I love a good immersive world in fantasy and speculative fiction, where you feel like you could be in the setting. The Monsters We Defy takes place in Washington, DC in 1925, and Clara Johnson, the main character, can communicate with spirits. I listened to the audio book of this, and Shayna Small does an exceptional job with the voices and the setting and making you invested in the story. I am not surprised to see this won the Audie award for best audio book in 2023, it is really wonderful!
Clara assembles a varied crew to pull off the heist of a ring from one of the wealthiest women in Washington. She is based on a real Black person who was jailed at 17 and accused of shooting and killing a white police officer during the 1919 Washington race riot. She was released after a short stint in jail. So the author adds the spirit world to the story, and uses that world to explain why Clara was released. I really appreciate a story that doesn’t immediately tell you the why, but allows the story to unfold and lets you work out what happened for yourself. Also, the setting is all Black characters. I read an interview in Washingtonian where the author stated she didn’t want the villain in the story to be white. This allowed her to explore themes of colorism and classism which I found very interesting.
I loved the spirit world in this book too- each person in the heist made a deal with an Enigma, one of the spirits, and the deals have a Charm or a gift, and a Trick, or a curse. Except for Zelda, an albino woman who has fighting and acrobatic skills. I really loved her character and the way she looks out for Clara. I liked both of the romances in this book, one is a sweet slow burn romance with the grumpy/sunshine trope and one is a second chance at a lost love that made me cry. I would imagine people will try to ban this book so get it and read it.