Subgenre: Historical Fantasy / Supernatural Noir / African American Speculative Fiction
Overall Rating: ★★★★★ (4.7 out of 5 enchanted pocket watches and one sigh of ancestral recognition)

My dear storybuff,

I just finished a book that left me with my heart humming and my spirit a little more soothed—and I need to tell you, specifically, about it. Because Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope is the kind of story that doesn’t just entertain—it remembers. It sings to the parts of us that know how survival sometimes requires shadow work, secret names, and the soft defiance of living anyway.

It’s a story of Black folks who talk to spirits, crack codes, run numbers, and reimagine justice—all wrapped up in the velvet and grit of 1920s Washington, D.C. And the D.C. in this book? It moves.

grayscale GIF of a well-dressed, black man twirling a well-dressed, black woman while they dance in a 1920s speakeasy

💫 The Premise: A Little Bit of Trouble, A Lot of Magic

Clara Johnson can see what most folks can’t—spirits called Enigmas who deal in power and consequences. After a near-death experience, Clara’s tethered to one of them. And she’s tired. Of the bargains. Of the debt. Of carrying things her body didn’t ask to hold.

When she’s offered a chance to break free and help her community, she agrees to lead a supernatural heist (because of course it’s a heist). The stakes are high, the team is unpredictable, and the spirits don’t play fair.

If Lovecraft Country, The Diviners, and Six of Crows sat down for a smoky backroom card game lit by candles and ancestral incense—this is the story that would rise from the table.

🌟 What Absolutely Worked for My Tender Heart

🎷 A City Alive With Resistance

Penelope’s version of D.C. feels like a memory I inherited. The bootleg liquor, the whispered codes, the pulse of jazz through brick walls—every page breathes with rhythm and resistance. You don’t just read this setting, you remember it with your bones.

🧩 Found Family, Flawed Heroes, Full Hearts

Clara is one of the most compelling protagonists I’ve met in a long while. She’s weary, sharp-tongued, and deeply principled without ever being self-righteous. Her crew? A shapeshifting jazzman with secrets, a second-sighted numbers-runner, a trickster who steals hearts and heirlooms alike.

Each one is complicated. Tender. Protective. Nobody is a sidekick. They’re all essential threads in a story that insists on community over spectacle.

🪄 Magic That Doesn’t Need to Explain Itself

The Enigmas aren’t neatly categorized or over-explained. Their power is intuitive and deeply metaphorical—tied to survival, sacrifice, and generational longing. It’s the kind of magic that feels familiar, like something your great-grandmother muttered in a half-sleep prayer you weren’t supposed to hear.

✊ Clara Doesn’t Care About Your Respectability Politics

Here’s what I adored most: Clara refuses to be boxed in, not by society, not by spirits, not by anyone. The story doesn’t demand she be “respectable” to be worthy, and that feels quietly revolutionary. It’s a celebration of Black resilience that never shies away from the messiness or the magic.

🕳️ What Might Not Land for Everyone (But I Was Copacetic)

  • The pace slows down in the middle. I didn’t mind—honestly, my nervous system needed the breath—but if you want wall-to-wall plot, you might tap your foot.
  • The magic isn’t explained in bullet points. If you need a hard system with charts, this might frustrate you.
  • The romance is…a simmer. No steam. Just longing glances and hearts learning to trust again. (I personally love a soft, slow ache. But if you’re craving heat, set expectations accordingly.)

⚠️ Gentle Heads-Up (Content to Be Aware Of)

Nothing in this story is gratuitous—but it’s honest. And sometimes honesty stings. Expect:

  • Systemic racism, both overt and insidious
  • Police brutality (brief but potent)
  • Allusions to past sexual assault
  • Death, grief, imprisonment, generational trauma
  • Supernatural coercion and psychic manipulation (via deals with spirits)

These elements ground the story. They’re why Clara fights. They don’t overshadow the magic—but they remind you why it matters.

👒 You’ll Love This If You…

  • Want a Black historical fantasy that doesn’t sanitize struggle
  • Adored Ring Shout, The Conductors, or The City We Became
  • Believe in magic that doesn’t need to justify itself to white frameworks
  • Need more stories where Black women are not just strong, but real
  • Crave storytelling that tastes like blues, smells like lavender oil, and sounds like protest chants wrapped in poetry

✨ Final Thoughts: My Pick, My Prayer

Monsters We Defy is more than just a book—it’s a spirit-led offering. It honors the messiness of healing. It acknowledges how much it costs to carry both history and hope. It’s sharp, tender, and humming with ancestral truth.

When I closed the final page, I didn’t feel done—I felt held. That’s the kind of magic Leslye Penelope weaves. And that’s why this is my pick.

With affection and a little jazz in my step,

D.V. Gwyth