Monsters We Defy

The Monsters We Defy is an all-black 1920's supernatural heist story. This book is a blend of both historical black Washington DC and supernatural elements like spirits, root work, and even some Soloman references. I found out afterwards that the main character Clara is a fictionalized version of Carrie Johnson from the 1919 DC race war. I just really appreciated all the historical detail that rooted this book into a particular time and place.

I enjoyed this quite a bit, and it hit all the notes of the heist genre that I enjoy: found family feelings, having to work with people you want to trust but might be working at cross purposes, and a good unseen twist (with a plot reason why the reader wouldn't know this). However it was the setting and great cast of characters that really made it all shine for me.

First, I really appreciated that this book was not set in NYC, despite the author's initial intentions. NYC is cool and all, but not the only city.

The hero is based on a real young black woman who killed a cop in self defense during the 1919 riots in Washington. That incident is not central to the plot, but it does play an important part in explaining how the protagonist got to be who she is.

The book really centers the black characters, both heroes and villains. In a broader sense it includes a lot of discussion of the divisions of colourism and classism within the black community at that time. The external structural causes (hello white people!) are noted, but people have agency for good and ill.

Politics and history aside, the characters are fun and the plotting solid. If you squint at it the right way it turns into "four people with special abilities band together to save the community". The ending is maybe a little conventional, but consistent with the overall "comfort reading" slant of the book.

I liked that dealing with the spirits in the book was very similar to getting in debt to an organized crime group. The notion of debt and deals is crucial.