I didn't know what to expect when I picked up this book. I knew it was horror, and I knew there was some kind of evil spirit involved. What I hadn't realized is just how much heart this novel would have.

Abby is a foster kid. She's been bounced from foster home to foster home all her life, until she finally ended up in her current foster home with another twelve foster kids that she calls her sibs. It's a good home, and her foster parents are good people. Problem is, the foster home is a run down hotel right on the broadwalk in Atlantic City, which is prime real estate for casinos and such. And bad people want that stretch of land, and they won't take no for an answer.

But Abby has a a dark power of her own, one she is terrified of, but that she will have to use if she wants to save her family.

I grew to really like Abby and her siblings and feel for them. I heard horror stories about the American foster system, and here the author managed to convey the point of view of a foster child pretty well. The helplessness, the need to have something that belongs to them in a world where all your possessions can fit in a trash bag and your whole world can be uprooted in a moment's notice by adults for whom you are just a number in the system. So when you find something good, something that feels like family, of course you will hang on to it for dear life.

And the mystery with Rags was intriguing and resolved in a satisfying manner. Rags isn't your run of the mill evil spirit. It didn't want to be a mindless killing machine in the service of a vodou practitioner. It wanted to tie itself to someone who had a moral compass. To become a guardian instead of a butcher.

There is still plenty of violence, mind you, preformed both by Rags and the bad guys. And the bad guys are truly villainous, even excessively so, I would say. I am not sure that crooked cop could have gotten away with as much as he did get away with, but then again, I am an optimist who believes that those who choose to serve (be it in the police or the military) do it mostly from altruistic reasons, apart from a few bad apples. But it sure makes it easy to root for Abby the underdog and cheer when Rags dishes out its brand of justice onto them.

The final choice Abby had to make to save her family was heart-wrenching but logical. There was really nothing else she could do. Yes, she could have run away and decided that it wasn't her problem, but having followed her from the beginning of this book, I knew that it wasn't a choice she could ever have made. And now her foster home has a guardian against all the evil people who want to harm her sibs and her adoptive mother.

PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Creepy, intriguing and packed with action. Even if you think you’ve figured it all out, the journey is worth it. The storyline, ending and character development all allow for a promising sequel. I hope the author is considering it.

Trigger warning: gore
Thank you to netgalley for giving this ARC, and this does not influence my review. The book was a thriller/paranormal book with a funny relatable FMC (she was hilarious). This book gave an inside look at an orphan’s life, the FMC was relatable and hilarious (no bs). Great writing style, loved the new chapter format.
Romance wasn’t really a part of the story, but for me the plot wasn’t enticing enough.

2.5 stars

Ok this book is just not for me. It took a very long time for me to get through this. That being said, it was written quite well, and I know it will have a big audience. I just could not connect, may be a case of good book wrong time for me.