Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

51 reviews

crazybookishcool's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Cancer, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Addiction, Abandonment, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Grief

mezzythedragon's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Grief, Death, Alcohol, Cursing, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Terminal illness

CW // intergenerational trauma, abuse, racism, death, internalized queerphobia, alcohol and drug use This is some hard-hitting, heavy stuff. A clear example of “hurt people hurt people.” Even though both Zora and Mama Letty have gone through/are still going through their personal traumas, they too have done some terrible things to each other, and in Zora’s case, to Avery as well. I will say the ending

regarding Mama Letty and her box

threw me by surprise. 👀

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Terminal illness, Death, and Death of parent

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

lettuce_read's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Police brutality, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Grief, Cancer, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Murder, Outing, Cursing, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Classism

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

Thanks to Fierce Reads for the free copy of this book.

 - WE DESERVE MONUMENTS is a knockout of a book. This book covers everything from the annoyances of being a teenager to generational trauma, and it's delivered in a story that's both beautiful and page-turning.
- I loved watching the relationships between the women of Avery's family untangle and grow. Hammonds doesn't gloss over how painful it can be to uncover family history, but also that love can still be buried under all of it.
- On top of all this, there's also an exploration of what it means to be young, Black and queer in the South today. I'll truly be thinking of this book for a long time to come. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Alcohol, Racism, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Homophobia, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Medical content, Violence, and Cancer

Minor: Sexual content

catreads247's review against another edition

emotional 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

This book was so good! I devoured it! I mean I read half the book in one day. Absolutely bawled at the end, so make sure you have tissues. Also check the trigger warnings. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Terminal illness

Minor: Homophobia and Murder

ellaandcoffee's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I am honestly in awe of this book! It is an absolute masterpiece and I advise you all to go and pick up a copy when it comes out at the end of November 2022. I listened to the audiobook (thank you Netgalley and RB Media for giving me a chance to review this book) but definitely will also be picking up a physical copy soon. The audiobook version was excellent and Tamika Katon-Donegal is a master-narrator, they absolutely do the book justice!

It's hard to talk about this book without giving away too much about the plot for me. So I will keep this review short. We Deserve Monuments is a coming-of-age story featuring a mixed-race queer main character who moves to a small town to help her severely ill grandmother. This book broke my heart and healed it in more ways than one. I am never at a loss for words but this book, it's just... I just need you all to go read it!!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Terminal illness, and Cancer

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Outing, Abandonment, Homophobia, Murder, and Death

Minor: Alcoholism

amobrien's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.5

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

Family drama, love story, and mystery all in one — I loved the way We Deserve Monuments had so many layers and each were done successfully. It's not often that a single book can tell so many different stories at once and have it done well, so I was so impressed with the way We Deserve Monuments wrapped it all up. I also loved how complex the characters were. I highly recommend giving this a read!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Terminal illness, Hate crime, Homophobia, Police brutality, and Alcoholism

spinesinaline's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

So, so good

Short review: this book was incredible. Also, probably my favourite book cover of the year, it’s stunning.

From the content warnings alone, it’s clear this book covers a lot. Even in the blurb, when the publishers pitched it as a romance and murder mystery and family story, it seems like it’s trying to do so much at once. But somehow it works and it never feels overstuffed or confused in its direction. All these parts contribute to the whole.

There’s also some fun humour and some warm, lovely characters who make this town really feel like a home (along with some not so nice folks), each with their own background of trauma and life experiences.

This is really a story about grief. Avery’s grief over the short time she’ll get with the grandmother she barely knows, and the pervasive grief over the loss of multiple people in this town that their family members are still coming to terms with and trying to understand.

(Vague spoilers about ending)

It’s something so beautiful when a book gets an ending that’s as powerful and well-written as the story. It’s not the one all the characters are hoping for but I appreciated that we could check in with everyone we’ve met throughout this book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Grief, Racism, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Murder, Police brutality, and Homophobia

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

When her family learns that her grandmother is dying, Avery is uprooted from her life in D.C. and transplanted to her mom’s tiny hometown in Georgia.  She leaves behind her college-obsessed friends (and ex) just before starting her senior year in a town where she knows no one, including her own grandmother.  Years of lost time span between three generations of Black women, and Avery is determined to unearth the divisive secrets that color her family and finally get to know her impenetrable grandmother, all while getting to know herself.  A debut novel about who and what is worth remembering with a special focus on Black queer love in the South, We Deserve Monuments is unforgettable.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Outing

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Classism, Cancer, Hate crime, Medical content, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Terminal illness

Minor: Vomit, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Police brutality, and Sexual content