This was a really interesting but ultimately quite frustrating novel. It tells the story of three intertwined lives - Phyllis, Dev and Tamara - all of whom have a secret and who are trying to navigate the murky underworld of New York City in the early years of World War Two. Told in three parts, each having a different point of view character, I found the narrative quite confusing and it was difficult at times to keep straight when in time we were. There was also a vein of ambiguity running throughout the narrative, which meant that the plot often felt a little meandering and with little satisfactory payoff. What totally won me over in this novel however, were the characters and specifically, the incredibly skilful way in which Alaya Dawn Johnson imbued them with nuance and depth. I loved the interplay between Dev, Tamara and Phyllis and the various rivalries and jealousies that did nothing to diminish the overwhelming love between the group. I also found the character of Walter absolutely fascinating and would love a companion novel focusing solely on his life, which I think would be incredible. I also thought that the wider themes of colonialism and racism were discussed in wonderful ways here, particularly in the character of Phyllis, who is white passing. Relating the magic at play to the colour of one's skin was a fascinating way to tackle these issues and I would have loved a more detailed exploration of this aspect in the narrative. Overall, this is definitely a novel of character as opposed to plot, which doesn't tend to be my preference, but anyone who loves a good character driven story will definitely find a lot to recommend this book.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

3.5 stars

There were times this just punched me right in the gut. Like made me cry for real. The first time we shifted perspectives, it slightly threw me off but I got back into it within a couple pages when I figured out what was happening. The next time it shifted, it was much easier to catch on. I actually enjoyed the different POVs since they were done in pretty big chunks and I think it added to the story, like there was an actual reason to get the multiple POVs.

The book turned out to be not exactly what I was expecting (though I don't know what I was expecting!), but I liked it. There were some character changes that were nice to see. It's interesting because if I knew what this book was going to be like, I might have thought I wouldn't enjoy it. But going in without knowing too much and just discovering it as I went - I found that the writing pulled me in so I wanted to stay even when sometimes I wasn't sure about it, and then as I kept reading, I wanted to know more.

I'm not really sure how to categorize this book and I think that plays into why this might be a disappointing read for some readers. I think some of the quotes about this book give off a completely different feel than what this book actually is. It's an adult historical fantasy set in WW II-era New York. We get three perspectives and no one is the good guy - that's part of what makes this story difficult to read, but it's a statement on Johnson's craft that I was pulled into wanting to know more about all three. From the author's website: "Amidst the whir of city life, a girl from Harlem is drawn into the glittering underworld of Manhattan, where she’s hired to use her knives to strike fear amongst its most dangerous denizens. "

I think the biggest star in this book is Johnson's writing - it's beautiful to read. It makes you want to keep reading. I'm definitely going to check out her other books when I have a chance. The way the reader is confronted with what it means to be Black and also a person of color in general in this WW II-era New York setting is something, too. I don't know what I can say about that other than that it's integral to the story and its where a lot of the intense emotion I felt reading this book came from.

DNF at 50%
I feel like there was so much potential here. This was compared to the Night Circus which is one of my favourite books of all time. And while I know rationally that these types of comparisons rarely deliver because it's all so subjective, it still raised my expectations.
Things I Loved:
- The writing style is absolutely beautiful. Poetic, lyrical, without it being too flowery.
- The love story between Phyllis and Dev. Some of their scenes really gripped me.

Things I was not a fan of:
- The lack of explanations. I understand the in medias res and appreciate it but I was SO lost and I kept being vaguely lost as the book progressed. Might just be a me thing but I read a lot of fantasy and this is singularly the most confusing world building I have ever encountered.
- The rhythm of the story. When you read a lot, you learn to expect how to see the base structure of a storyline even while reading. There is a feel as to where the story is going and of course, there are surprises along the way and things you don't see coming, but overall, you sort of know which way you're headed most of the time. Not so in this case. Again, I was just completely lost and adrift, every time I felt like I have a grasp on the story and I'm able to sink into it, I was thrown for a loop and not in a good way.

Ultimately, this is why I dnf-ed Trouble the Saints. It's not a bad book by any means, but it is definitely not my book. I don't feel it at all and it's a shame because I really wanted to love it.

Phyllis has been "the angel" assassin for a prominent mob boss for too long, now she wants out. Set in 1930s NYC, this is a love story, a exploration of race and a crime novel rolled into one.

Trouble the Saints troubled this reader. Even after reading other reviews, I did not find in this book anything close to what I was expecting. I was hoping for righteous women of color kicking ass and taking names. Or an alternate history of World War II, where soldiers wield magic along with rifles. Or a story of forbidden love, where our young lovers must overcome their obstacles and themselves to be together. I did not find any of these things in Trouble the Saints. What I did find was magnificent prose wielded by surgeon of writer, intent on showing you the story you want to read, just within your grasp, but unwilling to hand it over, satisfaction like the carrot before the mule, dangling in plane sight, but forever out of reach.

This book followed three protagonists, but contains no heroes. Phyllis, Dev, and Tamara all think that they are good people who just happened to be wrapped up in a situation where everyone around them is evil. They all think they're the good kid, who sits above their peers on the moral high ground. Each of them goes through a realization of their own faults, and their own guilt, and each set out on a redemption arc. I found it incredibly frustrating how naive these three were in moments of self reflection, when their judgments of each other, and of the other characters in the story were so prescient. Ultimately, their failure to confront their own faults leads to their redemption stories lacking gravity to redeem them of their previous sins.

The magic in Trouble the Saints is interesting, but not very well explained, or utilized by the wielders. Some people of color have magic powers tied to their hands. Each of these "Hands" has it's own unique abilities. Phyllis's hands are imbued with superpowered dexterity, which she has used to become a knife-throwing assassin. Dev's hands can perceive any threat to anyone. Tamara's hands have the power to tell people's future using a deck of playing cards like a tarot deck. These "hands" have always developed throughout history in subjugated peoples to be used against the white oppressor. So it was disappointing that these three would-be heroes used the power of their hands to serve the Russian Mafia rather than to break off the chains of oppression of segregated society in the 1940s.

The love story between Phyllis and Dev, or Dev and Tamara, or Tamara and Phyllis is NOT one of forbidden love. They all were able to be with each other at anytime. Rather, it seemed to me that one kept removing themself from the equation either as self punishment, or to punish their lovers. Again with seeing yourself on a moral high ground, despite your own flaws. They all were so close to satisfaction throughout the book, and it was awfully frustrating to watch them all come so close to finding happiness with themselves and with each other, and to miss it every time they were given the opportunity.

Alaya Dawn Johnson carved her prose in Trouble the Saints with as much grace as Phyllis had with her knives. I was absolutely transported when she was writing of 1940s Harlem. I swear I could smell the sweat and spilled liquor on the sticky dance floor of The Pelican, the Harlem gin joint where most of our story takes place. There was a lot of slow-revealed backstory, seamlessly woven with the action of the present. The back and forth time jumps were easy to follow and came at just the right pace to keep my interest in both theaters. Truly, the writing itself is this novel's strongest point, more than the characters, the magic, the sex, or even the setting itself, which was also brilliant.

I didn't particularly enjoy reading Trouble the Saints. As engrossing as the words on the page were, the story they told was frustrating and unsatisfying. I think that was intentional though. The societal problems that our main characters, all people of color in 1940s Harlem, encountered are still prevalent in our society today, and just as their own individual redemption arcs remained unfulfilled, so does the promise of a future of equality. To me this was a pessimistic story about three anti-heroes who couldn't face themselves, any more than America was ready to face its' own heart of darkness in the 1940s. As a work of literature it was outstanding in a genre that often lacks this caliber of prose and introspection. As a speculative fiction book, it just wasn't a whole lot of fun.

I would like to thank the author, publisher, and netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Trouble the Saints, by Alaya Dawn Johnson.

Alaya Dawn Johnson’s Trouble the Saints is an ambitious novel that I wasn’t expecting. Truth be told, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from the book’s entirety, but upon reading the synopsis, I was instantly intrigued. The moment I saw the book would have magic, a gritty underworld and assassins, I was drawn in. This being said, this was not the only thing to pull me into the book and keep me reading. While the world created by Johnson easily joined historical elements of the time with the fantasy of magic, it seamlessly blended together as though these two things were always meant to be together.

Aside from the history and magic, what really stood out to me in Trouble the Saints was the exploration of both familial and racial trauma. While these topics can be ones that some authors could steer away from or try to avoid, simply focusing on the magic and fantasy aspect of things, Johnson made sure that both were carefully examined, even going into themes of forbidden love. Without giving too much away because you will definitely want to read this book yourself, Johnson does an amazing job of delving into the various themes found within Trouble the Saints and making sure that they are fully fleshed out. None are explored less than others and each plays an integral role in the overall book.

By separating the books into different sections that each come from the point-of-views from the characters in the story Pea, Dev and Tamara, readers are fully immersed in their worlds. Not only was it interesting to see everything happen from the eyes of a different character, but I thoroughly enjoyed having that kind of insight and I believe this will be something that other readers of the book will be fond of as well. Johnson expertly depicts all that each character is going through, including the tension they experience and the struggles they each face.

The only element of the book that may be difficult for some readers to keep up with are the various timelines that happen due to visions or flashbacks occurring. While the grand scheme of things, this is not an element that deterred me from my reading. However, it is something that I could see being confusing for some readers. That said, Trouble the Saints has many things going for it.

So, if a noir thriller about assassins and magic, coupled with entertaining characters and a rough criminal underworld sounds like it might be for you, then this novel is definitely one you should read as soon as you can.

I loved the environment for this story and the exploration of racial themes and challenges during the 1940's, and so want to go knock back an old fashioned while smoking a slim cigarette and wearing a ballgown at the Pelican. One thing that might have helped it somewhat was more explanation of how the characters' magic worked and when, which is pretty vague throughout the book. Supposedly there's some voodoo to it, though we don't really see it that much. I've also read Johnson's YA book, Love is the Drug, which was *SO* incredibly different from this one in terms of tone, pacing, themes, etc. and perhaps a little easier to follow (then again, we are talking YA vs. Adult).

I don't exactly know why but this book was kind of hard to finish... Don't get me wrong, I loved the setting, the characters, I loved the story and really enjoyed the ending, but sometimes it was a little hard to understand what was happening. I don't know if the problem was with the advanced copy or just the way the writer describes the action scenes, but that happened a lot.

But I liked the book, I really did, and pushed myself to read it all and I do think it was worth it.

DNF

The synopsis of "Trouble the Saints" has several elements that I like, and I wish I could finish the book, but the whole magic system seemed to me it was coming from a second book in a series, in which a lot of things we already know and just need follow the protagonist's journey, which is not the case and I was very lost.

English: I don't think that is something wrong with the book it's just it wasn't for me. It's unfortunate because the premise called me but I couldn't finish it ... But if you like historical settings, night clubs, assassins w/ a little of magic this is for you.

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a wonderful book filled with magic, 1940s street toughs, racial politics, and incredibly engaging characters who are still sticking with me, even though I read it a week ago. I always appreciate a book where I can't tell where the story is going to go from one plot beat to the next. Johnson made interesting choices that were both surprising and rewarding.

The story is told in three parts from the points of view of three of the main characters. (Once I picked up on what was happening I really enjoyed this technique. Learning about the narrator of each section by hearing about their pasts was really well done.) The first section set in the city is told by Pea. Pea the assassin who has powerful hands that allow her to use knives magically. The second section is told by Dev. Dev with the hands who can touch people and see if they are a threat. Finally, the last section is told by Tamara, the Oracle.

Each character in this story is written with care and beauty and they each have a story that makes sense (even if their choices might be aggravating at times.) The snippets of life at the time are filled with so much information from when Pea is a child and what happens in her neighborhood, to the grown up life in the city in the club.

The entry of race into the story is subtle and so maddening. (Not the story the actual way the world was at the time.) The allegory of white people stealing black people's power through Victor's machinations was spot on, but subtle enough that you're not hit over the head with it. Also, outside of any racial aspect it's a really good story!

Speaking of Victor, allow me to spoil things for a moment.
<spoiler>
I thought the book was going to be all about Pea's attempts to kill him. And, that would make it so that the story was centered on him as much as the protagonists. The choice to kill him 1/3rd of the way through the book was a huge surprise that improved the book for me, and it turned it into something more than just a story of revenge. More nuanced and interesting.
</spoiler>

Now, this book is not all about the action it is so much more. But, there are scenes that are so tight with gang movie type tension that you can't turn the pages fast enough to see what is going to happen. Hanging from fire escapes, running into apartments. These details are described in perfect detail so that you can feel the heartbeats.

So, yeah. I liked it. It is worth reading.

I got an early copy of this book for review, but this did not affect my feelings on it.

Trouble the Saints is a book written in three parts, following three different characters through New York City's dark underbelly during the years leading up to WWII. Two of the characters - Phyllis and Dev - have the Hands, a gift that white people fear.

This book has so much going for it. It has beautiful writing and an amazing magic system. It also has lots of painful, poignant commentary about racism and generational trauma.

However, I didn't enjoy the actual plot. I enjoyed the first quarter of the book and then the last quarter. But this book took me a month to complete - that never happens.

Oh how bad I wanted to love this book!

I just couldn't connect with it. I was looking forward to reading about Phyllis, this bad-ass character who is a black assassin in Harlem that specializes in throwing knives but my interest kept slipping. The timeline, flashbacks and visions had me a bit confused so I couldn't follow the story easily. It also includes two other perspectives which didn't interest me. I think I pictured the story differently from how it turned out and that may be the reason it disappointed me. Great book, bad timing.

Yet, I definitely recommend Trouble the Saints because the elements in it may capture you differently than it did for me. Trouble the Saints covered Harlem New York City, the Russian mob, night clubs, corrupt cops, assassins and magic. While including people of color, ethics and love. Give this one a try, it may be your next 5 star read.

Despite multiple attempts to engage with "Trouble the Saints" by Alaya Dawn Johnson, I was unable to proceed with this book. Perhaps it was the right book but the wrong time, the shortcomings are my own. The author has spent a great deal of time and effort and, at present, I would be unable to put a positive spin on her tome.

The premise of a black assassin trying to pass as white in the midst of pre-WWII New York was exciting and fresh. Unfortunately, I felt that the writing lacked clarity and tension, and the general structure of the story felt cumbersome. I was often bored and found it a struggle to keep reading.

I hate to post reviews that aren’t positive, but I would be remiss if I gave a dishonest account of my experience.

Gorgeous book! The writing is amazing -- beautiful and emotionally savage. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this blew away any expectation. The story is a love story, but not a romance. It's heart-wrenching and tragic. Johnson's writing is, at times, painfully oblique. You’ll read a sentence or paragraph and not really know what happened in it. There are lots of spaces in the narrative even simple things was it raining or not in that scene? Did someone get shot, beat up, walk away without a bruise? It’s all so very unclear.

But the character work is tremendous. It's so interesting how people hide themselves from one another. An exploration of love that is far beyond the usual.

The oppressively hot days of summer are here. It is a perfect time to crank up the AC, and read through all of the books I've acquired over the past few months. The sluggish heat and the sultry evenings are a perfect companion to Alaya Dawn Johnson's new novel Trouble The Saints. Set in a vaguely alternate history NYC on the brink of World War 2. The novel follows three characters who are entangled with a dangerous mob boss.

In this world, people of color are sometimes gifted (or cursed) with the saint's hands. The hands give them mysterious powers. An uncanny ability to throw knives and assassinate. The ability to sense threats, or to take away pain. Someone has been hunting the hands however, murdering people of color in an attempt to claim these mysterious powers for their own. The story that unfolds is an unexpected meditation on magic, morality, and what people must do to survive. It is a fascinating character study, not only of the protagonists but also of a time and place that feels highly relevant. Trouble The Saints is a haunting tale of love, loss, and what it means to move through the world as a person of color.

The book is divided into three sections, each following the point of view of one of the main characters. This format leads to some uneven pacing over the course of the book. But each character and point of view is integral to the overall weave of the narrative. Within each section there is a definitive climax, that made me feel like the book was about to end multiple times only to discover that there were still hundreds of pages left.

However what this format does do is build up each character to a breaking point. Like waves cresting in the ocean. The waves of emotion and tension build to break against the steady shore of the reader's expectations, before slowly receding and allowing you a space to breathe. Then the wave returns stronger than before, to break once more and in the end it washes everything away.

We begin with Phyllis, or 'Pea' as her friends call her. She is the primary protagonist of Trouble The Saints. A light-skinned black woman from Harlem, she can pass well enough for most people to accept her into white inner circles. Phyliss works as an assassin for Victor, a Russian mob boss. Victor also runs a nightclub where her best friend Tamara works as a dancer, and her former lover Dev is a bartender. Tamara and Dev are the two other point of view characters in the book. Each of them contain their own mysteries that are revealed as the story unfolds.

Pea's saint's hands give her uncanny agility and a knack for throwing knives (and other objects) perfectly. This power has made her the ideal assassin, and she believes that she has been killing for a good cause. Dubbed 'Victor's Angel' she is convinced that she took down the man that had been killing people to steal their saint's hands. Until a new murder happens, and everything she believes is upended.

The twists in the first part of the book are a bit predictable, but that does not lessen their impact on the story. The noir nature of the murder mystery is highly effective, but I do think that there could have been a bit more time building it up. However, once Phyllis learns the truth, she is like an arrow shot from a bow. She sets her mind on vengeance, on justice, and will see it done no matter the cost.

The character of Phyliss is an intriguing one to start the novel with. She is not an innocent by any stretch of the imagination, but there is something innocent about her all the same. She believes that she has been doing good, but she has been blinded to the reality of her circumstances. Her desires are relatively simple, she wants to stop killing but her saint's hands will not let her rest. She longs to reunite with her former lover Dev, but she fears that her brutality has chased him away for good. Phyliss wants to be valued, respected, and remembered. She struggles with the morality of what she has done, and how to move forward past all of the death she has brought.

The first part of the book from Phyliss's point of view is a part fast paced action story, and part murder-mystery noir. Johnson excels at her descriptive language that brings this era of New York City to life. The gritty violence and murder contrasts with the sumptuous world of the Pelican - the nightclub that is Victor's base of operations. The world of the Pelican is dazzling, but some of those bright jewels are beads of blood waiting to spill.

The second section of the book brings Dev's point of view, and details his journey into the heart of the mob. It is here where the love story of Trouble The Saints really starts to shine. Dev and Phyliss have a very complicated relationship, but the love between them is powerful. There is death and danger haunting their every move. But there is a sweetness to their love that outshines all of the darkness surrounding them. These characters have done unthinkable things to protect one another. Their relationship feels real, and their love is not idealized. They get angry with one another, they keep secrets, hold onto bitterness. But that doesn't make their love any less true, only more realistic.

Each section also gives us a new setting, although the glimmer of New York City is never far from our characters. The second section takes the characters to a quiet cottage outside of the city. They attempt to live some semblance of a normal life. But their past is never far from them. Nor is the everyday dangers of racism and prejudice. On top of that, there is the saint's hands that seem to bring trouble no matter where they go. This part of the story does eloquent work in bringing in new characters who also have the hands. It deftly demonstrates that no matter what gifts people of color have, they are always subject to prejudice and fear.

Each Section Adds Layers To The Characters

Although the second part of the book does an excellent job at building the world that these characters inhabit, the plot does get a bit muddled here. Dev and Phyllis are pulled into intrigue that is not of their own making. But it says something about their characters that they choose to help. These characters cannot turn a blind eye to the pain of people in their community. They are also struggling to redeem themselves for what they have done in the past.

They try to use their saint's hands to do good, but they find that their own powers can turn on them at a moment's notice. And that there is a limit to their power. The plot is less important here than the character building. Although there is a fair amount of tension and intrigue in this section, it is the moment when the waves recede only to build up higher than before and come crashing down.

The third section of the book is the slowest, after two climaxes in each of the previous sections it almost feels like an extended epilogue. However it was also one of my favorite parts of the book. This section brings the character of Tamara into the foreground. It also focuses on the close relationship between Phyllis and Tamara. Despite not having the saint's hands, Tammy has unique abilities of her own. She can see the dead, and read fate in her deck of cards. Unlike the other characters, Tamara has never killed anyone and she believes herself to be good and innocent. But she is still haunted by mistakes that she has made, and pain that she brought upon others.

Much of the conflict throughout Trouble The Saints is internal, before manifesting externally in a dramatic death. This is most prevalent in the final section of the book, where Tamara can clearly see the paths laid out before her and Phyllis. She struggles with a decision that will drastically affect both of them. And in the end, things unfold in a manner both unexpected and also all too familiar. Tragedy follows the characters wherever they go. They cannot outrun their fate, no matter how much they try to change their circumstances.

I was unsure how to feel about Trouble The Saints after I finished reading. The story has lingered with me for days, haunting me the way that the characters were themselves haunted by so much. The world-building is excellent, bringing this mobster era of New York City vividly to life. The writing is beautiful, lyrical and evocative. The characters are complex anti-heroes with blood on their hands and shadows in their hearts. It is truly a character-driven novel, with the plot often being secondary to the character development.

Initially I felt like I wanted Johnson to delve more into the idea of the saint's hands. I wanted these characters to be able to control their abilities and utilize them to wage epic battles and mete out justice. (But then again, I read a lot of epic fantasy or comic book stories where this type of thing would happen.) I realize now that the saint's hands work as a powerful metaphor. No matter what gifts these characters possess, that does not protect them from the abuse of the white world around them. That power, these gifts, are threatening to the white majority and draw even more abuse and prejudice down upon them.

In the end, Trouble The Saints is a compelling character-driven story about power and powerlessness. It is a story about the lengths we go to to protect the ones we love. And it is timely reminder about the struggles facing a person of color in the world, at any point in history. It will haunt you long after the characters are gone.

I really wanted to like this book but I truly struggled to get into it. I found the romance to be a bit cringy and the characters I struggled to like.

Assassins? Old Harlem? Noir feel? Sounds like the ingredients to a great story. Instead what I got was a dense and endless tale. I knew this book wasn't for me when I was only 15% in after having read it on and off for a few hours. I did not expect the book to be this disappointing. Pea wasn't even an interesting assassin. She's already given up killing at the start of this book and refuses to kill a woman who is clearly trying to and almost does take her out. Dev was a love sick puppy over Pea. Tamara had the most interesting story of them all with her powers as an oracle however this book was so convoluted that by the end I was weary and ready for it to end.

Please see longer more detailed review on my blog. Thank you Tor Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.
https://womenofcolorreadtoo.blogspot.com/2020/07/trouble-saints-by-alaya-dawn-johnson.html

"This was power. Jack of diamonds, running milky hands through thinning hair, going home to dinner that evening, drinking a scotch to relax, and never once thinking: I killed a woman today."

This is such a powerful book. Race in America: you can die for being Black. This is set historically during WWII, but it could not be more timely. Gangsters, passing, reading cards, having "hands". There's a lot going on and it is so interesting. Somethings were just a little confusing, but well worth the read.