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…

This was a good book with well written characters and the overall story was good. I enjoyed, Letty, the grandmother character. She had a lot of depth. I wish that the plot wasn’t so obvious, the theme/conflict of homophobia over done and that a LGBTQ+ book had a true HEA. But I would still recommend to others who tragic or mystery driven storylines.

ooooof when I tell y’all this book gutted me, I mean it GUTTED me. thank you @netgalley for the eARC, even if I spent the afternoon weeping at it. But all that said— this is a gorgeous book. The most apt comparison I can think of for this book is Sharp Objects (returning to the darkness of a little Southern town, slowly realizing the depths of how bad things are and how horrific the intergenerational trauma is, a nice lil twist on your expectations at the end) BUT this book is a lot more about queer and racial intergenerational trauma. It handles all that darkness and those topics very well, and there were some really beautiful, cathartic moments that make that darkness feel worth it. This was also just fabulously written- the structure overall and the language/prose really worked for me!
I do think any educators who want this book in their classrooms or who want to teach this need to really be serious about tw’s— although I think the painful parts of this book never go over the top and that they all feel truly earned in the narrative, it is still a difficult book to read at moments and I think teenagers deserve a heads up about that, especially in school. With a warning, though, there are kids who I think will adore this book and I would be happy to have it in my own room!
I’m giving this 5/5 stars bc idk if can think of any other book that has made me cry this much recently (and I, like Simone, am an emotional cancer and love that stuff so 💞)

This book completely ensnared me! It is an amazing interwoven tale of family, trauma, friendship, mystery and love that will pull at all of your heartstrings. I loved Avery’s determination to find out her family’s secrets and answers about who she is, she is a main character you root for. All of the mysteries in the small town will keep you questioning until the very last page!

Oh f*k. I snot cried. My dehydrated face will deal. This debut is lovingly, beautifully written. Jas has written Bardell County, Georgia to be a white supremacist hellmouth with pockets of trust and warmth. Everyone in this story is so real and messy and trying/struggling to love and communicate the best they can in the time they have. Avery's story is a tale of what it can look like when the complexity of inherited trauma is allowed to live in the light. Also, having now read the book, the cover is a special sort of delight. It feels like I'm watching Avery see herself and the places she comes from in the mirror.

Such a beautifully written book about generational trauma, coming of age, and navigating friendships. Loved getting to know the complex characters and I’ll always remember Letty. What a beautiful debut novel!

Have you ever read a book that felt like it knew you? We Deserve Monuments sucked me in. It’s nothing like I thought it would be which actually made me enjoy it more. From the beginning, Hammonds does such a good job at painting a picture of Bardell because I immediately felt unsettled by the town, which is funny since I drive through and by towns just like it often. The familiarity and understanding of what lurks in those towns made Bardell feel real to me.

“A slow-burn mystery” is a very good way to describe it, as I wouldn’t go into this book expecting Avery to be solving something or following clues the entire time. The mystery unfolds naturally over the course of the book, especially the more Avery learns about the town and her family. I feel like I should have seen the twist coming though, but it was completely not even on my radar that it was something that could have happened, so I definitely was a fan of the shocking mystery element. There were also some third person chapters that added a nice touch to the book, giving us a better understanding of the people and events that shaped the town. The chapters were eerie at times and kept the vibe of the mystery going.

The romance in We Deserve Monuments was sweet, messy, and realistic. The queerness in the book in general was amazing. From the characters to the spaces they navigated to the way history repeated itself. It was also nice to see what queerness can look like at different stages of life and how not being “out” doesn’t make you any less.

This book had so much humor, much of it provided by Mama Letty. She really reminded me of my own Black southern grandmother who my family took care of while she was dying of cancer and the things she complained about and the way she still smoked cigarettes and drank Coke. Sometimes this book really felt like a snippet of my own life. Avery’s family dynamic was refreshing, and I liked seeing how they worked through their imperfections and struggles being compounded in Bardell.

Simone was also a funny, bright light in this book. She was stylish and cool and the kind of person that Avery needed in her life. Simone and Jade’s friendship was very cute, and showed the kind of mundane things teens do living in a small town, but how they still found a way to make them seem larger than life. The two were also so affirming and accepting of Avery which warmed my heart. Jade was a complicated character, but I think for the most part she was a sweet person who didn’t have the best influences in her life and has much to learn about the world, but we all have to start somewhere. Sometimes it’s hard to understand why people continue to live in towns like Bardell, but as someone whose extended family is from a similar place, I also understand how nowhere is perfect and you shouldn’t have to uproot, nor is it feasible for many people.

Overall, I feel like I have to add We Deserve Monuments to the list of my favorites. It’s the kind of book that creeps up on you until you’re at the end and amazed at what you just read. Like did I expect this book to make me cry? No. Did it? You bet. There’s also something about being a Black, queer woman from Georgia reading a book about a Black, queer teen in GA that hit me right in the feels.

Firstly, thank you to Net Galley and Roaring Book Press for providing me with an ARC of We Deserve Monuments.

We Deserve Monuments was a beautiful compelling story about a biracial girl who moves to a small town and has to reckon with her family's past.

I really enjoyed the book, especially as a biracial woman myself who doesn't feel close to her Black side. I liked the way the author portrayed Avery and how she suddenly had all this anger and it had a lot to do with generational trauma and broken systems. I saw a lot of myself in Avery, especially with her feeling of urgency with everything she did. I am a Gen Z kid who also was raised in an era of school shooter drills and the pandemic and so I understood the complicated feelings she had.

Trigger warnings for anyone looking to read the book: cancer, death, grief, homophobia, racism, allusion to lynching, mention of pandemic, alcoholism, emotional abuse, generational trauma, familial abuse

Review of ‘We Deserve Monuments’, by Jas Hammonds

Mama Letty is dying, and although Zora doesn’t have much of a relationship with her, she and her husband take Avery out of her high school right as senior year is about to begin to move from DC to a small town in the middle of nowhere. Something happened to Mama Letty’s husband when Zora was very little (or maybe before she was even born? Honestly I don’t remember this detail, sorry!) and this something has completely broken the bond between mother and daughter.

And this something is still heavy in the air, not just at Mama Letty’s, but also in part of their little town she lives in. At the heart of the plot is Avery navigating toxic friendships (hello, racist microaggressions), falling in love, and building a relationship with her grandmother both without and with her mother. But at the same time, there is a mystery that reveals itself in its full shocking glory at the end of the book, making everything you’ve read up to that point, everything that was perfect except that it was just a teeny bit off, come suddenly into perfect focus.

I can’t recommend this book enough. Difficult at times to read for all the right reasons, it is at its core an exploration of the ways that racism impact family and community relationships, with a realistically messy yet undramatic romantic relationship. I loved the contrast between Avery’s toxic DC friends and the healthier relationships she made in the little town of Bardell. I loved the contrast between the toxicity of the relationship between Mama Letty and Zora and the work done by Zora to not repeat this pattern with Avery—and I also deeply appreciated the marks of Mama Letty’s relationship with her daughter on Zora’s relationship with Avery. Even without that mystery I would recommend this book. The mystery is just that cherry on top of that perfect sundae.

I couldn’t help but finish this book in only a few hours. I couldnt take my eyes off reading this. Clutching my chest at every small little twist and putting together the how each and everyone is connect in this small town. The way each character grew and let the guards down and being comfortable with who they are and who they want to be was just amazing. I live for the story of love. I live for the family drama and ultimate reconciliation. I usually connect songs/album pairings together as a way of readers advisory for my teens and there is one scene with the main character and their love interest that made me immediately think of “Plastic off The Sofa” by Beyoncé. Also the songs mentioned in the book were amazing at every mention.

As soon as this book hits the shelves at my branch I will be recommending it to everyone I can talk to.

In We Deserve Monuments we read the story of Avery as she heads down to Georgia with her parents to help care for her grandmother towards the end of her life. Grandma Letty is a hard, strong woman who wants to smoke her cigarettes and transition to the other side in her home, not the hospital, and Avery's mother has a hard time accepting this. Avery has many questions about some family secrets that need to get addressed and throughout the course of the story we journey with her in her efforts to put the pieces together.

I enjoyed how Avery is a catalyst for her mother and grandmother to repair their bond. There is a beautiful way that Avery honors the past and also questions it. She knows there are some things best kept buried and at the same time she is figuring out her own identity as a biracial young woman. Avery is carefully assessing the past to make sense of her mother's present.

Avery also comes into her own sexuality and boldly takes steps to help Simone do the same. This is a powerful coming of age story about generational healing, identity formation, and compassion as a entry point to forgiveness and relational repair.

Trigger Warnings: Racism, cancer, homophobia, colorism, past break-up, mention of Covid/pandemic, past murder of a parent, past affair, past death of a grandmother, past death of a sibling, past car crash, cursing, weed, alcohol, alcoholism, abuse, neglect, coming out, Klan, death of a grandparent on page, gun

Representation: Black, Lesbian, Bisexual

We Deserve Monuments is a YA contemporary in which Avery is ripped from her school during her senior year to move to her grandmother’s house because she is dying. Despite the move, Avery’s mother has a very chilly relationship with her mother. Avery makes friends, gets to know her grandmother, and searches for answers to the town’s unsolved mysteries.

I loved the realism in this story. I loved Avery and her courage. I thought she was so layered and vulnerable, completely relatable for a teenage girl in today’s society. As far as romance, this book is double sided. The story itself is a slow burn but Avery is coupled so fast. I thought this added to the story’s realism because young love tends to more quickly and parts of life can feel like they take forever. I also enjoyed the trace of mystery the story holds.

This book provides the readers with all of the emotions and I think the author did a fantastic job incorporating such a life-like experience into the story. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I wasn’t sure I would based on the synopsis but I am so glad I read it!

This book was full of unexpected turns. This book takes place within three generations of a family. The main character is a Biracial lesbian who moves to her mothers home town to live with her parents, and her ailing grandmother. The journey of self discovery and values speaks from the heart and crosses those generations to heal a hurt that was spanned decades. Secret are revealed and nothing is as it seems. This beautiful tale left nothing to be desired.

Trigger Warnings: Generational trauma, racism, mentions of alcoholism and verbal abuse, homophobia, character death

Avery Anderson’s life is uprooted when her family moves from Washington DC to Bardell, Georgia her senior year of high school to look after her maternal grandmother, Mama Letty, who’s in her final stages of cancer. Avery only remembers one visit with her grandmother, cut short by an argument, when she was very young. Bardell is a small town with only two high schools - one public, and one private, the latter being founded by one of the town’s many racist forefathers. Avery quickly gets adopted into the friendship of two girls: Simone Cole, Mama Letty’s next door neighbor, and Jade Oliver, a descendent of one of Bardell’s oldest families.

Avery’s relationship with her grandmother is far from easy. Mama Letty isn’t easy to get to know, especially when she only answers questions in grunts and gruffs. It also doesn’t help that the tension between her mother and grandmother is so thick you can cut it with a knife, but both of them are refusing to address it.

Avery sets out on trying to mend the broken and split relationship but there are events many are refusing to talk about. It isn’t until Mama Letty begins to open up to Avery about her past, that Avery is able to piece together her family history that was shaped by the town’s racist history. As more events come out of the shadows, Avery must decide if finding out the truth is worth damaging the relationships she’s built in Bardell, or if some things are better left buried.

I absolutely loved and adored this book very much. Jas Hammonds masterfully tells this layered story of a young woman finding out about her family’s past within a novel that’s about generational trauma and racism. The amount of trauma the three generations of women must peel back is constantly met with tension. The story is hard to read at times, especially when you’re reading about Mama Letty’s past and the town’s racism, but this book wrapped its arms around me and refused to let go until the Harding family’s story is told.

Alongside Avery finding out about her family’s past, the relationship between Simone and Avery grows deeper and the way the two of them find their footing to their sexuality was well written. I wish I had grown up with a place like The Renaissance where you were accepted no matter what.

Overall, this novel is going to be one I’m going to talk about for months to come. It was beautiful, heartbreaking, hopeful, and captivating. Any readers who love reading about family and their dynamics, relationships, and hope will really enjoy this book.

*Thank you Roaring Brook Press and NetGalley for an electronic version of this book in exchange for an honest review

This was a great story--complex characters, family history, some intrigue/murdery backstory, slow burn love, and a family that you want to root for. I'll definitely purchase it for my HS library. I could see it being a rich title for book clubs.

All the characters in this book are wonderfully complex. The story deals with the reality of intergenerational trauma while giving the reader hope for the future of families. Avery is a well-rounded character with lots of growth as the story progresses. Her journey of self-discovery as a queer biracial woman facing trauma and racism is something everyone should read. Avery's friends, Jade and Simone, are their own people working through their own problems; they are never just plot devices. Similarly, every background and secondary character-from the bully who called Simone a "lesbian" as an insult to the friend's icy stepmother-serve a purpose in the novel. Nothing and no one is arbitrary. On the other hand, the narrative does not read like a piece of classical literature. The dialogue is realistic and peppered with current slang and language. (My only regret is that it may be too current. Some references like the acronym "MAGA" may take future readers some time to figure out, and I am not sure the connotation "conservative followers of President Trump" will come across as easily as it will to contemporary readers.) There was a slight mystery indicated throughout the book, and the author slams a plot twist into the end without really expounding on it. I also wanted a little more in the epilogue about where each girl ended up and their relationships to one another. However, neither of these detracted from the emotional impact of the ending enough to lower my rating.

I’m not personally into slow-burn contemporary novels, but I still liked this one because it is well written and explores complicated family issues that many teens can relate to. Avery’s family dynamic feels very real and I think teens will feel seen by this book.

WE DESERVE MONUMENTS by Jas Hammonds is exquisite. It’s one I will have to buy many copies of because I can’t wait to literally press it into the hands of people who I know will love Mama Letty and Avery as much as I do.

The characters in this novel as so well developed; the main characters felt like people I knew, people in my own family. Mama Letty could have been my grandmother—she jumped out of the book the minute I met her on the page. A few of the smaller characters, like Avery’s dad, felt a little one-dimensional, but it’s more of a quibble than an issue with the story.

I especially loved the portrayal of this small town, its secrets and power structure, and its mysteries. It felt very rooted in character truth and in how where we live can shape us. Mama Letty’s story was infuriating and heartbreaking and absolutely believable.

The struggle I had with this book was that I wanted to know the full story that I read it very quickly but yet I also didn’t want it to end. The writing is very strong and I look forward to re-reading the novel so that I can pay more attention to the writing.

Ultimately, WE DESERVE MONUMENTS cost me a night’s sleep and a box of tissues to mop up my tears. I can’t wait to recommend this novel to other people, including my students, so they can inhabit this world for a little while, too.