Really great book that talks about tough topics such as alcoholism, peer pressure, toxic relationships, allowing acceptance of certian cliques to equate to your self worth as a person.
Made me think of the song:
Habits by Tove Lo

Another hit! Jas got a fan out of me if she keeps writing how she does. Omg I felt all the feels while reading We Deserve Monuments but this one right here hit me to the core! How she battled everything that was warnings before you read the book, she handled with grace and understanding. She got a fan out of me frfr!

I have never read a book with the topic of alcohol addiction written for a YA audience before. it's an important read, that i hope many teens will get to read in the future. there were also so many other important themes throughout the story. thank you for the arc.

There are not a lot of books that look at unsafe, peer pressured, and excessive drinking that comes often times comes with older teens’ lives, but Hammonds tackles it so well in this book while also looking at the pressure and exclusion that comes with prestigious organizations. I read this book so quickly; I had trouble putting it down!

Thirsty was a rough look into a young woman trying to fit in the world but doing so in the most unhealthy manner: drinking too much. While the novel is more than just her drinking, it is about her place within her family, friends, her soon-to-be sorority, and her girlfriend. While everything changes in the blink of an eye, it may actually be for the good. Jas Hammonds takes the emotions of young women and puts them fully on display and I am here for it!

Jas Hammonds is an excellent writer, but I didn't connect to this story as much as I did We Deserve Monuments.

I don’t think this book was necessarily for me, but I hope it will help me love people better. This story was very YA, coming of age. I appreciated the conversations around gender identity, addiction, and race. I kept waiting for the show to drop and I was relieved it didn’t. I now understand that the author intended to show another perspective that broadens the conversation around drinking. The story dragged a bit for me, but overall I think a lot of people may enjoy this.

Jas Hammonds does it again. Big thanks to the publisher for an e-ARC to review!

Loads of content warnings which the author details in a note at the start, including alcohol addiction, self-hatred, racial microaggressions, and transphobic rhetoric.

I was a little apprehensive when I saw that this release is about drinking as that’s not particularly relevant to me so I wasn’t sure how my reading experience would go but I shouldn’t have been worried. Hammonds continues to write impressive, intense stories about teens and their emotions that can reach you whether or not you have directly comparable experiences with the characters. I'm loving the continued bittersweet nature of their books and will continue to seek them out.

WOW. Jas Hammonds has done it yet again! I absolutely LOOVEDDD Hammonds debut YA novel WE DESERVE MONUMENTS. Needless to say Hammonds will be an auto-buy for me. If you enjoy young adult books please add this to your TBR.

As someone who struggled with alcoholism at a young age I totally felt for the main character. Hammonds has a way of creating such complex characters in their books. We're introduced to Blake in her downward spiral post high school graduation planning for college. Blake is unfortunately exposed to the "party lifestyle" of the rich and fabulous. Being from the poorer parts she wasn't "seen" by her classmates and was often bullied for being quiet and socially awkward, until she starts working at the country club. Blake begins drinking to masks all her insecurities and become this "bad girl Blake" that the rich kids love to be around. Definitely worth reading if you love coming of age stories.

I have said this repeatedly but most YA novels resonate with adults because of the tough subject matters. As a young adult we just wanted to be seen and understood. I'm so happy our current generation has access to these type of books.

Blake is starting college in the fall, and she has one goal: to join the exclusive Serena Society with her girlfriend, Ella. Ella is the daughter of a Serena alum, but Blake will have to fight to get considered. Soon, she finds something that makes her more confident and sociable, a shortcut to getting accepted by the most influential people…getting drunk. But even as she successfully passes through layers of pledging, Blake’s coping mechanism threatens to lose her everything.

Jas Hammonds is such an amazing author!!! Ever since I read her first debut We Deserve Monuments I’ve been looking forward to her next book. While Thirsty didn’t top the first book I really enjoyed this one too.

Blake being addicted to alcohol at such a young age stressed me out so bad. But I get it she was formerly a loner and now that she’s trying to be apart of the crowd she doesn’t feel she can be her true self. Peer pressure can get serious but I honestly felt Ella had a lot to do with it. When Blake was under the influence she basically became the life of the party. Ella encouraged the behavior and the new sorority ate up Blake’s energy every time.

Then as the pledging got more intense so does the drinking. Her life was practically turned upside down to the point she was drowning before Blake realized how bad her drinking had actually gotten. But when she did and finally cut Ella off I was so pleased because their relationship was really toxic. “I don’t like who I am when I’m around you.”

Overall, it’s definitely a book I’d recommend. The author touched on some heavy topics surrounding anxiety, the effects of alcoholism, identity, poor decisions, toxic relationships, sobriety, social acceptance, and family. This was probably a tough one for her to write but I think it was needed because it’s a situation many young people are dealing with. Not only that it’s becoming far too common and normalized when people should be discussing alcoholism amongst the youth more. Special thanks to the author & @macmillanusa #RoaringBookPress for my gifted e-ARC!!!

As always, I love love love everything that Jas writes. They have such a way of connecting the reader to the depths of their own emotional trenches but keeps them wanting to trudge through.

I am grateful I had a chance to read this book and will definitely tell others about it.

- It feels sort of cliche these days to call a YA novel “important,” but THIRSTY really is. It tackles not only drinking, but also race, class, and more.
- I loved the way Blake’s drinking was portrayed in this book. She was drinking socially, drinking to feel like she belonged, drinking to make friends. She didn’t have one huge rock bottom moment, but rather a slow building of moments that finally came into focus for her.
- It’s sometimes a hard read, when Blake and others are making repeated bad choices. But it’s also filled with love and understanding for Blake and her mindset.
- After adoring Hammonds’ WE DESERVE MONUMENTS and now THIRSTY, they’re an autobuy author for me now. Can’t wait to see what’s next.

I got an ARC of this book.

I adore this author. I devoured their last book. I was ready!

This book just never felt like it got started. It was very slow and character driven, which is very hit or miss with me right now. I have no doubts that my main issues with this book are my own and not the issue with the book itself.

The biggest conflict is the MC and alcohol. Is she an alcoholic? Is she self-medicating with alcohol? Why are these adult women giving minors alcohol (and even if they claim they are not, how are they justifying encouraging the behavior that is clearly drunk behavior)?

I didn't care about any of the characters. They were pretty well fleshed out and clearly had motivations and trauma. The way that the MC talks about her white mom just not getting race was real. There was a lot that made the characters real, but also so much about them that just made it so I wanted to shake them and go "STOP DRINKING". So much would have been solved with that.

So overall, not a bad book, but didn't really work with me right now. I might have to try it again when I have a better attention span!

A gut-punch of a YA book by @jashammonds
🍷
Meet Blake Brenner aka Big Bad Bee. She and her girlfriend of four years have one goal this summer: get a bid for the ultra-exclusive Serena Society. It’s a sorority that promises powerful networking opportunities, status and strong connections with women of color. Blake doesn’t fit in with the girls once she starts attending the parties and events because Blake doesn’t come from money like all her friends and girlfriend. However, she feels more at home at Ella’s extravagant house than she does in her own place with her parents. In order to fit in, Big Bad Bee becomes confident when she’s drinking, but every time she does she gets blackout drunk and takes all her insecurities out on herself to the point of self-hatred. Is this the right sorority for Blake, if it causes her to act like this?
🥃
I recently read Glass Girl by Kathleen Glasgow that releases soon and this novel reminded me so much of it because they both deal with teen alcoholism, a topic we don’t discuss often. I believe it will open so many eyes to this issue and the warning signs associated with alcoholism. I was hooked with this story from beginning to end, despite how hard it was to watch Blake continue to harm herself through alcohol abuse. This one is for upper high school and beyond.

CW: alcohol and drug use, cheating, addiction/alcoholism, toxic relationship, forced outing, transphobia, racism, microaggressions, bullying, classism, gaslighting, homophobia, suicidal ideation, blood, sexism, vomit

Jas Hammonds became an auto-buy author for me after We Deserve Monuments, and I'm so pleased to say they've only gotten better with Thirsty. This book felt so raw and personal. It was messy like any 18-year-old's story and thoughts would be, but also gripping and emotional.

Blake was such a complicated character, but I loved her and wish I could give her the biggest hug. It's weird to feel proud of a fictional character, but I really was proud of her by the end of the book.

Easy 5 stars, and I expect I'll be saying that with Jas Hammonds' next book too.

This book is unlike anything else I have ever read. I loved it so much. I found myself completely intrigued by the story and my interest peaked by the writing style. Jas uses the story of Blake, Annetta, and Ella trying to join the Serena Society, a secret organization similar to a sorority for women of color, to illustrate the dangers and downside of alcoholism while highlighting the important of supportive community through trials. I saw myself in Blake, even as someone who has never been a big drinker. Jas beautifully shows how we can all fall into the trap of vices, highlighting the most primal desires we all hold: to be like, to be loved, and to be seen. I really cannot wait to read more from Jas, and have already picked up another book by them. I highly recommend this beautiful story.

C-8 A-9 W-10 P-8 L-10 I-8.5 E-10

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review of Thirsty.

Hammond's tells the story of Bri, who struggles with alcoholism, or is at least flirting with the edges of it too closely.

This is a story of friendship, hazing, that one last summer before everything changes, and the quest to figure out who we really are, and who we really want to be. There's beautiful writing here and so much compassion and reality about high school drinking and social status.

Hammond's slays.

i knew jas hammonds was something special when i read her debut last year, but her sophomore novel blew me away in a completely different, but no less impactful, way. this story of an eighteen year old lesbian mixed race girl coming to terms with her own alcoholism included so many well-written relationships, as well as a distinctly articulated desire to be loved and accepted and embraced. while the book was not a romance, there is so much love here, but it's about turning love back toward oneself. blake learns who truly cares and who doesn't throughout her journey to join the serena society, and she also learns what she truly wants in life, and grows the courage to pursue as much.

i am so grateful and glad to have read such an incredible book.

five stars

Idk if y’all know this, but the first book by Hammonds made me cry into my chicken strips at lunch one day. And because of that one day, I KNEW I was going to read everything that they wrote. So when I saw that they had this one coming out and I was going to have the chance to meet them in person, I KNEW I had to get my hands on this book. And let me tell you, even though I LOVED their first book, I think I liked this one just as much.

So there’s no secrets and grandmas in this one, but there are some things that would usually five me pause. As some of y’all may know, one of my triggers is addiction. Not because I suffered from it, but because I was one of those left behind by it. Because I was there for when it hurt some of the people I love most. I thought that maybe I wouldn’t be able to read this one, but since it was about her having the addiction and in a toxic relationship, it only showed a small part of the family members she hurt. Or that’s what I unpacked from being able to read it. So if you’re ok with that, maybe you can read it also.

Now that that’s out the way, I want to talk about the writing style. I don’t know what it is about Jas’ writing, but they always suck me in. And the way they wrote certain scenes, like when Blake blacked out and when the raw emotion I felt in her character. I was so enveloped into this story. Everything was just so real and raw and realistic. Jas is definitely a new fave!

Another thing I really liked about this book was the sorority aspect. As someone in one of the D9, I have a very unique connection to this book. And I don’t want to say anything, but some of these things hit very close to home. I gotta say, I had to put the book down for a minute because I found myself like reliving some things. I joined in 2008. I don’t think I’ve thought about that part of it since then lmao So this was a bit hard to read. But only because I related to it so well. This part of the story was also very realistic and very raw.

The romance in this was pretty toxic. And I gotta say, I was yelling at Blake from the beginning until the end. I HATED her girlfriend. And I knew from the beginning how it was going to end. They were either going to kill each other or they would break up and they would heal, but they wouldn’t be together. I’ll let you guess which one it is. I’ll just say, even though there’s no grandmas in this one, I still cried. The entire book was traumatizing, but also very healing. And I love that it felt like that because in the author’s note Jas also said it was healing for her to write about. They definitely conveyed that message through their writing.

This is the second book by Jas and the second book of theirs that I gave 5 stars to. I don’t really know how I’m going to make myself wait another year. But I will be waiting. I hate reading books early for this reason lol Why did I do this to myself?