Content warnings: Terminal illness (cancer), grief, death, murders, homophobia, anti-Black hate crime, police brutality, alcoholism, trauma

Avery is entering her senior year away from DC, which she’s always called home, to be with her dying grandmother she doesn’t know in a small Georgia town where she feels very out of place. Avery’s mom and grandma won’t stop fighting, and Avery’s determined to get to the bottom of it to help them heal. But healing might be harder than Avery originally thought, as she finds out more and more about her new town’s racist past that’s deeply rooted in her family history.

I love how deeply complex this story was. There are certain characters you root for/feel bad for in the beginning that, by the end, you’re not so sure you like anymore. I think this really showed that if you only have one side of the story—especially if that side belongs to the guilty party—there’s a good chance you’re not actually on the right side. I’d love to talk about this more, but alas, spoilers. (Feel free to message me about it if you’ve read this, though!)

With that said, I loved Avery all throughout this story. I can’t even imagine moving schools my senior year, yet that was the least of Avery’s concerns, especially once she started to learn more about her family’s past. She didn’t always make the best choices (readers at home, please don’t be out past curfew for an entire six hours without so much as a text), but she was so caring and I loved that about her.

I highly recommend this book!

We Deserve Monuments is a poignant coming-of-age story of Avery, who tries to find where she belongs in a new small southern town. The town seems to have some very dark racist secrets. As the story unfolds, she forges new friendships and even breaks down walls with her grumpy Grandma Lettie, who is dying of cancer. The story takes us on a journey of friendship, forgiveness and healing of family traumas. Highly recommended. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

✨ Review ✨We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds; Narrated by Tamika Katon-Donegal

I loved this book. It was a beautiful queer YA slow burn romance embedded in coming of age / family discovery / small town drama. Most powerful though is how the book uncovered the legacy of racial trauma on families and later generations. The assertion that "We Deserve Monuments" too is just so powerful in the context of this book.

This is a really hard one for me to review -- it made me feel so much. Please give this a read to discover its beauty. ❤️ The audio narration was full of feeling and made this even more powerful to listen to.

(Not least, I want a poster of this book cover because it is GORGEOUS).

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: YA - a mix of f/f romance, small town, family drama, mystery
Location: Bardell, Georgia
Pub Date: 29 Nov 2022

Thanks to Recorded Books and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

Teenager Avery Anderson has to move away from DC with her family to be with the dying grandmother she's never known. The story covers three generations of women with secrets, still healing their hearts while also, in Avery's case, learning to open hers.

I loved this book. I'm impressed that this is a debut novel-- Jas Hammonds has a mastery of character voice and pace from the start.

The audiobook is a riveting listen thanks to narrator Tamika Katon-Donegal. She's amazing, with each character starkly different and equally riveting. It's an emotional story that needs a gifted narrator up to the challenge, and Tamika delivers. I will definitely be looking forward to more audiobooks from her.

4/5

Thanks to NetGalley and Recorded Books for providing me with an audiobook ARC of this book prior to publication date. All opinions are my own.

I really liked this book, and finished it in less than two days!

It follows a queer and biracial teenager Avery as she and her parents move into her terminally ill grandmother's house to spend the last few months of her life getting to know her. She also makes friends, whose stories intertwine with those of her family's, her own, and the racist history of the town.

The pacing is good, and the story heartbreaking as it is laced with generational trauma and racism. The ending made me cry, and it will likely do the same to you. The characters are complex and real, and I liked Avery as the main characters even though she made some irrational decisions (but hey, who hasn't). The romance was very nice too, and made the story feel lighter (at least at times)

The audiobook itself is incredible too - I loved the voice of the narrator and I think it fits Avery pretty well! The cover is incredible too - probably one of my favourites for the contemporary books :)

I definitely recommend for you too check it out when it comes out!

Rep: Black pan mc, Black lesbian plus size li, Black bi sc, Black scs, queer scs

This book deals with grief, forgiveness, healing and growth. The characters go through an emotional journey. It has some harder topics such as generational family trauma, abuse, homophobia, racism, intersectionality, but it also has some funny and happy moments too. It’s very character driven.

Avery was great. She’s trying to find the courage to fully be and express herself how she wants, and not care what other people think. She was just trying to do her best after being moved to a small town to take care of her estranged grandmother who is dying of cancer. She wants to get to know her before its too late, and also struggles with the fact that her mother and grandmother have a very complicated history. Avery also starts to learn the disturbing history of the town and her grandfather.

Zora and Grandma Letty’s relationship was so layered and complex. It had decades of built up hurt and anger. They’re constantly at each other’s throats and being petty and spiteful to each other. But once you start to learn their history, you understand why they are like this. You really feel for them.

The people pleaser in me really felt for Avery, how she just wanted her mom and grandmother to get along and to understand. But some things aren't easily explained, and grief and forgiveness aren’t easy.

Simone was a great character as well, very funny and strong. She was just what Avery needed. She helped her out so much with her confidence by affirming her, and supported her with everything.

The narrator did a great job. And the cover is so pretty!

Overall, this book was really good. It really shows how complex grief and forgiveness can be.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book

Absolutely Amazing! I was so excited to receive the ARC of this as an audiobook from NetGalley. The narrator, Tamika Katon-Donegal was wonderful. We Deserve Monuments was an incredibly moving story about a teenager navigating through family trauma. I don't read YA very often and am usually disappointed when I do, but I loved everything about this book from the first page. The characters and their relationships were so well done and it all felt very authentic. This is a must-read!

Thank you RB Media Recorded Books and NetGalley for this book!

I recognize that I will probably stand alone in this review and I’m ok with that. There was a lot I liked about this book, honestly. There was some raw honesty and tough topics that were dealt with.

However, for a YA book, I also felt that there were topics I wouldn’t want my teen reading about. There were things that, as a teen, would have been brand new and probably unwelcome education. I’m probably a little sheltered though so, again, I’m sure I stand alone.

🌀Synopsis
Mama Letty is dying.

Avery and her family move to Georgia to take care of her and, as it turns out, be there in her final days. At first, Avery is shell shocked. Coming from DC, this small town is hard to adjust to. As she meets more people and learns the history of the town, it grows on her though.

She makes friends and some of that friendship blossoms into a complicated relationship. She learns family history from Mama Letty and understands more of her mother’s actions. There are a lot of secrets that start to trickle out and, slowly, they overcome generational issues that seem to plague them.

Holy wow. This was so so good. It is a story about a girl who ends up going back to her mom's hometown when her grandma is dying of cancer. She doesn't really know her grandma at all because her mom has some pretty big trauma related to her childhood but as she gets to know her grandma and this little town that she's landed in, she starts to uncover a lot of secrets.

So this book has a queer biracial main character and loads of discussions about queerness which was awesome. There is a next door neighbor's romance happening. There is a lot of discussions on generational trauma and healing and grief. There are a lot of conversations about racism and homophobia and systemic discrimination that is prevalent everywhere but especially rampant in small towns.

This book comes out at the end of November and it is a really perfect book for fall spooky season. It's a crossover between YA romance and mystery. It's a heavy book but also a cozy read if that makes any sense at all.

The writing is really atmospheric and you can easily envision the environment and all the characters. It really felt like Avery, the MC, and Mama Letty were right there in front of me bickering and joking and laughing and crying. I honestly just love this so much and can't recommend it enough.

Right from the start, I knew I was going to enjoy this book. Avery, the main character, is believably complex, figuring out how to live out who they are in a family and community with hurts and loves that go back for generations.

Wisdom and warmth wind through the pages of this YA novel. The narrator of the audiobook brought it all to life.
This will go down as one of my favorite books of the year.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author and publisher for the opportunity to read a free copy for review.

I read a galley of this and wanted to see how the audiobook was, and the audiobook does a great job of narrating the story. I wasn't the biggest fan of the story, but the narrator really does a great job at presenting the story.

This book was amazing! It was heartbreaking and hopeful and so filled with emotion. This story explored very deep pain, and how complicated and nuanced it can be. This story pulled me in from the first paragraph because of the writing and because of the amazing audiobook narrator.

I also really liked the way the author told the story. The way the history was unraveled frustratingly slow as we learn along with Avery in present time while we also got little flashbacks in the voices of other characters to connect us to the realness of the past.

I connected with how grief can have so many layers. When we get to say goodbye to someone or when we don't, when we lose friends and significant others, when we let go of parts of ourselves we no longer want or need. I really appreciated the ending. Avery experiences and handles a lot, and so does her mom and grandma, so a neat ending would be hard to believe, but during the story we got to see growth, attempted growth, and the possibilities of change.

I really appreciated this story and how it was told. I just felt so excited while I was reading it. I wanted to know what would happen next. I was loving the story telling. I was loving the narrator. I was feeling anger and frustration with the main character. I was feeling heartbreak with all of the characters. It was just such a great book.

This book evoked healing. Generational trauma. a history of an unaccepting town. Queer kids. The layers in this epic debut all have a place and Jas has created an original story that feels real. One of the best YA books I’ve read this year. The protagonist Avery has so much love for family and friends so much so that you feel her love come off the pages. I’m looking forward to whatever Jas writes next.

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!