Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - We Deserve Monuments

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

116 reviews

racheldoesthings's review

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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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tlaynejones's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

3.75

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dhatislandbookworm's review against another edition

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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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robinks's review against another edition

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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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theoceanrose's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.25

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jkreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

4.5⭐️

This book was a tender and heartbreaking exploration of intergenerational trauma, race and sexuality. There was so much pain in this book, which was compounded by the fact that the characters were running out of time to lay it all to rest before Mama Letty passed away.

This was shaping up to be a five star read to me right up until the reveal of who killed Jade’s mother. I just felt like the reasoning behind it didn’t make sense given that it was apparently well known around town that her father was having an affair and therefore the only person who would really be hurt by her death was Jade, an innocent little girl. Idk, maybe the fact it didn’t make sense was the whole point but it just felt like the author was tying up a thread that could have been left loose.

I would really recommend this as a great coming-of-age story, the writing is beautiful and I look forward to checking out Jas Hammonds’ next novel ‘Thirsty’ once it releases!

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bek_p87'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? No

4.5

This broke my heart in a million little ways. A touchingly realistic and quiet story of love, hate, families, race, acceptance, trauma, and time. I would change only one thing about this book - and it would be a massive spoiler if I even hinted at it, so I won't - and thus I will dock half a star from my rating. A must-read.

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