Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Aug 2022
384 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Paperback Original.
Publication Information
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 can talk to spirits—a gift that saved her during her darkest moments, now a curse that's left her indebted to the cunning spirit world. So when a powerful spirit offers her an opportunity to gain her freedom, Clara seizes the chance, no questions asked. 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 the help of an unlikely team, from a handsome jazz musician able to hypnotize with a melody to an aging actor who can change his face, to pull off the impossible. But as they race along DC's legendary Black Broadway, conflict in the spirit world begins to leak into the human one—an insidious mystery is unfolding, one that could cost Clara her life and change the fate of an entire city.
"African American folk magic weaves through the alternate 1925 Washington, D.C., setting of this gorgeous fantasy from Penelope, in which magic-practicing humans choose to become indebted to powerful spirits—one of whom schemes to rule the human realm...Penelope's blend of fantasy and history is pitch perfect, with wit, romance, and a lovable found family thrown in for good measure. Readers will be wowed." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Penelope...entwines African American folk magic with a caper, historical fiction, and romance to equally enchanting effect." - Booklist
"This engaging fantasy heist tale, inspired by historical events and people, will please readers who enjoyed C. L. Polk's Kingston Cycle and fans of Penelope (a past winner of the BCALA Self-Publishing EBook Award who also has a title on Time's list of the '100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time.'" - Library Journal
"The Monsters We Defy is a fascinating blend of the real and imagined...both a well-crafted fantasy romp (with a healthy dose of happily-ever-after romance) and a work of revisionist fiction that elevates a vital, oft-overlooked slice of history." - BookPage
"Leslye Penelope has created a rich and immersive world, set in an enchanting 1920s Washington DC full of jazz musicians, elite Black social organizations, fairy balls, bootleggers, lady gangster bosses, and mesmerizing magic! It's a story that weaves together threads of real history with bits of the utterly fantastic. The Monsters We Defy will keep you turning the pages and wanting more!" - P. Djèli Clark, author of A Master of Djinn
"Masterfully crafted, with gorgeous prose, colourful characters, and a compelling plot. This smart and entertaining, magical heist novel hits all the right notes and leaves the reader wanting more." - T. L. Huchu, author of The Library of the Dead
This information about The Monsters We Defy was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Leslye Penelope has been writing since she could hold a pen and loves getting lost in the worlds in her head. She is an award-winning author of fantasy and paranormal romance. Equally left and right-brained, she studied filmmaking and computer science at Howard University and sometimes dreams in HTML. She hosts the My Imaginary Friends podcast and lives in Maryland with her husband and furry dependents.
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