Avery doesn't want to leave DC and the normality she has created. especially for a place that has ghost on every turn. But what she doesn't know is uncovering these ghost will uncover who they truly are. We Deserve Monuments takes a magnifying glass to generational trauma and how keeping the past in the shadows will only harm future generations. Hammonds writes with delicacy and intention making the atmosphere tangible and relatable. While not every character is lovable or actions maybe positive the reader can understand the decisions that brought them to where they are.

NetGalley asks "Would you recommend this book to your students." As an educator, and an LGBTQIA+ ally - absolutely. As an educator in Florida, not so much. I think many of my students would love this book with its themes of love and acceptance and racism and healing. There are so many layers and I am thankful for the chance to have read it. Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan's Children's Publishing for the digital ARC in return for an honest review.

We Deserve Monuments is a honest and moving story that follows Avery and her parents from DC to Barbell, Georgia. Avery knows little about her grandmother except that’s she’s terminally ill and that her last visit to Barbell was years ago. Avery being biracial and queer has to cautiously navigate her new surroundings which is filled with racism and homophobia. As she building new relationships in Barbell, she tries her hardest to mend broken family ties and get to know her grandmother, Mama Letty before it’s too late.

There were so many important themes in We Deserve Monuments such as sexuality, racism, friendship and love. But the theme of family really stuck with me as I read about Mama Letty, Zora and Avery.

A lot of families have that thing they don’t talk about. That secret, that trauma, that messy situation. It’s sit under the rug, noticeable but ignored. It’s too painful to talk about. For Avery’s family it’s racial trauma and grief that lingers in the damaged relationship between Mama Letty and Zora. Mama Letty hardened by her past wasn’t able to be present for Zora. Years later, Zora leaves this part of herself behind and rarely shares her family history with Avery.

Avery’s heart to heart with her mother was one of the most touching parts of the novel. Zora peeled back her layers and shared her true self with Avery in that moment. Zora lets Avery in on the difficult family secrets. The things that as you get older humanizes your older relatives in a way you haven’t seen them before. For our young protagonist and for us as readers, it’s a gentle reminder of what it means to be family - Being there for each other in hard times. Empathy and understanding. Forgiveness. Choosing love daily.

“We’re a family… and that means supporting one another. Loving one another, even when things aren’t working out exactly like we planned”.

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds follows three generation of women. After Avery,s grandmother, Mama Letty, becomes terminally ill her mother decides to move them to a small town from DC. Avery hasn’t visited since she was a small child and neither has her mother which has caused a rift between them. Avery tries her best to form a relationship with Mama Letty and is given advice by her neighbor Simone. Simone and Avery form a relationship of their own but in a small town where past secrets and present secrets linger can Avery learn about her past and enjoy the future she was looking forward to. This was a beautiful and heartbreaking (at times) debut. The women in this story were so nuanced and layered. Seeing what the decisions that led and forged each others lives was so interesting. I really enjoyed getting to know all of these characters and seeing them come into their own. The romance between Avery and Simone was so sweet and full of those feelings of first/young love. I enjoyed this novel and am interested in reading more by Jas Hammonds. I gave this 4⭐️.

Oh my gosh, where do I begin? This book was amazing. As someone who grew up in a small Georgia town and often thought about leaving it only to appreciate it as an adult I felt so seen. Really amazing discussion on queerness and Blackness and how those experiences play out differently.

We Deserve Monuments is a excellent and gripping YA novel about intergenerational trauma. Hammonds' characters and plot were complex and well developed. Avery, Jade, and Simon were relatable. I can't wait to see what Hammonds does next.

This book was an excellent debut and really read well. I enjoyed all the characters and the story really flowed.

This was an amazing book! Avery and her family are moving from D.C. to Bardell, a small southern town, to live with her terminally ill grandmother. Her plan is to focus on her grades to get into her dream college, but she ends up making friends and life gets messy. I liked that it included current politics, and the pandemic, it gave it more of a grounded in time feeling.

Moving to a new state, Avery Anderson is forced to confront her estranged grandmother, along with dealing with the normal everyday life of being a teenager. Everything becomes even more complicated when she uncovers some family secrets that chill her to the bone.

This book handles the drama of being a teenager, handling LGBTQAI+ characters, and dealing with being both black and gay while in the South. Hammonds depicts all that and more through the eyes of a teen. It made for a very eye opening read that kept me engaged and guessing to the very end.

this was a great read and I learnt a lot from this, it covered Race and culture very well and was an eye opening novel thoroughly enjoyed

The plot here is a compelling one. I liked seeing how the relationships between these girls as well as between the generations of the protagonist's family developed. Especially as the town's history is also revealed. Many of these complications will come as little surprise - it's set in a small town in the deep south after all. We're going to expect blatant racism. It is the approach to justice versus revenge that gives me some pause.

Avery Anderson and her family move from DC to Bardell, Georgia because her ornery grandmother, Mama Letty, is dying of cancer. However, tensions are high between Avery's mother and grandmother after years of avoidance and resentments. Avery's plan is to keep her head down and just get through her senior year. But plans change when she meets her grandmother's neighbor Simone and her best friend Jade. The three become inseparable as Avery learns more about the town: family secrets, racism, and murder.
Told from Avery's POV, this is a bittersweet novel about generational trauma, first loves, and making peace with the past. Jas Hammonds was able to truly capture Avery's voice, which is a difficult balance when writing YA if it is too casual or juvenile (to the point of being pandering). I enjoyed the characterization of each woman who are flawed and dealing with their own traumas (aside from Jade's stepmother, she was very clearly an amalgam Karen-type villain). Avery's ability to reach out to Mama Letty and grow close to her is endearing as she acted as a generational bridge. Unfortunately, the male characters felt tacked on in the margins (aside from grandpa Ray). Even the town as an observing character/narrator in some portions had more depth than many of the male characters.
I wanted to give this book five stars, but I had a couple gripes 1. the murder mystery answer being tacked on at the end with no repercussions 2. related to 1, that there was no true motive for the murder of Jade's mom as her husband was blatantly having an affair 3. Avery seemed to belittle the true trauma and abuse her mother faced at the hands of Mama Letty.
Overall, this book is a beautiful debut and Hammonds should be proud of themselves for creating empathetic, flawed yet resilient characters and I truly enjoyed this book.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for review.

Avery's family moves from DC to Bardell, GA to help take care of her grandmother dying of cancer. Mama Letty has a history of being abusive, but Avery seems to be the key to getting through to her softer side.

Avery meets Simone and Jade and they become fast friends. Soon, Simone and Avery are more than friends. How will that play out in this town full of descendants of the Klan?

Murder, friendships, family relationships all play a part in this story. The ending didn't wrap up as cleanly as I would have liked, but YA audiences will enjoy. Recommend for grades 10 and up

Excellent all around. If I could give more than five stars, I would. Already sharing this book with students.

This is a fantastic black, queer, young adult story about intergenerational trauma. Our main character, Avery, is forced to temporarily move from her Washington, D.C. home to her mother's old home in Georgia because her grandmother has terminal cancer. She barely knows her grandma, Mama Lettie, because of the strained relationship between her and Avery's mother. During her time there, Avery gets to know her grandmother better as she gets to know herself better too.

I really enjoyed this from beginning to end except for one little tidbit that kept me from giving it five stars. I won't be specific because it's a big spoiler but the twist at the end just didn't do it for me. I felt like it was unnecessary and it personally didn't make sense why the character would do something like that.

Despite the strange plot twist, this is still an incredible novel overall. Please be cautious in reading this if the topics of terminal cancer and family death are difficult for you.

Contemporary YA fiction is not my preferred genre but I was blown away by this debut novel. It is so nuanced and layered while tugging at my heart stings. I couldn't help but give this one 5 stars. I use the ESCAPES method for rating my reads and my scores for this book are as follows:

Enjoyment: 10/10. I got so caught up in this story. I loved how it was told with brief snippets of the characters past weaved in throughout the narrative. This is not an easy book to read due to the discussion some hard and heavy topics but I loved how it was always done with compassion and grace.

Start: 8/10 The beginning was a little slow but it quickly picked up pace and then I was hooked.

Characters: 10/10 I absolutely loved the characters and their interactions with each other. I thought the way generational trauma was portrayed and dealt with was spot on. I loved being able to see the layers and depth of the characters. The way Hammonds is able to show familial love and the complexities that contains was thoroughly well done. By the end I understood the characters decisions and I loved that everything wasn't clean cut. I also loved how the different relationships were portrayed: Avery and Mama Letty vs Zora and Mama Letty. As a mother myself I deeply understand working through my own trauma while trying to protect my kids from experiencing the same things I did. I also enjoyed the friendships between Avery, Simone, and Jade; and their growth throughout the book.

Atmosphere: 9/10 As a fellow southern small town resident everything rang true. I moved from California to Mississippi 16 years ago and I can relate in so many ways to Avery's experiences and the culture shock as well as the falling in love with the small town atmosphere. Very well done

Plot: 9/10 This book flowed well and there weren't any gaping holes left open. I had guessed the twist at the ending but that didnt make it any less impactful.

Style:9/10 For a debut novel, I thought "We Deserve Monuments" is one of the best books I've read recently. Hammonds has a way with words and driving characters forward while still giving you a taste of the past. This book had so much grief and racism along with generational trauma but in between all of that were these glimpses of hope and love.

I look forward to reading more from Jas Hammonds.

Final rating: 5/5 stars.

A beautifully written book that will draw you in and keep you invested. I didn't want to put this one down!

The disappointment I feel is real because this book started so strong. The set-up for the mystery of the storyline and the setting were written well. However, the characters never felt completely flushed out and that made it difficult for me to sympathize with them when they made stupid decisions. Staying out until 5 am and then expecting your parents not to be upset?? Really?

I could overlook the mediocre characterization in a debut, but the "twist" was what really cinched this as a 2-star read. First of all, the twist didn't make any sense. Second of all, there wasn't evidence to lead up to hint at it to the reader. Third of all, the twist was awful and made one of my favorite characters reprehensible in my eyes.

Also, I was expecting the title to have more of a place in the novel. It was referenced a couple of times, but I wanted more from it.

Omg this book was so good! Being from the South it was highly relatable. I loved how the book depicted generational trauma and the healing that can come with breaking the cycle. It was a sad story, but was so good and so well written.

Thank you to the publisher for an arc via NetGalley for an honest review.

CWs: death of a parent, death (cancer), murder, racism

This was a well written and interesting read. I wasn’t a huge fan of either Avery or Simone’s characters, but I liked the writing style enough to read the whole book. I thought the author did a fantastic job of conveying emotions, especially when Avery was getting emotional about Mama Letty. Those parts made Avery very relatable, and I really connected with her character.
Avery was a very flawed character, and while this made her realistic it also made her a bit insufferable at times. I found her to be quite selfish, and it really bothered me when she kept pushing at her mom and Mama Letty about their issues. She also couldn’t understand that her mom had a lot of trauma from her childhood, and Avery wanted her to just “get over it” and thought it was easy to do so.
I thought that the story seemed to have a lot going on, but it also didn’t. It’s very much character driven, and it’s interesting. I thought the pacing was okay, but there was a lot of repetitive inner thoughts about the same issues.
Avery and Simone’s relationship was interesting, but I felt like they were never on the same page in the beginning of it. I liked the friendship between Avery, Simone and Jade in the beginning.