Velveteen Monroe is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that’s not the problem.

The problem is she landed in purgatory. And while it’s not a fiery inferno, it’s certainly no heaven. It’s gray, ashen, and crumbling more and more by the day, and everyone has a job to do. Which doesn’t leave Velveteen much time to do anything about what’s really on her mind.

Bonesaw.

Velveteen aches to deliver the bloody punishment her killer deserves. And she’s figured out just how to do it. She’ll haunt him for the rest of his days.

It’ll be brutal… and awesome.

But crossing the divide between the living and the dead has devastating consequences. Velveteen’s obsessive haunting cracks the foundations of purgatory and jeopardizes her very soul. A risk she’s willing to take—except fate has just given her reason to stick around: an unreasonably hot and completely off-limits coworker.

Velveteen can’t help herself when it comes to breaking rules… or getting revenge. And she just might be angry enough to take everyone down with her.

Characters: Velvet is the leader of her collections group. Possibly the most famous of her time, going on 56 souls rescued. She leads Quentin, Luisa and Logan into situations in which souls that have been captured need to be released. Her position as body thief or “body snatcher” is when she takes over a human body to help the group get in closer with the soul stealers and help rescue them, and bring them to purgatory.

Plot: There are 3 different layers of stories happening in this novel. Velvet has an obsession with Bonesaw, the man who killed her and so she haunts him (against the rules). There is also something dark and dangerous happening in the Vermillion district of Purgatory that maybe connected to the worsening Shadowquakes. Then there is Nick. He is the love interest and just so happens to be placed into Velvet’s group and now she has to train him, but they’re not allowed to date (yeah right!)

Originality: The world building is very imaginative and unique. The story is divided up between time in Purgatory and time on Earth. Purgatory is described as ashy, dirty and creaky (well the railway is) They have buildings and structured districts. But they cover their bodies with ash so they don’t shine so bright and they are in a constant cloudy darkness. My favorite and most original part of the story are the Shadowquakes. Creepy tendrils that come from above and grab you, showing visions of the most horrific scenes. And quaking enough to knock down buildings.

Writing: The writing has a lot of pop culture references and even though dealing with some heavier topics, takes it on in a more campy way. Small conversations of why these souls are stuck in purgatory. Good VS Evil and consequences for your actions. It’s pretty fast paced, very little down time, one event leading right into another. .

Krista’s Rating: I honestly went into the story thinking it was going to be just Velvet haunting Bonesaw. But got so much more, a whole new world and group of characters that range from zombie-esq to supportive best friend material. Although dealing with some religious ideas that surround purgatory and “moving on” it never gets overwhelming or overdone. It was a lot of fun to read. There are several different layers to the story. Velvet is a strong and menacing character you wouldn’t want to mess with, but would make an amazing friend to have on your side.