Review: My Soul to Keep by Jackie Sonnenberg

Goodreads/Amazon

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I shall die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take…

When thirteen-year-old Sky Monroe arrives at her new boarding school, all she can think about is death and connecting with the afterlife. Soon she discovers her school’s spirituality group called Guardians of Light—and they have a secret.
The Guardians of Light can speak with the dead…

When Mitchell Brooks, the teacher and leader of the group, reveals this unnerving secret to Sky—though this is exactly what she believed she wanted—she learns the organization is rapidly becoming a cult. Now she’s concerned she and her friend Damien will not be permitted to walk away.

Danger and death lurk around every corner…

The campus house, where Sky resides, is haunted, and the spirits have their own agenda. December 21, 2012 threatens the end of the world, and Mitchell and the spirits have special plans in store. They just might bring Sky closer to the afterlife—and possibly beyond—than she ever imagined.

Sky is looking for a connection to the afterlife, but what she finds may be more than she bargained for…because what lies after life is death.

3/5 Stars

***I received this book as a gift in exchange for an honest review via the author

PROS:

• From the beginning of the story, it’s hard to tell what it will become, a cult situation, something paranormal, something ghostly, magical, hexing, who knows. The mystery of The Guardians of the Light propels the story forward, though it’s a fight when nothing much happens, you KNOW something is coming, something dark. There are subtle clues here and there that create a sinister vibe that suggests the Guardians aren’t the love and light community that they seem. The cult atmosphere is gripping and chilling. The way they parrot and how deeply they believe in the Light is enough to scare anyone. 
• Towards the later half of the book, seriously creepy, haunting, and downright terrifying things happen. They’re graphic, grotesque, and will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering if Sky will live to see the end of the book. Read with the lights on…er…or not. 
• Sky’s devotion and conviction are admirable. She just wants to believe in something and get a greater spiritual understanding that will bring her closer to her father. Only in the Guardian group does she feel safe, at home, and like she belongs. It’s her safe haven and that comfort is almost enough for her to overlook their sketchy behavior. Through the companionship she finds with the Guardians, she gains confidence and learns to fight for her beliefs. While she may be misguided, she learns and questions, she takes risks, and opens her mind to the possibilities of the supernatural. 

CONS:

• Pacing is fairly slow. Nothing really happens until well into the story. It almost reads like a diary entry of daily mundane activities. 
• Sky is initially creeped out by The Guardians of the Light, but them becomes obsessed. It’s like a light switch flipped on without any real explanation. The sudden change of heart is hard to understand. The loss of her father is prominent in the story but somehow the reader seems to be looking at it from a distance. Sky is searching for something to help her through her grief and to make her feel closer to the father she lost, but the leap from totally turned off by them to extreme lifestyle change was fast and felt off. Too much too soon. 
• The mean girls, the gossip, the cattiness, the petty jealousy were typical and a distraction that took away from the overall story. The romantic elements were light and sporadic. It’s there, it’s not, it doesn’t feel as authentic or emotional as it could have. It felt like a random insertion instead of something that was building up. The pieces were there, they just weren’t connected. 

If you like any of the following, you’ll enjoy this:

Scary reading,