recommending it for our high school battle of the books, and telling the other librarians about it.

I really loved this book, it had a somber but sweet tone. It felt very real and relatable. I loved the characters and how they grew together throughout the story. I loved the friendships, the relationships, and the learning. I really loved seeing her peel back the layers and find out so much about her family and its history. I liked the LGBT representation, especially navigating that in a small homophobic town.

The only thing that made no sense is that there was randomly a man mentioned named Todd Floyd and I have no idea what that had to do with the story, I thought it might be explained later on but it never was. That part needed to be cut out completely if it wasn't adding to the story in any way, and it just ended up creating confusion for the reader.

This book is hands down, one of the best pieces of young adult fiction that I have read this year. We Deserve Monuments is THAT book. Filled with a rollercoaster of emotions Jas Hammonds keeps you on your toes.

The book follows Avery, a biracial and queer teenage girl on her self-discovery journey.
After her family abruptly moves from Washington D.C. to Georgia to take care of her sick grandmother, she discovers what is truly important in her life. She also learns about her grandmother, family secrets, and genuine friendship.

TW: Topics and themes within this book consist of racism, homophobia, generational trauma, breaking generational curses, colorism, and white supremacy.

Hello hello my lovely readers,

Today's review is a bit different, because I'm taking part in the We Deserve Monuments Book Tour! The tour was organized by Hear Our Voices, an organization that helps books by marginalized authors get the promotion they deserve! So, besides my review, I'll also be posting a few of my favorite quotes.

Without further ado, here are my thoughts on We Deserve Monuments.

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds beautifully mixes first lesbian love and familial bonds without shying away from the difficult realities of being a Black person in the Deep South.

Avery and her parents are moving from Washington D.C. to Bardwell County, Georgia. Her maternal grandmother, Mama Letty, is dying. Avery's mom and Mama Letty have a very fractured relationship, but Avery wants to finally get to know her grandmother before she passes. That, however, proves to be a rather difficult task.

Mama Letty isn't the type of grandma who pinches your cheek and slips you candy. She's cantankerous, bitter, and generally unpleasant. But ever so slowly, her icy facade begins to melt.

Similarly, Avery begins to warm up to Bardwell. She meets Simone, a Black girl from across the street who is the embodiment of sunshine, and Jade, Simone's best friend, whose family owns the most profitable business in town while living on a plantation. Yes, she's white.

The two girls quickly absorb Avery into their friendship, and she's able to experience truly supportive friends for the first time in her life. They have a secret spot, a wishing tree, and are essentially my dream high school friend group. However, this book isn't all sweetness and sunshine.

As Mama Letty opens up to Avery, we learn that her family is drowning in generational trauma. This trauma echoes through the women of the family, and when the full truth is revealed, Avery's life is changed forever.

And now, I present to you a few of my favorite quotes.

"But it was fleeting and faint, vanishing like a dream dissipating with sunrise"(loc 154).
"My anger faded slightly when my gaze landed on her thick thighs; they filled every inch of her jean shorts. Of course I followed her"(loc 193).
"Even at midnight, the girl made of sunflowers lit up the entire world"(loc 1335).
"Because magic was actually two shades of lipstick staining a shared straw in a class Coke bottle. Magic was sweat-slick dancing to mantle-deep beats, magic was renaming constellations after Black women because who else could be worthy? Magic was a riverside home with a big, beating heart"(loc 2776).
Both painful and heartwarming, We Deserve Monuments will hold readers to the very last page in a tight yet loving embrace.

Final rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This was such a strong debut!
Avery and her family moves to her mother's home town to care for her dying grandmother. Avery driving up to her grandmother Georgia home, all she remembers is a faint memory of the last time being there when her mom and grandmother had a fight. She's determined to figure out her families past and getting closer to her grandmother in the short time she has.

As a senior in high school, moving away can feel like the end of the world for a teen, leaving your friends and everything you know. Coming in she didn't know that she would find true friends that she needed, a love that she needed, and pieces of her family history she needed.

This story shows the growth of Avery as well as the entire character line up. They deal with acceptance of others and self, racist accounts past and present, loss and grief, and the healing of family and friends. I may or may not have gotten a little choked up towards the end. I loved the relationship building and mending that happened!

One of my favorite characters was Mama Letty. Although she held one to secrets and was coming into her final days, she never hesitated to tell it like it is. Another side character that I loved was Mr. Arnie. The way he created a safe place, The Renaissance, where people can be themselves with no judgements!

Truly an emotional gut punch of a book. I went in knowing so little and came out feeling seen in a way that almost made no sense. I'm a fully grown adult but felt vindicated through this young character. The secrets, the relatability, the realism that hurt so much to read... it all came together in this beautiful novel. I will be screaming about this for years to come.

A great story about family relationships and forgiveness as well as a coming of age story. The characters will stay with me. Loved it!

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.