Thank you to Recorded Books Media and Netgalley for an ALC of this book.

When Avery moves back to her mother's hometown to help take care of her sick grandmother, she learns there are secrets within her family that tear everyone apart and goes on a journey to discover her family history.

This book was so good. I seriously bawled during it because I got so emotionally invested in the characters and the story hurt so much. It sincerely tugs at the heartstrings. Avery's relationship with her estranged grandmother is so dang good! It's realistic but also sweet but also pretty curt at the same time. I really love it. I loved learning Avery's family history with her and watching her fall in love while learning about herself. I LOVED the diner scenes! My favorite.

CW: cancer, terminal illness, death of a parent, murder, police brutality, racism, homophobia

This one lived up to the hype. Narrator Tamika Katon-Donegal does such a great job setting scenes and building characters. There is so much emotion in this story, and so many varied points of view, and Tamika navigates them all so beautifully. It's also just a well-constructed story of love and lies, intergenerational trauma, friends and lovers, queerness out and hidden, and so much more. Lots to pack into a tale, but all done well with a great reader at the helm.

I have to say the writing on this book was top-notch, it was very well written, and the transition between first perspective to third perspective was very smooth and enlightening on to the stories of other characters than the main character.
Unfortunately I can't say there was a lot about this book that I liked, I don't think YA is for me, so maybe that's the reason.
I absolutely love the cover, and found it to be very appropriate to what the book contained, I love the representation of a dysfunctional family, valuable friendships, mixed race representation, and inclusivity.. but I was not a huge fan of a group of females coming together to, for lack of other words, bitch about other women.
And unfortunately, I was not a huge fan of the audiobook narration.
I would totally recommend this to somebody into YA, and is looking for an inclusive, mixed race, and own voices book.
Thank you to netgalley , the publishers and Jass Hammonds for providing me with an ARC audiobook copy of this book for reviewing!

Avery Anderson about moving right before her senior year of high school to take care of her dying grandma. Avery’s mom and grandma hardly talk to each other, both refusing to talk about what has caused the tension between them for years. Avery does make two friends in her new town – Simone, the fascinating next door neighbor, and Jade, daughter of one of the most prominent families in town. As the girls grow closer, the racist history of the town and its effect on Avery’s family starts to come to light. Avery has to decide whether it’s worth digging into this history, even if it might cost her her new friendships.

The cover of this book is absolutely beautiful, isn’t it?! This book covers a lot of heavy themes and does it well. I would say family dynamics are the biggest theme of this book; while the book spans multiple genres, I would primarily class it as a drama. This was a great debut novel, just missing that *oomph* to turn it into an absolute must read. I recommend this for YA fans!

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

I liked this audiobook. I think I would have preferred it in the written format as I did find it a bit harder to follow along in the audiobook version, but that is more my personal preference than a critique on the book itself. I liked the narration and overall I thought it was well done. If you're an audiobook fan I think you should definitely check this one out. If you're on the fence about audiobooks like I am, maybe try giving it a read instead, I think that will be my plan as the story was definitely interesting but not the right fit for an audiobook for me! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a chance to check out this book!

-Multiple mysteries
-3 Generations reconnecting
-Will make you cry
-Family trauma
-Biracial MC (Black and White)
-Queer MC (pan, mentioned in book)
-Sapphic relationship
-Teen drama
-Racist town


I LOVED it despite its flaws. The story is told from Avery's POV as she navigates her family moving to her mothers (southern) hometown to take care of her terminally ill grandmother. Avery and her mother have not visited since Avery was 4, so she doesn’t remember much and doesn’t know her grandmother well at all.

I read this book as an audiobook and the narrator was perfect.

Avery is taken under the wing of two girls she goes to school with, one a Black girl, Simone, who lives next door and the other a white girl, Jade, whos mother was murdered and family owns the towns hotel/spa. There's lots of talk within the trio about racism and homophobia but not much about class, I found this weird considering how well off two of the girls are in such a small town.

Avery's mother and grandmother (Letty) argue a lot so Avery is determined to get to know Letty before she passes. While Avery gets closer to her grandmother she learns more about her grandfather and their history.

Avery has some pretty cringe worthy moments where she airs a lot of anger at very inappropriate times. I’m going to need an actual teen to tell me if they were realistic or not.

WARNING: If for some reason you weren’t aware, this book is a YA, which means the MC is a teen/YA. If you can’t handle a teenager during one of the most traumatic times of their lives then this book isn’t for you. Avery mentions having to do school from home for two years due to the pandemic and after finally being able to go back to school she has to move towns to watch her grandmother die. Lets forgive Avery for being a teenager yeah?

Content Warnings
-murder, racism, homophobia, cancer, death, policy brutality, alcohol/drug use, trauma, grief, child abuse. For more warnings please check the user submitted content warnings on The StoryGraph.

Thanks to NetGalley, RB Media and Recorded Books for an audiobook advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

The cover drew me to this book first. The story kept me. I love a good family drama and this one is full of it. Family secrets, a little romance and some mystery are some of my favorite things. This book has all the feels and definitely had me crying throughout the book. The narrator was great. I recommend this one. Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the audio arc in exchange for my honest review.

From this instant this book started I knew I was hooked. The tension from this family was pulsating off the pages. I really appreciated how even though they family was constantly arguing they still had enough points of happiness together for you to fall in love with the main character and hope that the ending is happy. I was so happy that not only was Avery able to make friends that really understand her but also in the end she felt more confident and at peace with herself. This is a beautiful and tragic story. Avery gets to reconnect with her grandmother and gets to hear about the grandfather she never knew of. We Deserve Monuments is not just a story but this is happening in peoples lives everyday. This book helps you see that even when the worst happens you can still fit love and care in. Please read it you will not regret it. I can’t wait to read more books by Jas Hammonds.

Avery's life is suddenly flipped upside down when her family moves to a little town in Georgia to take care of her dying grandmother. While Avery is disappointed to be leaving behind all her former hopes and plans, she's also leaving behind a salty girlfriend and a complicated social life. When she meets Simone and Jade, she starts to realize what a healthy relationship looks like. But new friends aren't the only thing she discovers in her new home, and some surprises might be better left hidden.

Considering its difficult subject matter, this is a remarkably beautiful book. Family secrets can get messy, and problems often persist from generation to generation. This book deals with a lot of things with grace and understanding. The writing is lovely, and the characters believable. A really moving book.

In a Nutshell: I can see why the YA audience will go gaga over this. I can also see why some adults will love this. But mine, yet again, is an outlier review. Sigh.

Story Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Avery is moving with her parents from Washington to Bardell, Georgia, in order to take care of her terminally ill maternal grandmother, Mama Letty. She isn’t happy about the sudden move, especially when her mother doesn’t even have a good relationship with Letty. Moreover, there is some past secret that they refuse to talk about. As Avery settles into her new school and makes new friends, more secrets come tumbling out, and Avery is left wondering if resolving past issues is more important than maintaining present relationships.
The book comes to us in the first person perspective of Avery.


Where the book worked for me:
😍 Such a gorgeous cover! And it fits the book perfectly!
😍 There are some third-person interludes throughout the book depicting incidents from the past and concerning other characters. These are written well and add a nice balance to Avery’s first-person perspective.
😍 There are some interesting themes such as dysfunctional families, the value of friendships, and acceptance of sexual identity. The dark past of the American South is blended well with contemporary reality. Avery’s mixed race background also adds some nuances to the story (though this particular factor could have been handled much better.)
😍 As an OwnVoices work, it’s no surprise to see that the book is inclusive in its representation. There are many LGBTQ+ characters who are out and proud of it. There are also some closet queers whose emotions over coming out are written well. But… (continued below)

Where the book could have worked better for me:
😒 (continued from above)… but some of the representation exists just for the sake of it. For instance, Avery is supposedly pansexual, yet throughout the book, her feelings are more lesbian than pansexual. The rep felt like it was included because it was a cool thing to declare.
😒 If I have to describe the plot at its simplest, it is just about a bunch of women (of varied ages) who come together and bitch about the other women in their lives, either to their faces or behind their backs, and who consider themselves right and everyone else wrong. Basically, each one of them thinks that they ‘deserve a monument’. This gets tiresome after a while. I didn’t like a single main character in this book as all were self-absorbed.
😒 I can stand only *so* much of whiny, judgemental, egocentric teens who consider themselves smarter than all the adults in their lives. Imagine a seventeen-year-old being out of the house all evening (without permission while being grounded), not returning till 5am, and yet arguing with her mother for overreacting about the incident that was ‘not a big deal’. As an adult, it’s irritating to read about such teenagers!
😒 Almost all of the white characters are villainous. The only one who isn’t, has a minimal stock role to play. Moreover, there are too many disparaging comments about whites, and some really odd accusations that are tough to digest. I don’t want to go into spoilers, so I will give a similar but unrelated example. Would you point fingers at Hitler’s relatives who are alive today, for what he did during WWII? The drama was much over the top.
😒 There is a supposed mystery in the book, but it was much half-baked and not even worth the time.
😒 There is a sapphic romance in the book but I wasn’t a fan of the way it was written. Typical teen love, full of physical attraction and hardly any other connect.
😒 I am not a fan of YA books that have the main characters indulging in drugs (weed) and alcohol (whisky) without guilt. I also don’t appreciate the presence of risqué scenes or cuss words in this genre.


The audiobook experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 10 hrs 22 min, is narrated by an experienced narrator whose works I have enjoyed in the past. Not this time though. While I was initially impressed with her attempt to voice characters distinctly, it soon became irritating. Her dramatization was exaggerated and her stress on individual voices for the characters ended up making them sound caricatured. The audio version will work for those who don’t mind hyperbolic performances.


Some YA books work for all age groups. Some work only for their target age range. To me, this fell in the second category (though the GR rating and friends’ reviews prove me very wrong!) Basically, I can see the appeal of this book to the YA crowd. But I was the wrong audience for it, not because I am not a YA, but because it was too YA for me. (I should have gotten a clue from that very self-absorbed title.) I go in mentally prepared for a lot of anatomical references and shallow characters in YA reads, but the prep didn’t help this time.

At the same time, I am very much an outlier on this. So feel free to ignore my opinion and give it a go. It’s by a debut author, and they would certainly appreciate your support.

2 stars.

My thanks to Recorded Books and NetGalley for the ALC of “We Deserve Monuments”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

My tear ducts are dry!!! But my heart still aches.

Many thanks to Netgalley, RB Media and the author, for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In this book we follow the story of 17 year old Avery, a queer biracial young woman who is about to start her senior year in a small southern town after being 'uprooted' from DC as her only remaining grandmother mama Letty has been diagnosed with terminal stage of cancer. Tensions are high in the household as her mom and grandmother do not get along very well, with years worth of pain, negligence and abuse buried between them. Avery slowly settles in and starts to make progress in getting through her grandmothers hard walls and also starts making friends at her new school. But as time passes, and the secrets that were never breathed out loud before start to suffocate everyone, Avery has to either let them remain buried or dig out the secrets and suffer the cosequences.

This book was both filled with joy and pain. My heart went out to almost all the characters excepts for some (you know who you are), It was a joy to see supportive parents and confident queer teenagers in a story. There is a lot of deep painful history brought into the story from real life incidents of racial murders and police brutalities. The way the story was charted out was beautiful and the tiny moments of joy in between were both a reprieve and absolute pleasure.

I ugly cried for Mama Letty, for her history and all the future, the trauma that was passed down generation after generation, that was forced on them, just for the fault of existing. The narrator was beyong brilliant and perfect for Avery and I am glad I listened to this book.

TW: Parental abuse/ negligence, physical abuse mentions, conservative religious notions, emotional abuse, murder, gun violence, sexism, police brutality, racism, homophobia, micro/ macro aggressions and terminal illness.

My rating: 4.5 stars


TW: Book contains mentions of police brutality, racism, smoking weed, homophobia, and terminal illness.

We Deserve Monuments follows Avery who is 17 years old and feels like the vast majority of her high school experience has been ruined, first by the pandemic, and now by having to move in her senior year to her mom's hometown so they can take care of her terminally-ill grandma Mama Letty. Avery doesn't even really know Mama Letty as they never really go to visit her due to Mama Letty and Avery's mom not getting along due to things that happened in her mom's childhood that again Avery knows nothing about until they go to this small town. So not only is Avery thrown into a new school environment, but is now also in a hostile home, and a small town where she doesn't fit in.
Avery does make two friends while at school and they get close quickly, but things happen and feelings get in the way. The friendship group ends up splitting up and with it causes Avery to spend more time with Mama Letty learning all about her past and what happened to her husband, and what happened between Mama Letty and Avery's mom. Avery learns a lot of hard truths, and things about her family's past, as well as the past of the new town she is living in. Secrets are in abundance, and with little time left it's tough to know if Mama Letty and Avery's mom will ever make up before it is too late.

Overall this book is a lot, but it is so well done by the author. You feel the emotions that Avery does with the anger, the hurt, the frustration, and the hopelessness of not knowing what to do. Avery learns so much about her family's past in such a short time, while also trying to figure out what to do for her future. All of it is overwhelming at times to Avery and that's understandable, we see her work through it all, and we also see the family working through things as well and trying to make amends for the past.

The romance part of this book is slow-burn but that's understandable because it is a small town and they have to be careful. For me that wasn't the part I was focused on, instead, I needed to know what happened to Mama Letty's husband and why she didn't tell her daughter for so long, and what if anything she ever did to get revenge on the people that caused it since no one else would believe her.

I cannot wait to see what the author comes up with next because this book was amazing!

Going live on my blog on December 9th at 7 am!

As I do with all books, I went into this blind. I don’t know why I was thinking it was going to be a romance that made me laugh and swoon. It was more like a coming of age murder mystery that also had a romance in it. And as you know, because it’s a coming of age book, there’s a lot of stuff the main character learns and finds out about themself. And let me just say, this was the most fun I’ve had with a coming of age book in a long time.

Hands down, the best part of this was the characters. I LOVED Avery. She was angsty and serious and so so authentic. I really loved it. She was so mature for her age! I loved the way she took no ish from anyone, including her mom lol Then there was her mama, her grandma, her dad, and of course Simone and Jade. Every single person in this book brought something to the book. I hate when you can automatically tell what each character is there for. But this wasn’t like that at all. Her grandmother brought the drama, her mom and dad were there for the angst (she IS a teen after all), and Simone is there for the love inerest. And every time, no matter who was on the page, I was stuck to the pages. (Ear phones? This was the audio lol)

The plot of this was immaculate. I would have liked it a bit more, if we had a little more focus on the murder mystery. I also think the reason it wasn’t written that way was because it would take some of the focus away from her grandma’s story, so I guess it was ok the way it was. Because Lordt knows she needed all the front page time she could get. Now the pacing tho, I think could have been a little better. For it to be less than 300 pages, it seemed awfully long. I think spreading some of the info out and adding more to the story could have helped a tiny bit.

I know I like a book when I go through all my emotions while I read it. And this is one of those books. I swooned, I laughed, I SOBBED, like I’m being so serious, I felt all the things. I cannot wait until more of y’all read this book and tell me more about how you also cried. Because if you don’t I will think something is broken within you. Because yo, I was sobbing into my lunch. I thank goodness for working from home still because I don’t think I would have been able to make it if I had read that part in public. But I don’t want you to get caught up in all the parts that deal with grief like the look at the generational trauma that started with Momma Letty and Ray. I also swooned when Avery and Simone transformed from friends to something more, when her grandma was talking about Ray, even when her parents were just dancing in the kitchen. I definitely laughed when Simone was saying what she smelled like after work and how they made fun of Jade’s parents. Hammonds had to have put their heart into this book because the vice grip this book had on mine was crazy.

The narrator brought something to this that I don’t think anyone else could have. And I’m so for real. I’ve only listened to one other book that she narrated, but her voice felt so familiar and comforting. And the way she was able to change the voices, especially Mama Letty, an elderly and sick individual was gold. A lot of times when I see narrators try that and it’s always so weird. But Tamika did it with no problems. She had me invested.

I dare say this is one of my favorite books all year. I really need more of you to read this book. I guess I’m just going to have to yell it from the rooftops now because Y’ALL NEED TO READ THIS! I really hope you get it in your hands soon. I need more people to talk about it with because days later I am still thinking about this book!

Really deep and important book and everyone should read it. I think that the fact that I heard it narrated moved me in a much different way from what I would have had I read it myself.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars--

We Deserve Monuments was a sweet story of a teenage girl reckoning with intergenerational trauma and her own sexuality and racial identities. Avery was raised in DC by a Black academic mother and white jazz musician father. Until recently, she's only known a world of affluent white peers and dreams of attending Georgetown. When Avery's maternal grandmother becomes sick, her whole family moves to Bardell, Georgia to take care of the dying Mama Letty, a cantankerous old woman who Avery and her mother have been estranged from for over a decade.

As Letty makes friends in Bardell and seeks to connect with her grandmother, she discovers many uncomfortable truths about Bardell's, her grandmother's, and her mother's past. It is up to Avery to do what she can to heal her family.

Hammonds tells a heartwarming story that will be relatable for many teens and adults. I enjoyed how Avery's own coming-of-age story is shaped by what she learns about the generations of women in Bardell that came before her. Hammonds also doesn't excuse the faults of her characters. As she points out racism in Bardell, she also holds Mama Letty and other characters accountable for their homophobia. Her characters are complex in the ways they live, grieve, and love.

Many thanks to RB Media and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

“We Deserve Monuments” is a monumental debut. There is so much depth packed into this novel. The characters and their development are so strongly written. I felt the audiobook narrator did an excellent job portraying Avery. I can wan it to read Jas Hammonds next book.

"Family secrets, a swoon-worthy romance, and a slow-burn mystery collide in We Deserve Monuments, a YA debut from Jas Hammonds that explores how racial violence can ripple down through generations."

I didn't think I could do better than this summary so I didn't try.
This one was a gut-punch. I was captivated from beginning to end, the characters were flawed yet so endearing in every way. I truly loved it. It broached a lot of different subjects and I enjoyed that a lot. The ending took me completely by surprised and I loved that.
It was truly such an enthralling book, with great dynamics between the characters. I also got the audio on netgalley (on top of the ebook) and I liked the narrator quite a lot.
Basically, I recommend this. Go read it. The fact that it's a debut is mind-blowing too. Cannot wait from more from Jas Hammonds.

I highly recommend this book. It was spectacular and so beautiful! This book shows us how a family survived a horrific tragedy and how the affects can be apparent in many generations
when I say I cried... I for sure ugly cried while listening to this book. so wonderfully beautiful

Avery is discovering her grandmother and her family history. her family has moved back to her mother's old town because her grandmother is dying.(first off, tears)

she has left her old school at a strange time for her her and is making new friends with her neighbors.

This story touches on grief, life choices, and how they linger later in life, death, and coming out and growing with each other. I felt like everyone's journey was realistic and beautiful in their own way.

All the supporting characters had interesting stories that interlocked one way or another. The way the topics of what happens to a family when racism has touched and changed many family is strangely accurate

Loved it so much and I think everyone needs to read this.

Tamika Katon-Donegal who narrated this did a bang-on job with all the voices - it was distinctive and unique

I really enjoyed this audiobook. The narrator did a really great job.

This is a wonderfully done coming of age story with family secrets and a love story. When her family moves to takes care of her dying grandmother, Avery thinks she'll be able to finish up her senior year and then get out of this small town and get her life back on track. But things definitely don't go according to plan.

This kind of book about family drama is not normally my thing, but I genuinely enjoyed this story.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an advanced copy!

We Deserve Monuments is a novel that focuses on family, history, secrets and a little bit of mystery. This was a well crafted young adult debut that looks at  how generations of racial prejudices, violence and grudges can affect family and lives alike.

What I enjoyed most was the character development between Avery, Simone and Jade. Each one of these characters is fighting against a stigma that is so richly relevant that I almost neglected to recall there was a mystery entangled in this novel. I can't forget the years of mother/daughter estrangement due to a massive family secret and the inability to accept a daughters representation. Such a beautifully explored look at queer representation over time and the difference between small town lives and city living.

There is so much in this novel that was easy to fall in love with. My emotions and heart were triggered more times than I could count. Even at my age when high school issues seem mundane, this novel made it so much more deeper across decades of family strife.

The audio is narrated by Tamika Katon-Donegal wonderfully if you're an audiobook lover like me. I loved the different voices from grudgy Mama Letty to sassy Simone. Tameka keeps in character with a captivating voice from start to finish.

In the spirit of family generations, embracing differences and enjoying every last difficult moment.. We Deserve Monuments is that and so much more.

Thank you RB Media, Recorded Books, Fierce Reads, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Roaring Brook Press!