Reviews tagging 'Grief'

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

64 reviews

kshertz's review

challenging 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? No

4.25

This was a beautiful read. I so enjoyed getting to know these characters and having generational conversations about institutions, racism, love and friendship. I didn’t want to leave them. At times, I thought this author took on way too much and it was too hard to wrap it all up. But I absolutely think it’s worth a read and I love these new books with new fresh perspectives and so so much wisdom. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

jenniferesque's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

This book is deep, expensive and ambitious. It really runs the gamut of emotions, family history, relationships, growing up, grief, and identity. There were a few things that irked me enough to keep it from 5 stars. There was a lot of repetition in both diction and in subject matter. The main characters kept having the same fight over and over with no progress made. And with so much that needed to be explored, having the same fight every few chapters stalled the book to me, and made the ending feel more rushed.
Audiobook wise, the narrator had some inconsistencies in accents and voices that were slightly annoying and confusing, but overall was a solid performance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Homophobia, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, and Pandemic/Epidemic

readandfindout's review

emotional medium-paced

4.0

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 3.5 stars 
Plot: 4 stars

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, and Outing

Minor: Alcoholism

booksnbrewsnsmiles's review

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Intersectional. Generational. Friendship. Love despite flaws and unknowns. Black. Queer. Questions that may never be answered despite time and effort. Complex and anticipatory grief. Grief for things that you never even got the chance to have. Beautiful descriptions. The reality that those we’ve just met can understand and love us better than those who have known us for a very long time. An undertone of joy that just can’t go unacknowledged. A love letter to me, and to those just like me. Endless thank yous to this author!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Police brutality

racheldoesthings's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective relaxing 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

4.5

MAMA LETTY KILLED AMELIA?!?!?

I was back and forth if if I liked this book until the very end which did not see that coming at all.  I think a big reason I was back and forth on if I liked it was that it was pitched to me as a mystery and yes there were a few deaths where the circumstances surrounding them were unknown, but that does not a mystery make. I’m not a big mystery reader or reading books that are grounded in real life (especially mentioning Covid) so that also could been part of why it was hard for me to get into it for me to start. In the end I’ll say I loved getting to see all the relationships grow and change for I’d say the better. The titled chapters like the mermaids and the ending really sold this book for me 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Grief, and Death of parent

tlaynejones's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racism, Terminal illness, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

dhatislandbookworm's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.5

How does an author encapsulate a story that perfectly balances the journey of three generations of women unpacking years of trauma, a murder mystery, and a love story? I have no idea, but Jas Hammonds did that and then some. 

In Monuments, Avery and her family move to her mother’s hometown of Bardell, Georgia to take care of her dying grandmother, Mama Letty. While there, the women of the family must reckon with family secrets, race relations, homophobia, and more. 

 

Avery has so much depth as a 17-year-old MC and you can feel the weight that she carries on her shoulders as a queer, biracial girl in a small town trying navigate a new normal and mend her family at the same time. We also get an intimate look at the complex mother/daughter relationships between the women in the family and how deep old scars can affect the next generation. Monuments further does an excellent job of showcasing how the past bigotry in Bardell still affects the town in the present day. 

 

But don’t get it twisted: just because this book deals with heavy topics doesn’t mean that’s all there is to it. Despite the subject matter, Hammonds is able to weave in moments of friendship, healing, and unadulterated queer joy for Avery and her love interest, Simone, which made my heart swell. 

 

I didn‘t know what to expect jumping into this book, but safe to say I was not disappointed. This is a book that people will be talking about for years to come and should be required reading for everyone in school and beyond. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Cursing, Death, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Murder

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

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

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

smilagros's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

If y’all haven’t picked this book up. Go do it. Like right now. It was so incredible. I listened to it on audio and the audio narrator was incredible. She get different voices to each character. This book had it all, discussions about mixed couples, LGBTQ+ topics, grief, anger, generational trauma. I feel that this book had so much but it did not feel overwhelming at the same time. I think everyone can resonate with atleast something in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

passivemoon's review

emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Terminal illness

Moderate: Grief