Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

12 reviews

robinks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

I really enjoyed the cast of characters, and the relationships/conversations between them felt real. As a queer person who is estranged from bio family, the way some of the family issues were worked through rubbed me the wrong way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Outing, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Death, Racism, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Lesbophobia, Terminal illness, and Grief

Moderate: Biphobia, Child abuse, Abandonment, Cancer, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Cursing, Vomit, Infidelity, and Violence

Minor: Bullying, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Pandemic/Epidemic

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

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: Terminal illness, Grief, and Death

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

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

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

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

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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

5.0

One of my favorite books of the year. And this audiobook narrator is a new favorite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Lesbophobia, Murder, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Cancer, Terminal illness, Cursing, and Death

scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

 This book was both easy and difficult to get through — easy because the writing and plot was not hard to follow. There were tidbits of flashbacks scattered about the chapters but they didn’t take away from the main plot. And it was difficult because of the topics of grief, terminal illness, and racism. Jas Hammonds has created a story absolutely beautiful and heart-breaking, executed so perfectly in every aspect. This book isn’t just about Avery and Simone’s wonderful slow-burn romance, but also about dealing with generational trauma, grief from death of a family member, and struggling with living as a Black person in a bigoted South town. This was such an important book to read and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone. 

 

Despite knowing fully how this book would end especially when terminal cancer comes into play, it was still shocking to the system and I cried so hard for all the characters. I cried when Mama Letty took her last breath, and when Avery cried in Mama Letty’s room desperate for even a last whiff of her cigarettes. I also cried with Simone’s struggles of coming out (I’m closeted with my family as well) and cried with Mama Letty recounting Ray’s memories and how he was taken and killed by a racist sheriff. I was all around a giant baby during this!

 

I am gutted after this one and it's going to stay with me for a really really long time. Good job, Jas Hammands and an equally good job to the narrator of the audiobook, Tamika Katon-Donegal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, Cancer, Death, Racism, Police brutality, and Hate crime

Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Homophobia

Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual assault

Content warning: police brutality and mentions of KKK, mentions of COVID/pandemic, death of a parent from murder, death of a sibling from murder, religious bigotry, parental abuse/negligence, cigarette use, underaged drinking. For more warnings, please check the user-submitted warnings on Storygraph Representation: Black, biracial, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

I basically read this entire book in one sitting last night, so that should tell you a lot. Before reading this, I felt like it had gotten a lot of buzz in professional publications and on anticipated lists, etc. I'm always nervous with books that get a lot of hype, but trust me, this book is worth it.

Not only is the cover of this book gorgeous, but the writing inside matches. This is Jas Hammonds first novel, but I hope they keep writing becuase there's so much to like about this. Strong characters, beautiful writing, strong emotions. There is almost a story within a story in this book, adding a little mystery to Avery's story. 

At its core, this is a book about generational trauma related to racism, how racial violence can affect a family for years down the line. You are sure to fall in love with the characters, even the ever stubborn Mama Letty. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll gasp. You'll find it all in this book.

Since we're at the end of 2022, put this on your 2023 TBR. You won't be disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Grief, and Racism

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Homophobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Police brutality, and Infidelity

amandalorianxo's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

But at the end of it, the only thing I could say was, “ I love you.”Then the ice broke, the tears came, and I was drowning.” 4.5 stars

You can tell how much love and emotion it took for this debut to come together and I can’t thank Jas enough for creating this wonderful young adult novel. It centers around 17 year old Avery Anderson, a biracial teen from DC who moves to Bardell,Georgia after finding out that Mama Letty (Avery’s mother) has terminal breast cancer. The relationships we uncover in this book have a lot of deep rooted, repressed trauma and sometimes acknowledged verbal /emotional tendencies that lean towards abusive. Avery along with the audience unpacks a lot within the several months she is living in Bardell. This definitely leaves you thinking and wishing that more people of color did in fact have monuments dedicated to them because lord knows the Confederates of the past have no business being glorified. My only critique were the random flashbacks that weren’t necessarily needed or could have been implemented a different way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Terminal illness, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Racism, Murder, Drug use, Outing, Infidelity, Homophobia, Medical content, and Lesbophobia