Really interesting premise. I always love a good heist story and with ghosts included, I'm in! The book is highly atmospheric and the ghosts are just as much characters as the living people within.

Set during the 1920’s in a black community, this is the story of Clara and her crew of characters who have made deals with spirits but are still paying the price of those deals. Clara, who has the gift of seeing and talking to spirits, lassos in these characters to steal a ring and save people who have been afflicted by a curse which robs them of their conscious minds.

I enjoyed the spirit world, the charms and curses, but the story started to remind me of an adult cartoon. Some might find this fun, but I was bored by the predictability of this adventure.

The cast of characters is interesting on audio, but I had difficulty listening to the Set during the 1920’s in a black community, this is the story of Clara and her crew of characters who have made deals with spirits but are still paying the price of those deals. Clara, who has the gift of seeing and talking to spirits, lassos in these characters to steal a ring and save people who have been afflicted by a curse which robs them of their conscious minds.

I enjoyed the spirit world, the charms and curses, but the story started to remind me of an adult cartoon. Some might find this fun, but I was bored by the predictability of this adventure.

The audio is entertaining with so many colorful characters, but i was bothered by the screechy voice of Zelda. Luckily, she doesn’t talk much.

This book was brilliant and delivered on everything that I thought this book should be. The characters, the pace, the stakes! I could feel it all and loved every minute of it.

This fantastic, marvelous historical fantasy, set in Black Washington DC during the Jazz Age, brings its time, its place and its people to glorious life. It also tells a tale of big thrills, big fears and deep, deep chills. Because under its glitter and walking in its footsteps is a cautionary tale that hovers just at the point where being careful what you wish for drops straight through the trapdoor of some favors come with too high a price.

Clara Johnson was born with the ability to speak to the dead. It’s not a one-way street, because they can speak to her, too. And not just the dead, anyone or anything that exists ‘Over There’ can get her attention – or she can get theirs.

An attention she took advantage of, once upon a time, in order to save her life.

She made a bargain with a being calling herself ‘The Empress’. In return for a literal ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card, Clara made a deal. A deal, like all deals with the enigmas that exist Over There, that left Clara with both a charm and a trick.

The charm she refuses to use or even talk about – after that one and only time it got her out from under a murder charge. The trick, however, is a binding on her soul. Whenever someone asks her for help making contact with the spirits, she has to help. She’s not allowed to take payment for that help, and she’s not permitted to make too strong a case against taking that help to the person who has made the request.

Because the help they ask for will result in that person receiving their own charm, and their own trick. And Clara has learned, to her cost, that in the end neither are worth it. A lesson she should have kept much more firmly in mind as she gets herself deeper into a case that catches her up in a battle that may cost her entire community their souls, their futures, and their destinies.

Escape Rating A+: I know I’m not quite doing this one justice because I loved it so hard. I just want to squee and that’s not terribly informative. But still…SQUEE!

Now that I’ve got that out of my system – a bit – I’ll try to convey some actual information.

The Monsters We Defy combines history, mystery and magical realism into a heist committed by a fascinating assortment of characters on a mission to save themselves, each other, and all their people. And just possibly the world as well.

The historical setting is ripe for this kind of story. On the one hand, there’s the glitter of the Jazz Age. And on the other, the divided reality of the District’s black community, where the ‘Luminous Four Hundred’ holds itself high above the working class and the alley residents, while pretending that the white power brokers who control the rest of the city don’t see everyone who isn’t white as less than the dirt beneath their feet.

It’s not a surprise that someone would take advantage of that situation for their own ends. What makes this book different is that the someone in this case is an enterprising spirit from ‘Over There’ rather than a human from right here.

And into this setting the author puts together one of the most demon-plagued crews to ever even attempt to pull off a heist. All of them, except for Clara’s roommate Zelda, are in debt to one enigma or another in a burden that they wish they could shake. Vaudevillian Aristotle can play any role he wants to or needs to, but is doomed to be invisible when he’s just himself. Musician Israel can hypnotize an individual or a crowd with his music – but no one ever cares about the man who plays it. His cousin Jesse can take anyone’s memories – make them forget an hour or a day – but the woman he loves can never remember him for more than a day.

They all thought they were getting a gift – only to discover that it’s a curse they can’t get rid of. Unless they steal a powerful ring from the most famous and best-protected woman on Black Broadway.

Unless the spirits are playing them all for fools. Again.

It all hinges on Clara, who is tired and world-weary and desperate and determined. She doesn’t believe that she’ll ever have any hope of better, but she’s determined to try for literally everyone else. And the story and her crew ride or die with her – no matter how much or how often she wishes she could do it all alone.

Because the story is told from Clara’s perspective even though it’s not told from inside her head, it was critical that the narrator for the audiobook embody Clara in all of her irascible reluctance to take up this burden she knows is hers. The narrator of the audiobook, Shayna Small, did a fantastic job of both bringing Clara to life AND making sure that the other voices were distinct and in tune with the characters they represented.

And she made me feel the story so hard I yelled at Clara to look before she leaped and think before she acted more than a few times, because I cared and I wanted to warn her SO MUCH. (Luckily I was in the car and no one could hear me.)

I found The Monsters We Defy to be a terrific book about a high-stakes heist committed by a desperate crew that led to a surprising – and delightful – redemptive ending. And the audio was superb.

If you’ve read either Dead, Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia or Bindle Punk Bruja by Desideria Mesa, you’ll love The Monsters We Defy because it’s a bit of both of those books with a super(natural) chunk of T.L. Huchu’s The Library of the Dead‘s “I speak to dead people,” thrown in for extra bodies and high-stakes scary spice!

The Monsters We Defy | Lesley Penelope

Favorite Quote: “Are You Pursuing Happiness?”

Do I Recommend This Book: Yes

What I Enjoyed About It:
The Narrator
The Storyline and Writing Style
Israel 🤎
The Ghosts, Greys and the supernatural vibes
Clara’s hardheaded nature
Zelda 🥰🥰
The Ragtag team they pulled together to solve the mystery
Mama Octavia bringing back memories of my grandma 🖤
I loved Uncle Nazareth’s growth
The Spiritual Aspects included
Chapter Titles 🥹
The Characters Aristotle portrayed
The Ending & Epilogue 🤎
The feeling of Closure

Thank You @netgalley and @leslye for the Eracs in exhange for my review 📚

#POCReviewer #BIPOC #Netgalley #EArc #Kindle #Books #FallVibes #POCAuthor #Whisperer #1920 #Albino #BeYourself #TheGreys #Spirits #enigmas #Thecall #MamaOctavia #Whoyouare #Happiness #Cursebreaker #JesseLee #Happyendings #Closure #Gayin1920 #Dresses #Nerves #Findingyourself #After #TrueStory #Police #Neverstopfighting #BLM

This is a delightful, fun-filled romp of a speculative fiction novel inspired by history (figures and events) that kept me turning pages to see how our heroine and her band of misfits were going to solve the mystery and save the day.

If you're looking for something spooky for the Halloween season, but you don't want to read something terribly scary, then this might be the one for you. Clairvoyants, ghosts, magical powers, and a heist all set during the 1920s in Washington D.C.? Yeah, you're going to want to read this one.
---
A woman able to communicate with spirits must assemble a ragtag crew to pull off a daring heist to save her community in this timely and dazzling historical fantasy that weaves together African American folk magic, history, and romance.

Washington D. C., 1925

Clara Johnson talks to spirits, a gift that saved her during her darkest moments in a Washington D. C. jail. Now a curse that’s left her indebted to the cunning spirit world. So, when the Empress, the powerful spirit who holds her debt, offers her an opportunity to gain her freedom, a desperate Clara seizes the chance. The task: steal a magical ring from the wealthiest woman in the District.

Clara can’t pull off this daring heist alone. She’ll need help from an unlikely team, from a jazz musician capable of hypnotizing with a melody to an aging vaudeville actor who can change his face, to pull off the impossible. But as they encounter increasingly difficult obstacles, a dangerous spirit interferes at every turn. Conflict in the spirit world is leaking into the human one and along D.C’.s legendary Black Broadway, a mystery unfolds—one that not only has repercussions for Clara but all of the city’s residents.

It's a very slow intro. I like the premise for "the other side," but it didn't really grab me -- DNF for now; update upon completion

Set in Washing DC in 1925, the lead character Clara Barton is quietly known for her magical powers and is often called upon to assist those that need extraordinary help with all sorts of personal woes while working a clerical job at the same time. After Clara becomes aware of poor Black folk going missing, she wants to see if she can get to the bottom of the disappearances but her plans get interrupted by the mysterious Empress who gave Clara her magic abilities. The Empress wants a favor in exchange for giving Clara her powers. The favor is extremely risky requiring Clara to seek help from a colorful assortment of friends. I enjoyed the story, however, Shayna Small is not my favorite narrator. She also narrated The Dead, Dead Girls, which is also set in a similar time frame, only I think the place was Harlem New Orleans, which made the southern lilt in her voice more confusing I wished the author would have chosen Bahni Turpin instead, she is a more versatile voice actor.

I really enjoyed this audiobook! The story was gripping, and expertly weaved in Black folklore, history, fantasy, and a magic system into the thrill of a good heist. Growing up in the south, I have a basic knowledge of Gullah Geechee lore, so seeing some similarities in this story was exciting. I also absolutely adored Zelda, Clara’s lovable (to everyone but Clara at times) friend and roommate! She was often the comedic relief that we needed, and I found myself regularly wishing I had a friend like Zelda. She cracked me up! I appreciated Clara’s familial bonds, especially with Mama Octavia, the spirit of her long departed grandmother, but also references to Clara not having a perfect family life—her mother’s abandonment. Stories are more real when they are relatable, and I’m sure many will relate to not growing up within a perfect family unit. I also enjoyed how the book left, not on a major cliffhanger, but with questions that you still want answered. It opens the door for (hopefully!) book two—we have to know what powers the ring—the object of the heist—possesses!

The narrator in this audiobook, Shayna Small, was fantastic, as well! She did an excellent job of differentiating between character’s voices. I especially loved how she was able to master the generational differences in accents. It’s difficult to describe, but her accent and the way she spoke as Mama Octavia was different than her speaking for the younger characters, and was so realistic that I often wondered if there were more narrators than just her. There weren’t, she’s just that good!

The Monsters We Defy weaves together fantasy, historical fiction, political intrigue and social justice into one page-turning story that will keep you coming back for more.

Clara has a connection with spirits that saved her during her time in jail, but this connection is not wholly good. To break free from a debt to the spirit world, Clara must perform one favor for the spirit who holds her debt.

Check out the Monsters We Defy if you are looking for a read that...

- is spooky
-is educational
- has a historical element
- brimming with African folklore
- has a strong FMC
- has a heist

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

A feisty young woman who can see and communicate with the spirit world becomes a reluctant hero in this fun, historical fantasy novel. Clara Johnson is a 23 year old Black woman trying to keep her head down and live a quiet life in Washington DC in the 1920's. Her gift for seeing 'over there' and the sudden disappearance of many Black residents of the city soon have Clara in the midst of a dangerous heist. Fortunately, she is joined by a fabulous crew of friends each with their own gifts and agendas. I really enjoyed the adventure and historical setting. The writing style was really enjoyable, though I thought the pacing was a little slow at times.
Shayna Small, who narrated this novel, is fabulous - she brought to life all the different characters with aplomb! The afterward at the end was especially interesting as the author noted the historical people and events that inspired this novel. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of Monsters We Defy in return for my honest opinion.

✨ Review ✨ The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope; Narrated by Shayna Small

Historical fiction + magical realism --- ahhhh such a fun read!

Clara Johnson communicates with spirits amidst the lively world of Black Broadway in 1925 Washington D.C. A blessing that saved her at first, this gift now feels more like a curse, one that's left her connected to an ever-present world beyond the veil. When residents start mysteriously going missing, a spirit tasks Clara with stealing a magical ring from a rich and powerful local woman.

The book description describes her "ragtag crew" she assembles to pull off this "daring heist." I loved this crew of folks she collects, all who also are indebted to spirits in a delightful mix of blessing/curse pairings. The historical setting of Black Broadway and 1920s African American folk magic and culture in D.C. is amazing. I loved the world that this book immersed me in. The book did such a good job balancing magic and spirits with a realistic setting that it was really fun to read.

Clara and her crew were a fun bunch to follow and I loved it all. It was admittedly just a little long I think, but overall I still enjoyed it. I also appreciated how she wove in prominent African American figures like the emerging Langston Hughes and a growing Black literary / scholarly culture, in which Clara was connected as a typist. I loved how all the threads came together in this book.

Also there's this amazing side thread on 1920s queer Washington D.C. that I LOVED and wanted more of. There's some great queer rep here that threads in and out of the story.

I listened to the audiobook, and the narration was great too!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: historical fiction + magical realism
Location: Black Broadway, Washington, D.C.
Pub Date: Out now!

Read this if you like:
⭕️ 1920s historical fiction
⭕️ heists and capers with magical realism woven in
⭕️ fearless female characters

Thanks to Hachette Audio, Redhook Books, and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

<i>ARC recieved from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. </i>

I think I would have liked this so much more had I not previously read [book:The Diviners|7728889] because this was just too similar in tone and plot for my taste.

However there is a lot to like here (especially if you liked The Diviners.) We've got a diverse cast. We've got a heist. We've got historical events, and we've got ghosts. This book is somehow simultaneously light and fun, but also contains serious themes of racism and colonialism at the same time. The audiobook narrator did a decent job but overall I don't think added much to the experience. Plotwise, I'm not going to summarize, but it's pretty fun if heists are your thing. I would recommend this to teens, but this isn't one of those YA books I see being super popular with adult readers of YA.

Some criticisms (and mild spoilers ahead)





My main complaint with thiss and why I didn't rate it higher was the characters. Clara's character is kinda one-note. She's described as "fiery" and "stubborn" and she is, but she's also morally pure and do-gooder to the point where it's annoying and slightly unbelievable. Because of her constant refusal to use her power (which she brings up repeatedly even before you find out what it is)... it makes the ending pretty predictable, imho. Jesse Lee and Aristotle also felt like the same person and I kept getting them mixed up while listening, which made the romance.. kinda weird lol.

This is a fun and spooky heist story set in the 1920’s. Clara Johnson, a young black woman with the power to commune with spirits, joins up with a group of talented friends to save their community from a mysterious force that causes folks to disappear. I don’t want to give away anything but I found the layers of this story to be really engaging and fun to uncover. It had high enough stakes to keep me interested but low enough not to be too stressful. A budding romance, feisty best friend, and a little magic, what’s not to like?

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for this ALC!

THE MONSTERS WE DEFY was such a fun read! Set in prohibition-era Washington D.C., we follow Clara Johnson as she is sent on a mission to steal a mysterious ring from one of the most wealthy women in the district by a ghost she's indebted to. What we have here is a fun blend of paranormal hijinks, a heist gone horribly wrong and a mystery that just keeps the ball rolling from beginning to end. The characters in this story are all so endearing, interesting and just fun to watch as the story unfold. Each of them have unique abilities and personalities that made this book absolutely shine. Penelope has done a wonderful job bringing this setting and time period to life and I was really fascinated by the story of African American communities in D.C. in this time period. It wasn't something I knew much about before I read this one. I loved the ghosty feel of this story a lot and the way that the author utilizes Black history and African-American folk magic to weave a tale that is fresh, exciting and wholly unique. Full of jazz age splendor and plot twists that make your head spin, THE MONSTERS WE DEFY is a brilliant debut that I can highly recommend!

I loved this book! I loved the historical fiction aspect, with names of prominent black people that I recognized. I loved the spiritual aspect of everything too, which I normally don't do paranormal stories but this was too intriguing to pass up! I enjoyed listening to how Clara, the MC came into her own power! Great listen too!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for offering this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Redhook in exchange for an honest review.

We've got the 1920's, D.C’.s legendary Black Broadway, a daring heist, trickster spirits, and a protagonist inspired by a real life historical figure. THE MONSTERS WE DEFY is an engaging historical fiction with a little bit of fantasy woven into it. Clara Johnson is smart and feisty, Zelda is a larger than life personality, and the whole ragtag group Clara puts together are colorful personalities. I thought the talents the spirits gave the characters were interesting, as were the consequences of accepting those gifts.

The actual heist was entertaining and I loved the dynamic between the main characters. Overall this was a really great read! I also appreciated the author's note at the end.

Shayna Small does a great job with the audiobook narration.

Cuando vi que en la sinopsis de The Monsters we Defy definían la trama como un heist fantástico supe que tenía que hacerle un hueco en mi pila de lectura, porque me encantan las narraciones en las que se orquesta toda una complicada situación para llevar a cabo un robo encubierto, como en The Quantum Magician de Derek Kunsken, por ejemplo.


Leslye Penelope ha creado un escenario situado en el Washington de los años 20, con una documentación extraordinaria y con un profundo mensaje político sobre el racismo. La fantasía la aportan los poderes especiales del grupo de protagonistas, asociados todos con un trato con las entidades llamadas Enigmas (conocidas como djinns, o genios en otras culturas), gracias al cual consiguieron alguna habilidad extraordinaria, inevitablemente asociada a un precio que pagar por su uso. Me ha gustado mucho la presentación de cada personaje con su correspondiente flashback hacia el origen de su historia, un recurso bastante cinematográfico que en este libro encaja perfectamente.

La figura principal es Clara Johnson (basada en un personaje real) una joven de color a la que las peculiaridades de su nacimiento dotaron de poderes y que es capaz de hablar con los espíritus. Uno de los más poderosos de estos seres le encarga una tarea titánica, logra hacerse con un anillo de poder en manos de una de las personas más poderosas de Washington. Pero Clara está dispuesta a todo con tal de librarse de su maldición aunque para llevar a cabo el plan necesitará ayuda.

Como he mencionado antes, el elenco de personajes es variopinto y bastante bien retratado, aunque quizá lo más importante sea el mundo en el que se mueven, que sirve como paralelismo con el mundo real sobre el que tanto ha investigado la autora. La acción algunas veces se resiente porque la presencia de entidades mágicas modifica las reglas del juego y puede parecer algo tramposo el desarrollo. Aunque está bastante equilibrado y sigue cierta lógica, quizá es que ya estoy acostumbrada a sistemas mágicos más rígidos y contenidos, y he perdido algo del sentido de maravilla de la magia que no se explica.

La versión en audiolibro de Shayna Small le da mucha vida a la narración, con la consecución de diversos acentos (algunos muy marcados) para cada personaje.

En resumen, The Monsters we Defy es una fantasía que se puede considerar historia alternativa con un profundo mensaje antirracista y de igualdad social, muy enraizado en la realidad cultural de la comunidad negra.

This is not a book I’d normally pick up, because it’s speculative fiction, inspired by history, and light on romance. That sentence does not describe books I love! But I have really enjoyed L. Penelope’s Earthsinger Chronicles previously and thought her worldbuilding was excellent so I wanted to give this a try. And I’m so glad I did! Set in the 1920s, Clara was born with a gift that allows her to talk to spirits. She talks to her deceased grandmother the most but is sought out by desperate people who need help from the spirits, and in return have a ‘charm’ put on them, which in actuality is a horrible curse they can’t get rid of.

When people begin to disappear and Clara realizes that something sinister is happening is when the fun part of the book begins. The part of the blurb that made me immediately want to read it was “must assemble a ragtag crew to pull off a daring heist” – I LOVE heists! It immediately made me think of a Leverage and Buffy crossover. Clara assembles a group of people who have those charms on them from spirits, and their backstories and explanations for why they reached out to the spirits in the first place were some of my favorite parts of the book. The team needs to fight the spirits and complete the heist to have everyone get out of this alive.

My favorite thing about this book is that Clara Johnson was a real person, and Leslye Penelope did a ton of research and brought that into this spec fiction. And that shined through for sure! Real life Black figures played different roles in this, and I loved that because it made everything more authentic. It reminded me a little of Beverly Jenkins because her books always weave in reality with fiction and it never fails to teach me something.

The audiobook was excellent, Shayna Small brought both Clara and the whole cast of characters to life. I loved this whole world.

Content Notes: Racism, incarceration, murder attempts

Grade: A