Clare has been miserable since her exorcism. The preacher that rid her of evil didn’t understand that her demon—simply known as Her—was like a sister to Clare. Now, Clare will do almost anything to get Her back. After a chance encounter with the son of the preacher who exorcised her, Clare goes on an adventure through the dark underbelly of her small Southern town, discovering its deep-seated occult roots.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review through Netgalley. I was initially drawn to this book by the summary, which is somewhat odd for me. Usually the title, cover, rumors about the book or the author are what draw me into requesting a book to read and review from the publisher, but this book was different. I’d once dreamed of writing a book about a girl in love with a demon who possessed her, but I never had the right voice for it. So, when I read about this book that had done it, I knew I had to read it.

The world of The Good Demon looks much like any small towns. In fact, Clare’s description of her town in the opening chapters of the story sound so much like the small town I live in, that I was sure the author had been looking over my shoulder. But, in all honesty, the small town setting was believable and created a colorful texture for the otherwise supernatural events that occur throughout the story. I was very impressed.

The plot was, undoubtedly, my favorite part of the book. This book was the first book I’ve read in a long time that I legitimately could not put down. I started reading it one day and then when I picked it up the next day, I didn’t set it down until the book was completely finished, around 1am. It hooked me, it terrified me, it thrilled me. It almost made me wish it wouldn’t end, except I was scared out of my wits and absolutely exhausted. But, it was a beautifully written story with twists and turns I never saw coming.

Clare is a headstrong and rebellious narrator. She’s meant to be relatable to sad and lonely teens, but I found her often distant and cold. However, I don’t necessarily see that as a negative to the book. In a story where everyone should be second guessed and reevaluated, a taciturn and bluntly honest narrator is exactly what was needed. The foil character and Clare’s love interest, is just as extreme as Clare and equally unrelatable. If I had to pick a negative for this book, it would be that the characters are aggressively polarized. I would have loved to see more gray area in the characters.

The Good Demon, features a deceptively benign setting, an addictive plot and chilling characters. This book will hook you in and refuse to let go until you’ve reached the end. I wish the characters fell more into gray areas than they did by the end of the story, but was overall happy with the book by the time I finished the last page. If you love supernatural and witchcraft books, make sure you read The Good Demon.

"It wasn’t technically an exorcism, what they did to Clare. When the reverend and his son ripped her demon from her, they called it a “deliverance.” But they didn’t understand that Clare and her demon - known simply as Her - were like sisters. She comforted Clare, made her feel brave, helped to ease her loneliness. They were each other’s Only.

Now, Clare’s only comforts are the three clues that She left behind:
Be nice to him
June 20
Remember the stories

Clare will do anything to get Her back, even if it means teaming up with the reverend’s son and scouring every inch of her small, Southern town for answers. But if she sacrifices everything to bring back her demon, what will be left of Clare?"

Sounds like her demon is a bit of a daemon, and yes, I'm leading into the next book out this week...

THE GOOD DEMON was definitely a twist on the usual demon and exorcism tale, and it stood out from others because of that. There were a number of things that I liked about this book. The first was Clara, because she is a three dimensional and realistic teenage girl who has gone through a LOT of loss and trauma in her life, which has worn her down but also built her up. I loved seeing her be self actualized, and really appreciated that she never felt like a 'victim', like so many possessed characters can. Her relationships, from the one with Roy to the one with her mother to the one with Her, all felt very realistic relationships that a person like her would have, and they were all complicated as they were interesting and rewarding to see. The plot itself was also pretty good, as it did look at demons and possession in some different ways than others have. While some of the subplot points were a little scattered at times, they mostly came together pretty well. I think that ultimately, though, I was left a little disappointed because in some ways the full deconstruction didn't quite follow through. I don't want to spoil anything, because I did think that this book was a good time, but I did feel sad that I didn't get everything that I wanted from this book.

The title of the book itself is a contradiction in terms. I read The Good Demon by Jimmy Cajoleas in an advance copy furnished by Net Galley. I moved it up in my reading queue after seeing him do an excellent job as a panelist at the Mississippi Book Festival in August. It goes on sale September 18.

How could you not be tempted to read a book with a sentence on the cover that reads, “We all have demons. Clare wants hers back.”? The “deliverance” performed by Rev. Sanders leaves Clare empty of the She/Her demon that has shielded her life from a dysfunctional family and isolation from her peers. A mix of religious zealotry and wizardry appear from the beginning.

Clare knows she must do everything in her power to get Her back. The demon has been comforter, companion, and champion to Clare. There are three clues that She left behind that can help Clare do that: “Be nice to him,” “June 20,” and “Remember the stories.” But is the price she has to pay worth the return of the spirit?

The quirky well-drawn characters of the book sometime have everyday habits like Miss Mathis who dabbles in witchcraft but also watches Jeopardy and Rev. Sanders who wears his University of Southern Mississippi t-shirt. Then there are lines like, “It draws us like a barbecue draws the Baptists.” The black-and-white artwork is both beautiful and pertinent to the storyline.

No book, including this one, is for everybody. Language and a few explicit scenes put it in the young adult category. The spirits and occult make it appealing to those who like paranormal stories more than realistic ones.

The Good Demon is a gritty, dark, and refreshing YA story about Clare, a 15 year old girl who undergoes an exorcism without her consent. After the demon within her is purged, Clare is sick of her community trying to decide what's best for her and sets off to reclaim the demon stolen from her. The Good Demon explores topics such as consent, feminism, and religion, all while supporting Clare as a woman who can and does make decisions for herself.

A great and original story told by an unforgettable main character. It's dark and gory too, but told in a fairytale-ish, dreamy style. I polished it off in less than two days; it was that good.

I was able to read more than 30% of The Good Demon and realized that it wasn't for me, despite the interesting premise and fascinating illustrations that accompanied the story.

The main character, Clare, felt so alone and only the comfort of her own demon made her feel complete. After she had been exorcised, Clare tried to get "it" back. She discovered some artifacts along the way and started befriending the pastor's son (who also happened to be present during her exorcism). Clare is pretty with green eyes but she was surprisingly alone and desperate for a connection with anyone or ANYTHING. Always looking everywhere for her demon.

And while I found it incredibly disturbing (I'm a Catholic), I liked how this novel wasn't a generic horror/paranormal story. Unfortunately, I didn't find it "gripping" enough to rate this higher than most readers but there is still something worth reading about this story. The author tends to write in a personal way (as if the character is really speaking to its reader) with the right amount of description. Very expressive. I'm recommending this book to those who like weird stories.

I really enjoyed this book. I was a little weary of a female character written by a male author, but I think Cajoleas did a great job! Clare is about 15, has no friends, an abusive stepfather, and a mother who tries but fails a lot. Cajoleas handles her with care and I really appreciated that.

Some things I really appreciated were how Clare’s personality and attitude evolved throughout the story. She starts off as this secluded, lonely girl, with only a demon to keep her company. Clare starts to change once she accepts an unlikely friendship and begins to understand life without Her.

There are some sensitive topics in the book, like domestic and intimate partner abuse, rape, and slut-shaming. I do believe that the mention or inclusion of them helped build Clare’s character and move the plot in the right direction tonally.

Nobody ever asked the little girl from The Exorcist what she wanted. The demon didn't ask for her consent before taking over her body; but the priests didn't ask her permission to cast the devil out of her, either. The whole movie is about Regan, and yet we never actually get her story. She has barely any agency throughout, and even the ending robs us of any reaction, concerned as it is with the priest's self-sacrifice. Regan is not even allowed to remember the incident: she is a perpetual blank slate for the other (largely male) characters to act upon.

In The Good Demon, by Jimmy Cajoleas, the preacher and parents still aren't asking permission. They assume they know what's best for Clare, our protagonist possessee, because she's yet another young woman and they are (largely) men. But this time, it's Clare's story. And Clare is pissed—not at the demon, but at all the people who assume they know what she wants better than she does. So she's not going to simper with gratitude; she's going to get her demon back.

The demon, only ever called Her, is also female. And She asked permission before occupying a corner of Clare's soul. She also provided comfort, entertainment, and protection during Clare's extremely fraught childhood. The two share a love that defies analogy, either familial or romantic; they are, quite literally, soul mates. Separation has sent Clare into deep mourning, but a series of cryptic encounters leads her to believe that she might be able to get Her back. And love will bring her to risk anything—even confronting her town's possible cult, even investigating a conspiracy that has resorted to both magic and murder—to accomplish what she wants, not what her town thinks is right.

Clare also begins to reluctantly work with the preacher's son, Roy, who may not be as conservative or judgmental as his father. Their relationship is interesting and certainly did not go or end up where I expected, a rarity in YA. There was some real complication and maturity here, rather than wish fulfillment. I always appreciate that, even if I do also appreciate fluff.

There's not a lot of fluff here. This book blew through plot points and drama like they were on sale. By halfway through, Cajoleas had already gotten to all the things I thought were going to be the climax, which left the second half largely a mystery. I am thoroughly impressed by authors who go for broke like this, eschewing the predictable outcomes and really pushing their creativity.

Cajoleas has also set up some really compelling feminist conversations about faith, boundaries, and desire. For so many stories about demons, women are possessed spiritually to indicate both their status as both “receptive” and as little more than objects. You can possess an object. What Cajoleas does with his story is assert that you cannot actually possess a person, especially not Clare, a woman who does not just blindly receive what she is given, but decides what she will and will not take. She was a wonderful narrator not just for her vibrancy and boldness, but also because of her vulnerability and curiosity. Clare wasn’t just some Strong Female Protagonist, a stereotype to replace the Damsel in Distress stereotype: she has the full spectrum of contradictions and complexities that any real girl would have. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her grow and fight for her strange and beautiful love.

Will be published sept 11, www.geeklyinc.com/the-good-demon-review-new-take-on-soulmates/

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book that I both hated and loved in equal measure. Boy, this book is a roller-coaster of emotion and it did things to me that I did not expect. The Occult, exorcism, magic, and demons, this book has it all, but there are a few things that kept me from truly loving this book.

The best and worst part of this book is Clarabella, or Clare, the main character and one who I would consider a strong female protagonist – she knows her own mind, she does things for herself, and she can take care of herself. She’s weird, but not in an off-putting way, and based on her home life, it’s understandable. But Clare is also one of the most selfish characters I know – to the point where she is willing to sacrifice another for her own desire to get her demon back. This happens in the last bit of the story, so up until that point, I was rooting pretty hard for Clare. It seemed out of place for her character – I dislike when an author sacrifices a character’s qualities for the sake of the story, it takes away the realness of a character. For Clare to go from relatable and weird to flat out despicable was huge disappointment. I didn’t like that I was no longer in her corner.

Other characters in the novel were well written – I particularly liked Uncle Mike and Miss Mathis. I think Cajoleas has a knack for writing unique characters who, at the same time, feel really real. The character development and interaction are one of the main driving points of this story.

The other disappointment of this book I felt was that the main story arc got a bit derailed towards the end of the story, a bit too big for its britches. At the center of the story is Clare’s “quest” to get her demon back, but as she follows the few clues left to her by her demon, she eventually uncovers a giant conspiracy of power-hungry magically aware elitists in her town who control everything (the cops, the news, etc.), but they keep their affiliation with the occult under wraps. At some point, they had lost their power, but now they are slowly growing in strength again and it all happens to be tied up with Clare and her demon.

This conspiracy path that the story takes happens within the last 100 pages and so the scope of the story blows so wide but with nowhere to go because in a few chapters, the story ends. If Cajoleas had stuck to just the story of Clare trying to get her demon back I think the story would have felt more complete, more polished. Ultimately what happens is the ending feels rushed/unfinished. It’s very unsatisfying, so no matter how much I liked the story up until that point, if the ending doesn’t do it for me, I can’t rightly rate the book any higher.

Now to the things I liked about this book, namely the writing. It is such a beautifully written book – it’s one of those books where you don’t rush through it, you don’t read it page after page quickly, but instead take your time and enjoy it. The pacing is slow but not meandering, it provides a slow boil into the tension and gripping terror that come in the latter half of the story with the final showdown.

Cajoleas’ language is quite unique - his phrases almost poetic, like, “a long stare of darkness,” or “I was alive. But so empty too, vacant, like an unused wing of a house.” Or one of my favorites: “the dog lying there like the corpse of a dog.” Clare has such a way of describing the world, in an almost artistic way. It adds to the flavor of her character, paring down her weirdness into something a bit like “quirky,” but not in a derivative way. She’s just observant of odd or strange things and sees everything through a lens of macabre. Maybe it has something to do with sharing body space with a demon for so many years.

The plot of the story, as I’ve said, is a bit slower, but that’s mostly due to the frequent flash-backs to Clare’s time spent with her demon and moment from her childhood that all serve to better develop the characters, to draw a picture of Clare’s life and why she is so desperate to get her demon back. It’s one of Cajoleas’ better techniques, showing the reader, rather than telling, why Clare wants to get Her back. But that does end up making this story slower, so if there are readers who might pick up this book because they’re looking for a thrilling exorcism type story, this might not satisfy.

It’s definitely a curious YA book, and one that I find difficult to categorize. I’ll just say that it’s creepy and there are elements of the supernatural that are spooky, but this book isn’t scary, so I wouldn’t call it horror. It’s a dark story and there are minor elements of romance, but this book leans heavily towards the anti-valentines side of the aisle, so I would more likely recommend this book to readers who like supernatural stories that are character-centric rather than plot-driven.

So for me, this book had some great elements going for it, but equally problematic elements that kept me from truly liking it. I would still give this a solid B grade because it has so much going for it and a lot of it that’s problematic for me doesn’t necessarily make it a badly written story. It has appeal and there are those out there who will enjoy it and might not take issue with the flaws I see. It would make a great Halloween read (despite the fact that it takes place over the course of a summer).

Errata:
“...tinny screen light” - perhaps should be 'tiny screen light'?
"...shown a pure white light..." should be 'shone a pure white light' - this is the problem with pronouncing the word 'shone' as 'shown' rather than as 'shonn'!
“I mean the whole dum lot of them” - 'dumb lot'?!

I wanted to read this because it reminds me in small ways of my own Nature of the Beast, although the two stories are very different. I liked this one just as much as I like my own!

Clarabella once had a demon whom she called 'Her' and referred to as 'She'. Given the power which is typically assigned to knowing the name of an entity in stories like this, I concluded early that Clare's lack of a name for her demon might be significant as the story played out. I was wrong! That was the hallmark of this story - it kept me guessing! There is no doubt though, that when She and Clare were united, they were pretty much in love with one another. They talked like the closest of friends, and were of course always together.

She looked out for Clare's welfare fiercely. It was because of this ferocious protection (She could take over Clare's body at any time) that they were finally 'outed' and separated. Ever since then, Clare has been miserable and determined to get back together with Her, and it appears that She was counting on this. She left cryptic guidelines for how this reunion could be achieved. Why they were cryptic, I do not know. There seems to have been no valid reason for it, but it’s fun to see how Clare discovers these and goes about interpreting them.

Throughout the story - which I read avidly - I could not help but wonder about this demon. Was this truly an inter-spiritual love affair, or was the demon playing a devious long-range game? If you think you know, it probably just meets the author wrong-footed you again!

Having interpreted Her wishes, Clare finally finds herself in a position to make a deal to get Her back, but the wish-granter demands a price, of course. Clare quite gullibly agrees, misled into thinking that the boon will be a mere trinket, but it occurred to me that She was far more devious than Clare ever would have expected - and for once, I correctly discerned what the boon would be. So then the question became: is Clare so desperate to be reunited that she will quite literally pay any price?

That successful interpretation was pretty impressive for me, because I'm usually completely wrong when I try to prognosticate about such things in novels - and also in World Cup soccer it turns out! LOL! When the women's World Cup comes up next year, be sure to ask me for my predictions, and then be sure to bet in a diametrically opposed manner to whatever I say, and you may well become rich! Or maybe my inverse predictions only work in men's soccer? I make no guarantees!

Anyway, this book was a very worthy read, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

*I received this book from Netgalley. My review is completely my own opinions and thoughts.*

I really liked the concept of a girl being exorcised and searching for her lost demon as I haven’t come across something like it. The beginning sucked me in but I felt it fell a little short of what it could have been.

At first I liked the main character and felt for her as she was lonely and didn’t belong in the city, but as the story kept going, it got a little old and she didn’t hold on to any belief she had for that long. She was very fickle and didn’t seem consistent about it. As for Roy, he didn’t seem to have much character growth and felt like a severe stereotype of a pastor’s son. I felt like he could have had more depth in this story.

The town itself had a lot going on, but I didn’t feel like the story went in-depth enough to really understand what was going on. I barely started to understand the network the author created before it ended. I had problems with the ending as well, but I don’t want to spoil what happens.

All in all I would read other books by the author, but didn’t enjoy this one that much as I felt it wasn’t flushed out all the way.

I received a free ARC of The Good Demon by Jimmy Cajoleas in exchange for an honest review. And let me just say right off the bat, WOW! I loved this book!

Description provided by NetGalley
“Clare has been miserable since her exorcism. The preacher that rid her of evil didn’t understand that her demon—simply known as Her—was like a sister to Clare. Now, Clare will do almost anything to get Her back. After a chance encounter with the son of the preacher who exorcised her, Clare goes on an adventure through the dark underbelly of her small Southern town, discovering its deep-seated occult roots. As she searches for Her, she must question the fine lines between good and evil, love and hate, and religion and free will. Vivid and sharp, The Good Demon tells the unusual story of friendship amid dark Gothic horror.”

My Thoughts
Seriously, WOW! I loved this book!

I had never heard of Jimmy Cajoleas before, but when I read the blurb above, I was immediately intrigued. After reading The Good Demon, I will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author.

I personally didn’t so much care for Clare as a person, because her attitude bothered me and I hated that she was using Roy as a crutch. She did have some redeeming qualities, but in the end, I didn’t care for how she threw Roy under the bus knowing full well what would happen to him, even if he betrayed her first.

But, I also felt that as a character, all of her choices really propelled the story forward and made it a compelling story. I also enjoyed the fact that, while there was some romance between Clare and Roy, romance wasn’t the whole point of the story and the happy ending isn’t what the reader would expect.

I think my favorite part of the whole story was the concept of the One Wish Man, and I was pleasantly creeped out when we finally got to meet him.

Conclusion
I’m giving The Good Demon 5 stars. It had me on the edge of my seat, it had a good creep factor, and I felt it was a great story for both young adults and adults.

Clare hasn't been the same since her exorcism.  Her demon wasn't evil; she protected Clare from all the things that have hurt her:  her father's death by overdose, her stepdad's drunken belligerence, and even the guy from school who wouldn't take no for an answer.

Her unnamed demon left behind a cryptic note:  
-Be nice to him
-June 20
-Remember the stories

Before long, Clare is falling in love with the son of the preacher who performed her exorcism and realizing there may be more demons than her own in her small Southern town.  Soon she's questioning if her demon was actually saving her or isolating her for sinister reasons.

Unwilling to give up her search, Clare remembers the story her demon told her about a being deep in the woods and finds herself on a dark path to locate the One Wish Man.  If she finds him and he grants her wish to be reunited, what will he ask for in return?  And will it be a price she's willing pay?

It's up to Clare to choose her loyalty to good or evil and find truth in a tangle of lies.

The Good Demon was a truly surprising YA mystery!  Set in a small Southern town, the novel obviously has a lot of religious aspects relating to sin, good vs. evil, and purity.  The Gothic tale blends mystery and horror with an innocent fairy tale quality.  
I can't think of too many YA Southern Gothic novels but this is sure to be close to the top of the list!  My only complaint is my usual for the YA genre:  I would've appreciated a little more back story, character development, and in the case of this novel specifically:  more description and history of the town.  

This was an exceptional story overall and an excellent read for mature YA readers!  Thanks to Amulet Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was dark, and strange, and... gritty? awful? Neither of those last two are correct, but whatever the proper adjective is, it was all in a really good way. I mean, imagine a book about a girl who has gone through an exorcism, but will do absolutely anything to get her demon back, and that her journey to do so takes a gothic, magical-realism-type turn, and you've got this book.

That said, I didn't personally find it gripping, thus the 3 stars. I appreciated how the storyline is definitely not your usual one, and it didn't fall into any of the fantasy/romance/horror tropes, and it was dark and mysterious and inexact, and you got to follow the unraveling of what was going on along with the MC. All of that was great. But in the end, I found it just... interesting, not gripping. I would recommend others to give it a try, though. It is certainly a unique read.

I received an advanced copy of this book for an honest review.
Jimmy Cajoleas, The Good Demon, introduces us to Clarabella or just Clare and “her”. “Her” is Clare’s demon. Through family intervention the demon is taken, and Clare feels she must figure out how to get “her” back, thus uncovering deeper evil within the town. Initially I did not like the book, but I found that I wanted to keep reading it…compelled, if you will. What I found was that by the end of the book I really enjoyed it. The Good Demon is not just about a girl and her demon, but a girl discovering she does not really need her demon or others to be a strong and capable young woman. I would highly recommend this book and encourage young women to read it.
@PiqueBeyond
#TheGoodDemon
#NetGalley

This was a very unique storyline. Normally when demons are involved it is the demon that is the horror aspect. In this case, it was a human! Clare becomes possessed by a demon and befriends it. Her stepfather finds out about it and has it excised out of her. From then on, Clare does anything to try to get Her back. The cast is a secret cult/coven, a demon summoner, an old, cranky used store owner, and a preachers son. There were almost like three endings to this book but the last one is definitely my favorite. There are not alternate endings, just spots where I thought it was the end but the story kept going. The author uses "said" in almost every line of dialog (just one of my pet peeves), but this book was exciting, mysterious, heart breaking and funny. I loved it!

Holy. Motherloving. Shirtballs. I loved this book. Like full on, no holds bar loved it. A black, gothic tale of possession and power that just oozes a dark sort of charm from start to finish. Cajoleas really hit a home run with this one and I can't wait to see what he does next. The Good Demon is just so compelling that once I started there was no way in hell I was stopping until the end.

Possession stories are played out, see literally any horror film in the past four years, but I firmly believe that they can be good with the right narrative and backbone. And boy does The Good Demon have an absolutely glorious narrative.

There's a lot of weird, almost uncomfortable, themes in possession stories many of them sexual. Think about it, a young girl has an unwanted masculine presence, usually forced, but sometimes seduced, into her and then she needs to be cleansed or purified to redeem her. There's a lot of academic and pop culture papers on the subject if you wanna look into it further. But I mention it because in The Good Demon the demonic presence isn't a masculine one, but a feminine one. The demon is female and that gives this story a whole new perspective and opens up a lot of doors.

To Clare, the demon was her best friend, her sister, her only confidant, and without her she's lost. She longs to return to how it use to be, just her and Her. And when she discovers a hidden message She left for her, Clare takes it upon herself to reunite with the demon once more. But, on her journey Clare comes to grips with not only the uncomfortable truths about the relationship between her and Her, but about the town itself.

What makes this book is the relationship between Clare and Her. Cajoleas had to write with a surgical scalpel, creating a relationship between Clare and this demon that felt not only realistic, but confused. Her clearly loved Clare, but She is a demon so how does a demon love someone? What does it look like? And Clare is lonely without Her, so lonely she searches for meaning, a purpose. What does that person look like? What will she do and how far will she go? There are so many little nuances to both these characters that make this book a joy. Their relationship is compelling, not only because of the bond they share, but this overhanging idea that maybe Her wasn't as good as Clare remembers or maybe Clare isn't as innocent as we think. There are so many great character moments on every page I felt that I truly knew these characters.

There's also a proto-romance with Clare's exorcist's son and that is a treasure trove of character insight as well. I liked how they didn't have a "official" romance. Both cared for the other, but they were being used by the other. Roy to explore a world outside his own and Clare because she was lonely without Her and needed someone, anyone to make that hole go away. Roy wasn't as developed as Clare or Her, but I appreciated his character and what he did and where he went as a person. I even understood his viewpoint later on in the book. I was still pissed to high heaven at him, but I understood why he'd think that. Just like I understood Clare's decision regarding him.

Let's not forget that ending though, which may be on of my favorite endings of all time. I think I actually shed a tear or two. It was dark and sweet and so sad all rolled into one emotional gut punch. After so much work, after so much effort, Clare's growth comes to a head in the most pitch perfect way ever that really seals this novel into favorite status.

Sure, it's not without its faults. The secret society plot was meh and there could have been a deeper exploration of Roy's father, but those are nitpicks compared to what I truly loved about The Good Demon. It's a grotesque and gorgeous story about love and loneliness and the lengths we'll go to find, and keep, the ones we love. So please, pick this up because it will do everything a good book should do for you and more.

Love and faith are put into question as the struggle to reunite with a demon leads to serious consequences.

“The Good Demon” follows Clare a young woman who recently became the subject of an exorcism and is grieving the loss of the demon known simply as Her when she reconnects with the son of the Reverend who performed the rite. As she struggles with her loss she becomes determined to get her demon back regardless of the cost and as her jour eh progresses she finds there’s more to her small town and their connection to the dark side than she could ever imagine.

This is a paranormal book in nature with dark magic holding center stage but it really serves as a great allegory for abusive relationships and the people who prey on those who are at their most vulnerable. The narration in this book is somewhat unreliable as we go giving us snapshots of the dynamic between Clare and Her and it’s not until the climax of the novel that we finally get the full picture and it begs the question is this a good demon after all?

There’s a bit of romance in this but I have to say I like how it ends with the focus shifted to that of Clare and her mother who have been living parallel lives with both actual and human versions of demons and the healing they need in order to move forward with their lives and it’s that love that I hope will be the take away from this book.

I know this review is very sappy but I swear this book is dark and twisted in its own way and offers up creatures and sacrificial practices that will haunt your dreams but there’s a lingering message there that I think will be something that will stick with the reader longer than fear.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review!**