Ghosts, Ghouls, and Gods: A Review of The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

Happy Pride Month, Book Nerds! As Oscar Wilde once said: Gay Rights!

It is time once again for my yearly reminder that RHRML is, always has been, and always will be a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community. You are safe here, you are respected here, I will punch any and all transphobes and homophobes in the face for you.

With that, I should introduce you all to today’s read. Please give a warm welcome to The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope!

As always, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’ve read any other review on this site then you will know I simply love to spoil the entirety of the books I read. This is your one and only warning. I do have a quick content warning for this read. The story is set in the 1920s and deals heavily with racism of the time. Just giving you a quick warning that the KKK unfortunately makes an appearance. It’s synopsis time now.

Clara Johnson was born with a gift: the ability to see and talk to spirits. All her life the dead have haunted her. Some simply want to be heard, some want their stories told to the public, others want justice, and some have more nefarious intentions and want to harm Clara. This gift of hers has been a hinderance, but it also saved her during her darkest moment.

If you couldn’t tell, Clara doesn’t really like her gift. Because of it she is in debt to a powerful spirit known as The Empress. One day, The Empress comes to Clara and offers her a deal. She’ll remove Clara’s debt if Clara steals a magical item for her. This item is an ancient ring which currently sits on the finger of the wealthiest, and most dangerous, woman in town. So Clara agrees.

But she won’t be pulling off this heist alone. Nay, nay. She calls upon her friend, roommate, and best pickpocket in Washington DC, Zelda; a jazz musician who can charm and hypnotize a room just by playing music, Israel Lee; the most method actor ever, Aristotle; and the man with the muscles who can also make people forget moments in time, Jesse Lee. Together they can steal this magical ring. And maybe even figure out why people in DC are turning into mindless zombies before disappearing. Maybe the two things are related? Who knows. Find out in The Monsters We Defy. 

This is the only time I'll be able to use this 20th century squad walk gif properly.

So far in 2025, I have read two books that I’m in love with. The first book is Slewfoot by Brom, the other is The Monsters We Defy. I had a blast reading this book. It’s a fun ride, I laughed, I was sucked into the world Leslye Penelope created; all I wanted to do for a week straight was read this book.

Actual footage of me reading this book.

I want to start by talking about the setting. The Monsters We Defy takes place, as I’ve said, in 1925 Washington DC during its version of the Harlem Renaissance. The setting is so lively and vibrant that I felt I was there. Leslye Penelope puts all the right details into her story and setting. The class divide of black Washington DC is clear from the first page, there’s the melting pot of practices such as hoodoo, voodoo, and other closed practices that make up this world’s magic system and the community it fosters, there’s also the slightly hidden LGBTQIA+ community featured in these pages. Everything I’ve mentioned is real, or has elements that are real, and Leslye Penelope clearly put in the work and research to make her setting as realistic as possible. Seriously, Leslye Penelope needs to teach a masterclass on how to write setting and details. I’d join the class in a heartbeat.

Let’s move onto the magic system now since I’ve already mentioned it. There are not pages upon pages on how magic works in this world or how it came to be. But the story doesn’t need that. Once again Leslye Penelope has given readers the perfect amount of details. The big details are all laid out. Powerful spirits known as Enigmas reach out and offer humans deals that come with a catch-22. While everyone has the chance or opportunity to make a deal with an Enigma should an Enigma wish to be seen and heard in a specific moment, only some people can call out to them as these people have some form of second sight that allows them to see and speak with spirits and ghosts at any given time. And all the magic presented to reader is tied to some form of closed practice. Do I need to know exactly how each practitioner in the story performs their magic? No, absolutely not. Because Leslye Penelope has given readers the necessary details to understand the magic system in place thus allowing readers to sit back and enjoy the story. What’s not explicitly stated regarding the magic practice, I can infer from context clues and my extremely limited knowledge of some of the closed practices mentioned in the story.

God, I really love this book. The Monsters We Defy is a novel I can talk on and on about because there’s so much good stuff within its pages. I have been on the hunt for a good heist novel for ages. I’m so glad I found The Monsters We Defy. While it’s not my perfect heist novel–I want more books in the vein of Ally Carter’s Heist Society trilogy–I enjoyed the blend of magical realism, ghosts, and robbery; it’s a good mix.

Major applause for Leslye Penelope!

If I had to sit here and find something to nitpick, I would have to say I have a minor issue with Clara. I adore all the characters in this book. Their talents and personalities create an amazing thievery ring and the group dynamics work perfectly. But as the point-of-view character in a third-person limited narrative, I find Clara to still be closed off. There are things and thoughts I don’t know about her even after three hundred plus pages. She’s just a tad too closed off. But that is one of her main character traits. A portion of her story is her learning to trust people. So it makes perfect sense that’s she’s closed off. It just doesn’t work too well with the third-person limited narrative Leslye Penelope has going. Like I said though, this is me nitpicking the book. I truly have no faults with it.

The Monsters We Defy is going to be a book I highly recommend for ages to come. I had a blast reading it. I had a blast writing this review. Now if you excuse me, I’m gonna go reread The Monsters We Defy.

With that, I shall bid you all adieu. Thank you very much for joining me today. I will see you all again next week with another new review. If you can’t wait that long then you can follow RHRML over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily. If you want something not related to books then you can check out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. The show stars me and two of my dearest friends as we talk about everything under the sun. May I recommend listening to our very first episode? It’s very fitting for Pride Month cause we talk about gay literary vampires.

Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.

See y'all then, bye!