Reviews with content warning for Police brutality - We Deserve Monuments

Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

70 reviews

saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition

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)

Content Warnings

pastelmeganes's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

sarahsbookstacks's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

Content Warnings

jillgoober's review

Go to review page

challenging 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

4.5

This is a fantastic black, queer, young adult story about intergenerational trauma. Our main character, Avery, is forced to temporarily move from her Washington, D.C. home to her mother's old home in Georgia because her grandmother has terminal cancer. She barely knows her grandma, Mama Lettie, because of the strained relationship between her and Avery's mother. During her time there, Avery gets to know her grandmother better as she gets to know herself better too.

I really enjoyed this from beginning to end except for one little tidbit that kept me from giving it five stars. I won't be specific because it's a big spoiler but the twist at the end just didn't do it for me. I felt like it was unnecessary and it personally didn't make sense why the character would do something like that.

Despite the strange plot twist, this is still an incredible novel overall. Please be cautious in reading this if the topics of terminal cancer and family death are difficult for you.

Content Warnings

ooohgoshtara's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

This novel is layered and has a lot of depth. Beware it's an emotional story. A slow burn that follows main character Avery. Avery is a queer, biracial teen. There are secrets, drama, and a decades old mystery. Avery's family uproots their life moving them from D.C. to a small southern town to stay with their dying grandmother. The relationship between Letty, Avery's grandmother and her mother Zora has been strained for years. Because of their turbulent relationship Avery and her grandmother have never gotten the chance to get to know each other. Their strained relationship made me sad. Avery does what they can to get to know Letty even though neither Letty nor her mother make this easy. Avery is discovering who they are navigating friendships, love, family, and multi-generational trauma. The characters are so well developed. I enjoyed navigating this story with them from the family dynamics to the friendships. This YA novel touches on racism, anti-blackness, police violence, homophobia, grief, terminal illness, and death. I found Avery's family struggles to be very relatable. Deep rooted resentment from past hurts, secrets, and repeating the trauma cycle generation to generation.
"All night I thought how mom uprooted our entire lives to move down here. And now all she did was swat away my questions in a half baked attempt to pretend like everything was okay. Mom had always raised me to mature and inquisitive. But when it came to our own family all of that was out the window and replaced with her don't worry about it life is short the universe is big and our problems are not bullshit."
I thought this novel was well done from beginning to end and was floored by the many revelations at the end. Loved the title and how it ties into the overall story.

Content Warnings

scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

libscote's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.25

This is a powerful book about intergenerational trauma. Avery and her family move to Bardell, Georgia, to take care of her maternal grandmother, who is dying of cancer. Avery doesn't know much about why her mother and grandmother won't speak, and she gets determined to find out. There are other mysteries in Bardell: who killed her new friend Jade's mother? Are the answers to all secrets meant to be found?

It's dark, but there is joy too. It's about reconnecting with family, through the traumatic events of your past, and attempting to forgive. It's about loving yourself.

Content Warnings

aflaine's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

I fell in love with each character and the complexity they carried. The theme of loneliness, and how that rooted in each person in unique ways, was present. The teenage queer romance was adorable, and it made me nostalgic for an adolescence I never experienced. I was so proud of each character by the end of the narrative.

Content Warnings

graciffer's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Content Warnings

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

More...