Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

120 reviews

anneliedip's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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laurynsmith's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.0

This book was like the YA version of <i>Olga Dies Dreaming</i> and I enjoyed it a ton. It had a little bit of everything—family drama and reconciliation, romance and mystery. I loved seeing Avery’s relationship develop with Mama Letty. I wish I hadn’t listened to it on audio as I think I might have liked it even more but nonetheless a great book for Black History Month!!
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saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective slow-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

 "There was no easy way to wrangle a life into a simple story."

A slow burn, twisty YA contemporary that's about unpacking intergenerational trauma. I loved how layered and realistic this story was and how it dealt with the intersection of family history and national history, making history personal. Written with some beautiful prose!

TWs: racism, homophobia, cancer, death of family members, grief, drug usage, police brutality (mentioned in retrospect, not on page) 
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shector1's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective tense 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

5.0

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elwirax's review against another edition

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emotional fast-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? No

3.0

“She was a sunflower. Beautiful. Standing tall, searching for warmth and expansion. The kind of flower whose field you could get lost in.”
 

I fear that as time has passed, I have started to outgrow YA and it's unfair of me to keep rating them so low especially when they discuss important societal issues and complex family dynamics like We Deserve Monuments did. Nevertheless, there was unfortunately very few things I actually liked about this book. 

I loved the family dynamics in this book and the discussions on generational trauma and emotional abuse, they were done in a very heartfelt way. I liked that Avery wanted to find out about her family history and wanted to strengthen the relationships in her family despite not always understanding the pain and suffering that her mum carried and that some things simply cannot be forgiven quickly. Her mum coming out as bisexual was also a very heartwarming scene especially as older people often had to suppress themselves (especially if they grew up in small, conservative towns). I thought the conversations on police brutality and racism were raw and devastating and really made me feel the hurt felt by each person who knew and loved Ray (even if it was through the memories of others). I think these discussions were the book's strengths. 

However, the mystery aspect of this book didn't really work out for me, it almost felt tacked on just for heightened drama and was mostly forgotten about until the end ( though I understand that it came from a place of great sorrow). I wasn't very convinced by Avery and Simone's relationship, it was too fast and not fully developed which is a shame because it brought up great conversations around being Black and queer. I also wanted Avery to be wee bit more sympathetic to Simone and her struggles surrounding coming out to a hyper-religious family. Lastly, I think that some of the characters' actions were far too immature for me to fully enjoy, although I do appreciate that the author presented teenagers authentically, messy and all.
 

Overall, a fantastic book about intergenerational trauma, racism and queerness and I would highly recommend it for those aspects. Everything else sadly didn't work out for me and I'm ashamed for rating this book so low. 
 
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spaghettireads's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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cvl_1103's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I loved this book. A beautifully written and emotional novel about how trauma and grief can shape us but our lives can still be full of love and joy and the monuments to all those moments. 
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tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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pastelmeganes's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

From the first few chapters into the book I was already enthralled. I felt a book like this is why I wanted to pick up reading again. I feel a lack of intersectional representation in media to consume that aligns with me and reading made me feel like I was definitely the target demographic. Being someone who’s half black, queer, a capricorn, into astrology and tarot cards who grew up in a suburban area to later move somewhere in the middle of nowhere; i felt like this book checked off so many things I related to that just left me smiling at so many different corners. I spent a lot of time taking care of my grandparents during my later years of adolescence and found it so many aspects of myself within Avery. I appreciated avery was very comfortable in her sexuality too and made her feel so much more grounded for me. Her deep yearning for companionship from not only her new friends but her family as well tugged at my heartstrings. I would say by far my favorite characters in order were: Mama Letty, Simone and then Avery. All of them had so many quirks and aspects of themselves that felt very real to me. I felt like I knew these individuals personally. I would recommend this book for anybody who wants tale of POC wlw soft romance, small town secrets, and how to tread through the murky waters of generational traumas. 

Mama Letty . . . My jaw dropped at the end with her passing when we learned that she killed Jade’s mom!! Jesus CHRIST i was mot expecting that at all!! Holy shit. I feel bad for Jade, especially since Jade’s dad just moved on to his mistress.
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delz's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

We Deserve Monuments is a really intense story. Avery is a pansexual, mixed race, senior in high school, but instead of finishing school at home in DC she’s being dragged to small town Bardell, Georgia. Her mom, Zora is going to take care of her dying mom, Momma Letty. They’ve not seen one another since Avery was 5 years old and the only thing Avery remembers from that visit was a screaming fight between the two women. Momma Letty’s neighbor was a close friend of Zora’s and she has a daughter, Simone. Simone and Avery are the same age. At first they’re tentative especially since Simone has Jade Oliver, her best friend. As Avery tries desperately to know her grandparents and discover what happened to her murdered grandpa Ray she realizes there are layers to the her family’s secrets that involve Bardell’s own dark secrets. The town’s ingrained racism and the unsolved murders of Jade Oliver’s mother and her own grandpa Ray. The story delves into all the messy relationship issues, good and bad. This is a beautifully written story, at times very relatable, always engaging. 
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