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aksmith92's review
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What an innovative fantasy book! It also combined a dash of historical context about one of my favorite places: Washington, DC. Therefore, I just had a great time with this novel.
The setup: We follow Clara Johnson, a woman living and working in Washington DC, after dark moments when she was thrown in jail. She works as a typist for a pretty arrogant man but knows the work is essential to the Black community. However, on the side, she also meddles with spirits, or Enigmas, because she has the "second sight." People will come to her to get a Charm - something Enigmas will hand out to humans to help them - but only with a Trick, making their lives more challenging.
Soon, Clara notices some of her friends and neighbors are starting to go missing. When a concerned mother comes to her about her son, who looks absolutely in a daze and cannot speak, Clara is sure that the spirits are to blame. This novel works through Clara trying to figure out who is at fault and what can be done about these folks controlled by spirits. While figuring out the details, Clara is tasked with finding and stealing a magical ring, which may be the reason for the spirits and afflicted humans. Therefore, she and a team of lovely characters take on this heist. It was such a fun and exciting ride, and it had unique storytelling.
Integrated into the fantasy novel was also some incredible historical context about the Black community in Washington DC and some of the atrocities that went down during this period (1919-1925ish). Yet, it was also a fantastic display of the community's growth and perseverance to make a great life for themselves. Leslye Penelope's Author Note at the end of the novel was beautiful, and I highly encourage you to include that in the final reading chapters.
What I loved: I thoroughly enjoyed the characters - Clara was a tough-minded woman who always spoke her truth, which could not have been easy in the timeframe. This book also had a lovely found-family aspect - the wonderful characters of Aristotle, Jesse Lee, and Zelda. Plus, we had the lovely and charming Israel Lee. I was glad to see that Penelope was able to integrate a lot of these characters' backstories into the novel, as we were able to catch a glimpse into their personalities. Zelda was one of my favorite characters in this novel; she had such a layered personality and provided her friends great insight (and comedic relief).
I also thoroughly enjoyed this plot - while ghosts and the spirit world are not new themes, I thought Penelope did it justice with unique worldbuilding and exciting subplots, especially with the charms/tricks component. I also loved Clara's connection with her late grandmother and how that was integrated into the story. Penelope's integration with these fantastical elements alongside actual historical context in 1920s Washington, DC, was also phenomenal. I thought it was a nice touch to weave these historical components (like real historical people like DeBois!) into this novel.
Overall, I was deeply immersed - there is a bit of fantasy, a bit of a mystery, and even a splash of a love story. I had a lovely time with it and think Penelope is a fantastic writer!
What could've happened for a higher rating: I think the pacing fell a little short for me, and I'm trying to figure out why. I think it is because most of the book was about planning for the heist and then only briefly getting to it. The action was relatively minimal but still had very interesting components. It took me some time to finish this book, which is pretty abnormal for me, so maybe that's where I'm going when I say pacing issues.
Lastly, I was a bit confused at the end with some of the Engima...fighting? I won't go into detail about spoilers, but the end of the heist scene was thrown together quickly and was confusing with the rest of the mostly intriguing and organized plot around the spirits. Even though I had some questions about the heist scene, it was the most action-packed, which I appreciated. I was on the edge of my seat, wondering how it would all come together!
Overall, it was a great novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. In my opinion, heists are challenging to do, and Penelope did it well. I look forward to reading some of her other material in the future!
The setup: We follow Clara Johnson, a woman living and working in Washington DC, after dark moments when she was thrown in jail. She works as a typist for a pretty arrogant man but knows the work is essential to the Black community. However, on the side, she also meddles with spirits, or Enigmas, because she has the "second sight." People will come to her to get a Charm - something Enigmas will hand out to humans to help them - but only with a Trick, making their lives more challenging.
Soon, Clara notices some of her friends and neighbors are starting to go missing. When a concerned mother comes to her about her son, who looks absolutely in a daze and cannot speak, Clara is sure that the spirits are to blame. This novel works through Clara trying to figure out who is at fault and what can be done about these folks controlled by spirits. While figuring out the details, Clara is tasked with finding and stealing a magical ring, which may be the reason for the spirits and afflicted humans. Therefore, she and a team of lovely characters take on this heist. It was such a fun and exciting ride, and it had unique storytelling.
Integrated into the fantasy novel was also some incredible historical context about the Black community in Washington DC and some of the atrocities that went down during this period (1919-1925ish). Yet, it was also a fantastic display of the community's growth and perseverance to make a great life for themselves. Leslye Penelope's Author Note at the end of the novel was beautiful, and I highly encourage you to include that in the final reading chapters.
What I loved: I thoroughly enjoyed the characters - Clara was a tough-minded woman who always spoke her truth, which could not have been easy in the timeframe. This book also had a lovely found-family aspect - the wonderful characters of Aristotle, Jesse Lee, and Zelda. Plus, we had the lovely and charming Israel Lee. I was glad to see that Penelope was able to integrate a lot of these characters' backstories into the novel, as we were able to catch a glimpse into their personalities. Zelda was one of my favorite characters in this novel; she had such a layered personality and provided her friends great insight (and comedic relief).
I also thoroughly enjoyed this plot - while ghosts and the spirit world are not new themes, I thought Penelope did it justice with unique worldbuilding and exciting subplots, especially with the charms/tricks component. I also loved Clara's connection with her late grandmother and how that was integrated into the story. Penelope's integration with these fantastical elements alongside actual historical context in 1920s Washington, DC, was also phenomenal. I thought it was a nice touch to weave these historical components (like real historical people like DeBois!) into this novel.
Overall, I was deeply immersed - there is a bit of fantasy, a bit of a mystery, and even a splash of a love story. I had a lovely time with it and think Penelope is a fantastic writer!
What could've happened for a higher rating: I think the pacing fell a little short for me, and I'm trying to figure out why. I think it is because most of the book was about planning for the heist and then only briefly getting to it. The action was relatively minimal but still had very interesting components. It took me some time to finish this book, which is pretty abnormal for me, so maybe that's where I'm going when I say pacing issues.
Lastly, I was a bit confused at the end with some of the Engima...fighting? I won't go into detail about spoilers, but the end of the heist scene was thrown together quickly and was confusing with the rest of the mostly intriguing and organized plot around the spirits. Even though I had some questions about the heist scene, it was the most action-packed, which I appreciated. I was on the edge of my seat, wondering how it would all come together!
Overall, it was a great novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. In my opinion, heists are challenging to do, and Penelope did it well. I look forward to reading some of her other material in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Classism, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, and Slavery
Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, and Pregnancy
tigger89's review
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Mystery/heist-type novels aren't my typical genre, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! I loved the system of Charms and Tricks, the characters, and of course the "how will they pull it off?" question at the heart of the story.
The story's setting was very unique, and really made the novel. Most stories taking place during the Harlem Renaissance are set against the backdrop of, well, Harlem. But as the author explains in her note at the end of the text, circumstances being what they were at the time of writing(covid-19), she found herself needing to set the book a little closer to home. And so we got a wonderful look at the historic Black presence in Washington DC. Clara, the protagonist, is also based on a real woman, Carrie Johnson, who shot and killed a white policeman in 1919...and managed to walk free.
The strongest thing this novel has going for it is the characters. Clara recruits four people to her heist team, each of whom fills a particular role. You've got your thief, your sweet-talker, your con-man, and of course your undercover infiltrator. You might wondering what's left for Clara to do, but the author hasn't forgotten about her. By the end, she gets to step into her own.
If this novel has one flaw, it's that the pacing is inconsistent. Parts of it read almost like a heist movie, particularly the way members of Clara's team flashed back when they entered the story, giving the reader an introduction to them, their lives, and the abilities they brought to the table. But at other times, the pace dropped to be downright glacial. I was never bored with the story, particularly as these slower-paced portions served to develop the setting, but when I'd picked up the book I'd expected something faster-paced, with more sustained tension.
The story's setting was very unique, and really made the novel. Most stories taking place during the Harlem Renaissance are set against the backdrop of, well, Harlem. But as the author explains in her note at the end of the text, circumstances being what they were at the time of writing(covid-19), she found herself needing to set the book a little closer to home. And so we got a wonderful look at the historic Black presence in Washington DC. Clara, the protagonist, is also based on a real woman, Carrie Johnson, who shot and killed a white policeman in 1919...and managed to walk free.
The strongest thing this novel has going for it is the characters. Clara recruits four people to her heist team, each of whom fills a particular role. You've got your thief, your sweet-talker, your con-man, and of course your undercover infiltrator. You might wondering what's left for Clara to do, but the author hasn't forgotten about her. By the end, she gets to step into her own.
If this novel has one flaw, it's that the pacing is inconsistent. Parts of it read almost like a heist movie, particularly the way members of Clara's team flashed back when they entered the story, giving the reader an introduction to them, their lives, and the abilities they brought to the table. But at other times, the pace dropped to be downright glacial. I was never bored with the story, particularly as these slower-paced portions served to develop the setting, but when I'd picked up the book I'd expected something faster-paced, with more sustained tension.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Classism, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Gun violence
tahsintries's review
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Police brutality, and Slavery
Moderate: Abandonment, Hate crime, Classism, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity
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