Reviews tagging 'Death'

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

100 reviews

runningonwords415's review

challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Such a profound young adult novel grappling with the realities of today’s youth in opposition to their parents’ strict, religious, southern upbringings and beliefs. I especially loved Letty and Avery’s relationship (grandmother and -daughter), and the complexity between moms and daughters (multiple generations) were especially textured and relatable - arguing one minute and laughing the next. It leaves on a bit of an unsolved cliff hanger which I didn’t mind, but would have been great to wrap up nicely. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Death

Moderate: Hate crime, Homophobia, and Racism

datgirllani's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Oh God, this book was devastatingly beautiful. It broke my heart and made it feel full at the same time. The writing? 10/10. There’s so much more meaning in this book that wasn’t written on the pages. Officially my favorite book I ever read. Please read it, you won’t regret. “I wanted to cry because I didn’t understand how a world so beautiful could also harbor so much pain”.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Grief, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Racism, Police brutality, and Abandonment

mia_liest's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

A beautiful, black, queer coming-of-age story set in a small town including quite some family mysteries. I read through the night and loved (almost) all of the characters.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lingfish7's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

📖🎧This YA debut novel is everything. Also isn’t the cover just gorgeous?! 🌻🌻🌻An easy 5 stars and one that tugged at every one of my heart strings. 💖 It was beautifully written and I enjoyed both the audiobook and the hardcopy, soaking up every word. The ending is bittersweet and I definitely choked up and nearly cried. 😭

🏳️‍🌈Queer | 💪🏾biracial | 💔generational trauma | 😢death/grief | racism in the south | 💕friendship | 👩‍👧mother-daughter relationship 

Avery is a 17 year old pansexual queer biracial girl whose mother’s mother is dying of cancer in small town Georgia. Avery’s senior year her family moves to Bardell to be closer to Mama Letty before she passes. Avery uncovers so much generational trauma and loss regarding her grandmother’s past and why her mother fights so much with Mama Letty. In Bardell, Avery makes some unexpected friendships with Simone and Jade. 

This story is heartbreaking and beautiful. My heart broke for every character. It explores the deep homophobia and racism in the south, as well as the toll black trauma takes on black families. Generational trauma is one of my favorite themes to explore (Steinbeck’s East of Eden is my favorite), so this book was perfect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racism, and Violence

livreittoashley's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Murder, Outing, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Fatphobia

zombiezami's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Gun violence, Sexual content, Slavery, Vomit, Car accident, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

warlocksarecool21's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

We Deserve Monuments is a deeply moving story about family, regrets, loss and love. I think this book handles grief and generational trauma in a very relatable way. Watching Avery connect with her grandma and learn more about their past, as well as watching Zora and Mama Letty reconcile all the hurt and trauma that was between them was so impactful to me. The moments they shared at the end of the book were so special and I processed a lot of my own grief while reading them.

 I thought Avery’s relationship with Simone was sweet, and I wish we got to see more of them together. I did like Jade’s character as well and I felt like we didn’t really get much resolution with her part of the story. I’m not sure if that was intentional, or if certain things had to be left out but I did wish that Avery got to have a real talk with Jade at the end. 

I guess I assumed from the description that it was going to be more of an active mystery and that Avery was going to actually investigate so that was partially on me. I was kind of disappointed with the ending, and how the plot and character development were resolved.

I still don’t know how I feel about the reveal at the end about who killed Jade’s mom. When Avery discovered that Mama Letty was the one who killed Amelia  I just couldn’t reconcile with it. It almost felt like it was a last-minute decision. After I got the vibe of the story I figured there probably wasn’t going to be some big sweeping act of justice for what happened to Ray, as these acts of racist brutality usually don’t end with justice. But I just didn’t like how Avery found out really quickly at the end and there was no real reflection on it. I just kind of struggled with how those two events were tied together. And I felt that Avery’s personal story fell flat at the end, like her future goals and college plan were never brought up again, and I know the epilogue kind of addressed but I felt she deserved more. That and what I mentioned above made the ending feel a little rushed but that was really my only issue with the story.

I always struggle with open-ended conclusions tbh 😂 I like knowing that things were neatly tied up and everyone got a happy ending, but part of me is okay that we didn’t get closure and answers for everything, because real life is messy and inconclusive. My feelings about the ending aside, I thought this book portrayed grief and the slow process of loss and illness in a very beautiful way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

good_names_dont_exist's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Cancer, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

alex_johnson_2021's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Police brutality, Murder, and Abandonment

quinnpjd930's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Cursing, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, and Outing