**spoiler alert** This book was crazy...it wasn't what I was expecting to read, but it kept me entertained, and I needed to know what happened to Lilly!!!

There's no time wasted with the beginning of this story... I was immediately pulled in and felt connected with Lilly right away!! She was a girl who went out for a run and never got to go home!!
When reading books dealing with the afterlife, you never know how people will incorporate different aspects of death, and I found Fred and the reapers so funny for some reason! They were a little comedic relief in all of the dark, heaviness of the book.
There were parts especially in the mind (pov) of the killer where I wanted to skim or page flip bc of the content, but I was prewarned it'd be there, so it was okay.
This story was very easy to read and follow even with multiple povs.
I sometimes felt like there were maybe too many characters and side plots going on, but it made for a wild ride for Lilly to get where she was going.
Also the kind of plot twist at the end

Lilly Barnes was just nineteen when she was murdered, and buried deep in the woods, where no one would ever find her, and it was at that very moment when her life truly began.

Lilly finds herself trapped in Purgatory. A place between worlds. A place where spirits find themselves tasked with one final test, in order to prove their worth, and free themselves from the shackles keeping their souls tethered to their previous lives.
The young girl learns that she must complete the impossible. She has bring her killer to justice. To make him accountable for what he did to her. A bright golden ray of light beams down from the heavens above, guiding her to her unfinished business. Leading her to the front door of the very man responsible for ending her life, where she discovers something truly horrific.

She is not the only one.

Four other girls, just like her, are lost in Purgatory. They all share the same unfinished business, and to make matters more complicated, they all must be present when their killer faces justice. For the ones who are absent, will have no choice but to walk the world of Purgatory until the End of Days. And when Lilly thinks things couldn’t get any worse, she discovers that her killer has a new toy locked away in his basement.

Lilly sets out on a path toward her happily ever after life. A path, which will require her to find the lost spirits of the other girls, and return them to the place of their deaths, to not only save the life of their killer’s newest victim, but to save their own souls from an eternity of imprisonment within the Realm of the Dead.

Awesome story line. I think it should be made into a movie... I could not put it down. I just had to find out if Lilly was able to solve her murder, and save the other victims of the serial killer. Great Book!

I really liked this original story, with its fast pace, and the interesting and endearing characters! I had a lot of fun with this reading, especially for me who am not very used to reading in English (and I hope that my English will reflect my feelings ^^')

I loved it. Will read more from this author. I would like more about Mark, and about why he became what he was. Slow burn but kept me turning the pages and didn't want to put down. Character development was great, I liked that it gave a synopsis about each of the girls. I really liked Jackson, and I hope the author continues Jackson's story.

What a wild ride! This book is so gripping. I loved it! Blow after blow. I didn't read the summary before getting into this one.. so check those first.

This is a dark and gripping story. There are some parts that I found hard to read but overall a very good book .

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

This book follows Lilly, a girl who was murdered and is in purgatory. She has to fulfill her unfinished business to escape it.

This book felt like The Lovely Bones meets Supernatural. While it wasn't a bad book, I felt it wasn't well fleshed out. I thought the book would focus more on Lilly having to discover the identity of who murdered her and move on from there, but instead, it gave the answers away almost immediately. I thought the flashbacks were a little superfluous and didn't do a lot to move the book forward. I got what the book wanted to do, but I don't feel as if it fully got there.

This ultimately wasn’t a good fit for me so I won’t be reviewing it publicly. You could tell it was written by a man and it frequently had really creepy vibes. It felt quite a lot like a creative writing class assignment. I loved the premise but ultimately really disliked the execution.

3.5 stars. The rating is somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. Maybe I will come back after some time to change it, maybe not.

Start of the book was great. One of the most interesting ways to start of mystery or a thriller book. After seeing the killer burying your body, where do we go? We find out more about afterlife and what our main character needs to do. In this journey, we will meet with A LOT of interesting characters, all whose stories I would gladly delve into. However, my main issue with this story line was that I didn't feel the stakes. It was fun easy story with some gory ghosts. A really nice book.

But this is not the whole story. We have the POV of the killer also. Which was interesting and also SOOO DISTURBING (please check out the trigger warnings!!!!). My problem was that this story line was much deeper, darker and disturbing (like I mentioned before), even up to a point that I was uncomfortable to read it. And I feel that the stories did not feel one complete whole together.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are, as always, my own.

Thanks to Netgalley and Quill and Ink Publishing for the ARC!


MIND YOUR TRIGGERS!!!

Supernatural and crime.
I enjoyed this book, though a bit dark. It does deal with heavy subjects ( MIND YOUR TRIGGERS!) but it also has a bit of comedy (The Reapers)
The story follows a group of ghost women who need to complete a last "task" in order to move on to the afterlife. I liked the way this was presented. Our MFC Lilly was written in way that you can feel her the roller coaster of emotions she experiences.
The unity that these ghosts had to build was done so well too.
I liked not every ghost we met was nice, we were given the opportunity to see what happens when they go "bad" or just give up on trying to move on.

The ending though.. I felt out bad guy did not get the end he deserved. Another one who had the easy way out.

I’ve included a few Trigger Warnings at the end of this review to keep in mind before picking this book up.
This book was truly an emotional rollercoaster, a superb blend of disgusting insight into the mind of a killer, and the more adventurous and humorous travel towards justice with Lily. At no point during this story could I predict what was going to happen next, and I felt pretty much every emotion possible while reading. I laughed, I was angry, appalled and utterly shocked. I can without a doubt say this book did not disappoint!

If you like crime stories with a quest for vengeance/justice you should consider picking this up, as it was a quick and entertaining read.
TW: Sexual assault, Rape, Violence towards Women, Suicide, Murder
Big thanks to NetGalley, and the author, L. N. Costley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this book
I love the premise of the storyline
The two main characters Jackson the "seer" and Lily the lost spirit was fantastic
They were both kind and compassionate
I wouldn't like to mislead. This is a gritty and at times gruesome tale
I really liked the supernatural vibe
I would highly recommend this book and will be looking for more from this author

Reading the synopsis I thought this book sounded a bit different and something interesing to try. After Lilly has been murdered her spirit ends up on a journey to complete her Unfinished business. We have a good mix of characters, both dead and alive. In all honesty I'm not sure what I think about this book. At times there were really dark and taboo topics being dealt with (strongly recommended checking out TW), but then we wouod have sections of humour which couod be quite jarring. Overall It was a good quick read

"Lilly Barnes is dead, she just doesn't know it yet"

We meet Lilly as she stands behind a man digging a shallow grave in the woods to bury her. With the help of Fred, a flustered bureaucrat working for the Reaper team, she understands that she can only cross over and out of purgatory when her unfinished business is finished. She encounters a human seer called Jackson, who eventually agrees to help her bring her killer to justice.
Special mention to Carol, what a legend of a character. Only involved in a few pages but absolutely steals the show!
This is a very dark and harrowing story, with some light humour worked in seamlessly. A really emotive story, certain points brought me to tears. I don't have anything bad to say, characters were all great and had emotional investment in all of them, the writing was flawless and the story had me gripped from the start. I can highly recommend this book to all fans of dark fiction.

Please check all trigger warnings

I received this arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

TW: Death, sexual violence, rape, abuse, suicide, mental health

I absolutely loved this book. It reminded me of the Lovely Bones in a lot of ways but also was unlike anything I've read before.

The story follows Lilly who, after being murdered, goes on a hunt to bring her killer to justice, along with his previous victims. They're known as purgs, ghosts who are trapped in purgatory because of unfinished business they may have.

With the help of Jackson, a man who can see ghosts, the two race against time to bring her killer to justice, find his victims and save the latest girl he's kidnapped.

The book was harrowing to read at parts, due to being privy to the killers chapters and the latest victim and also reading how each girl was kidnapped. Fans of ghost stories and crime will definitely enjoy this.

Thank you to #Netgalley , #L.N.Costley and #QuillandInkPublishing for this ARC!

This was a very interesting read that follow Lilly Barnes on her journey to free her soul from purgatory. the book had many spooky moments as well as some funny ones which I liked.

I will definitely look out for more of this Author's future projects , 4 out 5.

I will start off by saying the synopsis really caught my eye - girls stuck in purgatory because they were murdered & need to work together to do their “last task.”

The journey takes the main character, Lilly, on an adventure where she learns she is dead, what purgatory is, meets her Reaper, and discovers there’s a man, a Seer, who is helping “Purgs” complete their last tasks. Lilly & Jackson become bffs & trek across Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana searching for the other Purgs to complete their final task - bring the killer to justice.

The story is filled with fun adventures in the afterlife, scenes where they meet some unfavorable ghosts & demons while uncovering what it’s really like to be dead.

L.N. Costley plotted out an easy to follow story with a range of characters and it was overall a fun read. There were a few times where the writing was a bit simple to me, like explaining visual scenes in the book, but overall for a first time author, he wrote an original story that flowed well & I always enjoy stories of ghosts in their afterlife.

Thank you to L.N. Costley, NetGalley, and Quill and Ink Publishing for the ARC! Publish date is June 18, 2023.