Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

18 reviews

piprigsby's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

I'm definitely stuck between a 4.5 and a 5. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Violence, Racism, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Police brutality, and Hate crime

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

otakatoe3's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Death, Outing, Cancer, Hate crime, Bullying, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Homophobia, Murder, Death of parent, Grief, and Racism

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Hate crime, Racism, Lesbophobia, Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, Terminal illness, and Medical content

Moderate: Death, Biphobia, Infidelity, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Drug use, Bullying, Cursing, Gun violence, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Alcohol, Child abuse, Body shaming, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Abandonment, Sexism, Murder, Sexual content, and Slavery

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

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

mswarning's review

emotional funny 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

Moderate: Murder, Police brutality, Cancer, Racism, and Alcohol

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

bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

I really loved what this novel had to say about inter generational trauma. The setting was so wonderfully told through the eyes of the narrator, Avery. I think the work could have done a better job supporting it themes around racial justice and injustice, but otherwise it was an amazingly written story. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Cancer, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Outing, Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Infidelity

spookily's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Cancer, Death, Police brutality, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, and Racism

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Murder, and Vomit

Minor: Bullying, Gun violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Slavery, Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Fatphobia