allisqn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
kaamilah28x's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
annarella's review
5.0
A complex, well written, and fascinating story. Great plot and great characters, a well plotted story, excellent storytelling.
The alternate historical part is fascinating and I found it entertaining and thought provoking.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
The alternate historical part is fascinating and I found it entertaining and thought provoking.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
susanatwestofmars's review against another edition
4.0
What a FUN read.
Gonna be telling everyone to read this one (despite the freakish number of comma splices; yowch) because it's fun, it's thought-provoking, it's a great spin on an old take, it's a fun heist with great characters who all have real depth and pain and sorrow and who you want to spend more time with, especially given the ending and what happens. These people have gone through something that will change them, forever. I'm curious to know who they'll be now, and how hard it will settle into their new normal.
So why not a fifth star? Because it didn't blow me away the way a five-star read does. That doesn't mean it's not terrific. It just means it's not mind-blowingly terrific.
Pick this one up.
Gonna be telling everyone to read this one (despite the freakish number of comma splices; yowch) because it's fun, it's thought-provoking, it's a great spin on an old take, it's a fun heist with great characters who all have real depth and pain and sorrow and who you want to spend more time with, especially given the ending and what happens. These people have gone through something that will change them, forever. I'm curious to know who they'll be now, and how hard it will settle into their new normal.
So why not a fifth star? Because it didn't blow me away the way a five-star read does. That doesn't mean it's not terrific. It just means it's not mind-blowingly terrific.
Pick this one up.
bright_and_bookish's review against another edition
5.0
This was peak historical fantasy! 5 stars!
We follow Clara, a young woman who can talk to spirits thanks to her unusual birth. A dark event in her past led her to make a deal with a powerful spirit called the Empress, and because of that relationship others in need seek her out to make their own deals. When people start going missing from her neighborhood in Washington DC and the Empress demands that Clara steal a ring, she begins to question what she is willing to do to get free of her past decisions.
Set in the 1920s in Washington DC the setting of this novel was one of my favorite things. Penelope has managed what many historical fantasy authors struggle with, which is to balance the amount of history and fantasy. You can tell that this story was well researched. The neighborhood where Clara lives and works jumps off the page, as do the characters around her. The world feels real, the characters feel real, but there is still room for the spirits to exist in a way that brings the magic into the world.
The magical elements in this book were also really well done. I loved how the magic was grounded in the traditions of African Americans but also linking back to parts of Africa. But at the same time the inclusion of the powerful spirits called Enigmas felt new and fresh, like something I haven't seen before. I particularly liked the idea of making a deal with a spirit but not necessarily getting what you wanted, this provided so many opportunities to explore our characters and the world they lived in.
This book also balanced the plot with the thematic elements really well. The themes of poverty, racial violence, and classism were explored through the fast paced heist story that had Clara assembling a team of people with extraordinary talents to steal the ring, a powerful artifact in its own right. I am a sucker for a heist story and this book delivered on that front, maybe even more than I expected.
I think this book is great for people who enjoy historical fantasy set in the 1920s, and love a good heist. I can't wait to read more from this author.
*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for my honest opinion*
We follow Clara, a young woman who can talk to spirits thanks to her unusual birth. A dark event in her past led her to make a deal with a powerful spirit called the Empress, and because of that relationship others in need seek her out to make their own deals. When people start going missing from her neighborhood in Washington DC and the Empress demands that Clara steal a ring, she begins to question what she is willing to do to get free of her past decisions.
Set in the 1920s in Washington DC the setting of this novel was one of my favorite things. Penelope has managed what many historical fantasy authors struggle with, which is to balance the amount of history and fantasy. You can tell that this story was well researched. The neighborhood where Clara lives and works jumps off the page, as do the characters around her. The world feels real, the characters feel real, but there is still room for the spirits to exist in a way that brings the magic into the world.
The magical elements in this book were also really well done. I loved how the magic was grounded in the traditions of African Americans but also linking back to parts of Africa. But at the same time the inclusion of the powerful spirits called Enigmas felt new and fresh, like something I haven't seen before. I particularly liked the idea of making a deal with a spirit but not necessarily getting what you wanted, this provided so many opportunities to explore our characters and the world they lived in.
This book also balanced the plot with the thematic elements really well. The themes of poverty, racial violence, and classism were explored through the fast paced heist story that had Clara assembling a team of people with extraordinary talents to steal the ring, a powerful artifact in its own right. I am a sucker for a heist story and this book delivered on that front, maybe even more than I expected.
I think this book is great for people who enjoy historical fantasy set in the 1920s, and love a good heist. I can't wait to read more from this author.
*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for my honest opinion*
rocomama's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
scottz's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
leahsbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Thank you to Redhook for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
CONTENT WARNING: death, racism, references to enslavement, violence
There are few things in life I love more than a great book. You know what I mean, right? One that can transport me from my own reality into a completely different place—a time that has passed and a society that I can never have the opportunity to experience. One that makes me want to learn more about the past. This book absolutely did that. While the setting is based in fact, I also learned that the MC is based on a factual person. And the story inspired me to do more research on the Red Summer riots. Her story is really difficult not to compare to more recent events surrounding Breonna Taylor. History really does repeat itself. So I guess this story hit close to home even today, close to 100 years later from when the story is set.
It’s difficult to stuff this book into just one genre. At heart, it’s a heist novel. But it’s also very much historical fiction, with elements of paranormal fantasy, hints of romance, and more than a little mystery. But more than anything else, it’s just … amazing. I couldn’t help but fall in love with the characters and the story, which drew me in within a chapter, and had me eagerly turning pages to learn more about everything. I wanted to know what made each of them tick, and how they were going to pull off this heist.
As an outsider, I found the internal politics within the Black community fascinating. The characters in this story are only a few generations removed from enslavement, and the trauma still echoes strongly amongst them. They’re actively working hard to collectively raise the community, and do good for themselves, working together to achieve things such as creating institutions like banks, colleges, literary and scientific journals, hotels, and unions, since they’re still dealing with plenty of racism from white people, but there’s also colorism within the Black community. On top of all of this, they’re dealing with fresh intergenerational trauma, which is worked into the story as an aspect of paranormal fantasy:
“Any man who’s born and dies a slave has had their destiny damaged irreparably, and that injury is a scar passed on down to their children and their children’s children. Wasn’t only slavers who harmed destinies neither. Evil men and women have done it, good men too, from time to time, either on purpose or on accident."
The presence of someone like Zelda, who is a Black albino woman, throws a confusion into the mix, since she presents as white but with clearly Black features, and people aren’t quite sure where she fits into the hierarchy. I actually loved Zelda’s character the best out of everyone. As someone who basically grew up in the circus, she doesn’t seem to mind the fact that she doesn’t fit in, and just accepts her … I don’t exactly know the word … otherness, maybe? She’s comfortable being who she is and doesn’t seem to care what anyone else thinks about it. She’s a good foil to Clara, who is completely introverted and much more beaten down by her experiences. Clara is very withdrawn and has a tough protective shell around herself, but as she starts to let others in, the circumstances she’s forced into begin to change her.
“‘Colored folks don’t often get good choices, do we?’ Clara’s shoulders slumped. She went off to her bedroom knowing her grandmother spoke true. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a good choice.”
There’s also a little discourse about drag balls that occur within the Black community in DC, which I loved reading about. I knew that Black people have long played a major role in the LGBTQ community, but I honestly had no idea that there were Black drag balls going on this far back, although I’m not really surprised. I loved seeing it described in the story and how accepting the characters were about this aspect of society which was not exactly underground, while also not quite mainstream at the time. The 1920s was, after all, a time of social upheaval.
This is probably one of the best books I’ve read that combines historical fiction with paranormal fantasy, and I’m extremely grateful to have received a copy of it. I really enjoyed how everything was over in together, and while the romance was great, it never overpowered the other elements of the story. This was a beautifully written story, and honestly, it’s a masterpiece. I’ll definitely be checking out Penelope’s other work after how much I loved this one.
CONTENT WARNING: death, racism, references to enslavement, violence
There are few things in life I love more than a great book. You know what I mean, right? One that can transport me from my own reality into a completely different place—a time that has passed and a society that I can never have the opportunity to experience. One that makes me want to learn more about the past. This book absolutely did that. While the setting is based in fact, I also learned that the MC is based on a factual person. And the story inspired me to do more research on the Red Summer riots. Her story is really difficult not to compare to more recent events surrounding Breonna Taylor. History really does repeat itself. So I guess this story hit close to home even today, close to 100 years later from when the story is set.
It’s difficult to stuff this book into just one genre. At heart, it’s a heist novel. But it’s also very much historical fiction, with elements of paranormal fantasy, hints of romance, and more than a little mystery. But more than anything else, it’s just … amazing. I couldn’t help but fall in love with the characters and the story, which drew me in within a chapter, and had me eagerly turning pages to learn more about everything. I wanted to know what made each of them tick, and how they were going to pull off this heist.
As an outsider, I found the internal politics within the Black community fascinating. The characters in this story are only a few generations removed from enslavement, and the trauma still echoes strongly amongst them. They’re actively working hard to collectively raise the community, and do good for themselves, working together to achieve things such as creating institutions like banks, colleges, literary and scientific journals, hotels, and unions, since they’re still dealing with plenty of racism from white people, but there’s also colorism within the Black community. On top of all of this, they’re dealing with fresh intergenerational trauma, which is worked into the story as an aspect of paranormal fantasy:
“Any man who’s born and dies a slave has had their destiny damaged irreparably, and that injury is a scar passed on down to their children and their children’s children. Wasn’t only slavers who harmed destinies neither. Evil men and women have done it, good men too, from time to time, either on purpose or on accident."
The presence of someone like Zelda, who is a Black albino woman, throws a confusion into the mix, since she presents as white but with clearly Black features, and people aren’t quite sure where she fits into the hierarchy. I actually loved Zelda’s character the best out of everyone. As someone who basically grew up in the circus, she doesn’t seem to mind the fact that she doesn’t fit in, and just accepts her … I don’t exactly know the word … otherness, maybe? She’s comfortable being who she is and doesn’t seem to care what anyone else thinks about it. She’s a good foil to Clara, who is completely introverted and much more beaten down by her experiences. Clara is very withdrawn and has a tough protective shell around herself, but as she starts to let others in, the circumstances she’s forced into begin to change her.
“‘Colored folks don’t often get good choices, do we?’ Clara’s shoulders slumped. She went off to her bedroom knowing her grandmother spoke true. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a good choice.”
There’s also a little discourse about drag balls that occur within the Black community in DC, which I loved reading about. I knew that Black people have long played a major role in the LGBTQ community, but I honestly had no idea that there were Black drag balls going on this far back, although I’m not really surprised. I loved seeing it described in the story and how accepting the characters were about this aspect of society which was not exactly underground, while also not quite mainstream at the time. The 1920s was, after all, a time of social upheaval.
This is probably one of the best books I’ve read that combines historical fiction with paranormal fantasy, and I’m extremely grateful to have received a copy of it. I really enjoyed how everything was over in together, and while the romance was great, it never overpowered the other elements of the story. This was a beautifully written story, and honestly, it’s a masterpiece. I’ll definitely be checking out Penelope’s other work after how much I loved this one.
raincoats's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25