The Monsters We Defy
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4.7 • 17 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
"[P]itch perfect, with wit, romance, and a lovable found family." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"This smart and entertaining, magical heist novel hits all the right notes!" ―T.L. Huchu
NPR Best Book of 2022! Paste Best Fantasy Book of 2022!
"Never make a deal with shadows at night, especially ones that know your name.”
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.
The Monsters We Defy is a timely and dazzling historical fantasy that weaves together African American folk magic, history, and romance.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
African American folk magic weaves through the alternate 1925 Washington, D.C., setting of this gorgeous fantasy from Penelope (the Earthsinger Chronicles series), in which magic-practicing humans choose to become indebted to powerful spirits—one of whom schemes to rule the human realm. Clara Johnson, herself indebted to a mysterious figure called the Empress, works as a typist while helping other Black folks with magic-related dilemmas on the side. A significant number of D.C.'s poor are coming down with a strange affliction and disappearing, but before Clara can investigate, the Empress cashes in a favor, tasking her with stealing an ancient ring from a wealthy opera singer. Clara reluctantly accepts, assembling a colorful crew to help pull off the heist: Zelda, her albino ex-circus performer roommate; Aristotle, a shape-shifting vaudeville actor; Israel, one of the hottest jazz musicians on Black Broadway; and Jesse Lee, Israel's memory-altering, war veteran cousin. As threats grow from all sides, the group finds strength and answers in stories of their ancestors while coming to terms with how their pasts shape the future. 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.
