Reviews tagging 'Grief'

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

62 reviews

zombiezami's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

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

Moderate: Cursing, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Addiction

dee_j8's review against another edition

emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.5

Well written YA >>

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Grief

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: Grief, Murder, Cancer, and Death of parent

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

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

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

beccalove's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This book was beautiful. It's such a great story about generational trauma and healing. It'll probably be in my top favorites of the year. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Outing, Homophobia, Murder, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Grief, Cancer, Alcoholism, Racism, and Death

sam_xmc's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Grief, Hate crime, Death, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Police brutality, and Racism

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This was one of my 12 recs from 12 friends! I was pulled in right away and loved the switching POVs between MC, Avery, and third person POV snippets set in the past to give extra background.

I love the characters and the friendship between Jade, Simone, and Avery! The family relationships were also really well written. There is a major detail/twist thrown in toward the end and it’s sort of brushed over. It made the whole ending feel a bit rushed.

Overall a beautiful, lyrical queer love story mixed with a heartbreaking story about generational trauma and racism.

Rep: pansexual and biracial MC, Black side characters, bi side character, lesbian love interest, biracial author (they/she pronouns)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Racism, Death of parent, Cancer, Police brutality, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Homophobia, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity

anna_wa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Hate crime, Cancer, Medical content, Racism, Murder, Addiction, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Outing, and Child abuse

Minor: Car accident

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad fast-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Cancer

Moderate: Hate crime, Death, Outing, and Grief

Minor: Murder, Police brutality, Drug use, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism