The way this book conveys internal and external struggle is magnificent. It is dark and I encourage people to heed the warnings if you are sensitive to certain subjects. I look forward to any new novels by this author and am so glad I was able to receive and ARC of it.

Disclaimer: An electronic copy of this book was provided for review by the author, via Library Thing.

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This paranormal urban fantasy is a generally satisfying debut novel that follows a young woman who discovers, after years of crippling emotional abuse and childhood neglect, that she has a force within her that can defend her in some of the battles she is still fighting.

Joy Hayes is in her early 20s, enduring a job she doesn’t particularly like, because it pays the bills and because she lacks the confidence in herself to look for anything better. After a particularly miserable day, she is shaken to discover a voice within her, linked to the power to affect her immediate surroundings. At first, Joy is more willing to believe she’s hallucinating than to believe that her psychic friend – whom she christens ‘Buttercup’ in a moment of untypical whimsy – can actually do things like retrieve a set of fallen keys from a sewer grate. As the days go by, however, she is not only forced to accept the phenomenon, she even begins to relish it. And that’s when things start to slowly spiral out of control.

The novel alternates between scenes from Joy’s childhood and her present-day life, dealing with a still-toxic family and a hostile work environment. The only time she seems really happy is in the company of her best friend, Ethan, who seems to be happy with their good-pals arrangement. Joy, having been told all of her life that she is unlovable, cannot believe he’s interested in anything more, so she doesn’t pursue the feelings she has for him.

It seems pretty obvious where this is going, but Aurora manages to keep most of the focus on Joy’s increasingly troubled relationship with Buttercup, whose power is growing and whose notion of “helping” is becoming increasingly violent. Events are also building to a head with her neglectful mother, her abusive grandmother, and more siblings, half-siblings, step-siblings, foster parents, and other relatives than are strictly necessary to the story. The overstuffed cast of characters is probably the weakest link in the book as Joy grows up with multiple stepfathers, some of whom have children with partners other than her mother, and ends up living with her maternal grandmother, who also has had multiple spouses, partners, and children, most of whom manage to make appearances in the book.

After a huge blow-out at a family wedding, it seems that things might begin to even out, but that's not going to happen. Joy endures an utterly crippling loss, and must choose how – and whether – to survive at all. There’s a final scene that appears to give the answer, followed by a twist ending that sets up the next novel in the trilogy.

It’s an interesting concept, but may be a bit thin to provide two more books. Potential readers should be aware of a number of trigger issues including emotional and physical child abuse, eating disorders, and suicide, though none are presented in particularly graphic terms. ( )