Description

Seventeen year old Avery Anderson is convinced her senior year is ruined when she’s uprooted from her life in DC and forced into the hostile home of her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The tension between Avery’s mum and Mama Letty makes for a frosty arrival and unearths past drama they refuse to talk about. Every time Avery tries to look deeper, she’s turned away, leaving her desperate to learn the secrets that split her family in two.

While tempers flare in her avoidant family, Avery finds friendship in unexpected places: in Simone Cole, her captivating next-door neighbour, and Jade Oliver, daughter of the town’s most prominent family – whose mother’s murder remains unsolved.

As the three girls grow closer – Avery and Simone’s friendship blossoming into romance – the sharp-edged opinions of their small southern town begin to hint at something insidious underneath. The racist history of Bardell, Georgia is rooted in Avery’s family in ways she can’t even imagine. With Mama Letty’s health dwindling every day, Avery must decide if digging for the truth is worth toppling the delicate relationships she’s built in Bardell – or if some things are better left buried.

Publisher Review

'We Deserve Monuments' by Jas Hammonds is a book of everything - family drama, crime, romance, coming of age, generational trauma, you name it. Avery has just moved to small town Georgia with her Dad and mom to help care for her grandmother, dying of cancer. Avery knows nothing about this side of her family, has no relationship with the crotchety Mama Letty, but she wants to now that there's so little time. Mystery sets itself up from the first moments arriving in Georgia and carries readers through the whole story. The romance that develops with the girl next door gives this book fire, but Avery's bumpy relationship with Mama Letty pulled on my heart strings more than anything. I finished this book on a plane ride and was absolutely crying my eyes out. The writing is beautiful, the characters and their relationships are rich and developed. And the underlying themes of racism in today's society hit home in a way that ring home for me, as I grew up in a very similar area of the Southern US. This is a must read for anyone who likes mystery, romance, family dramas, or just fantastic writing.' - Hannah @ Mr B's