Clare shared her body with a being that Clare calls Her. Emphasis on past tense there because, due to events we aren't privy to until two-thirds of the way into the book, She was recently exorcised by a local preacher and his son. Clare feels adrift without her closest - only, really - friend, until she finds a message with three clues She left behind. Certain the message will help bring the two of them back together again, Clare works to decipher it, and carry out its instructions, but learns some complicating factors along the way.
Cajoleas frequently flashes back to different point in Clare and Her's friendship, painting a picture of what their relationship was like. How She would sometimes whisk Clare away to a place in her mind to get away from the stress of an unhappy home life, or tell stories or play games together. But She would also sometimes take control of Clare's body and refuse to explain why after. It's a little odd and unsettling, because She often uses the sort of apologetic tone you hear about abuser's using to manipulate their victim afterward. Pleading forgiveness, claiming it was only to protect Clare, that Clare is special. Her Only.
And Clare tends to use that same language and rationalizations herself. That She was Clare's Only. The only one who understood, the only one on her side. Life seems lonely and pointless without Her. But we also see enough of her current life - and some past hardships - to make it clear Clare hasn't really had anyone else in her life she could count on. Her father was an addict, and died from it. Her stepdad is frustrated with how life is going, and Clare's odd behavior makes her an easy target. Her mother is too weak or too much of a mess to make more than a token effort to be there for her daughter. Clare remarks that her mother often seems more concerned with them appearing to be a happy family than anything, because she knows they can't really be one.
And Clare tends to repeat those behaviors. She befriends the preacher's son, but it's because he's part of what she needs to reunite with Her. Clare even grows to like Roy, but it's still a conditional affection. He says something hurtful and she turns away, then uses his guilt against him. Which leaves me feeling like the ending, where it appears Clare and her mother are going to have a stronger bond going forward, feels unearned. Her mother's shift appears largely off the page, and I don't know if we really see enough of a shift in Clare for me to buy that anything has really changed.
There's a bit of a mystery, as Clare steals a box for a strange old woman who may know more about what Clare's after than she lets on. This ends up tying into the history of the town, and some group of people using dark magic to prop themselves up. I think Hide did a much better job fleshing out the thinking of that kind of group out than The Good Demon does, but you could argue the thinking of the group was more of a critical part of that book. What motivates them to throw all these people into, essentially, a wood chipper?
Here, I think it's enough for them to function as a glimpse of a possible future for Clare, depending on what choices she makes. The Paradise Society are an example of what she could be, but they aren't a force or driver of the plot. They don't push at her or try to hinder her; they're only aware of her because she makes a brief attempt to speak with them and is scared enough not to try again. But the end result of that is they feel incidental enough that I'm not sure you really needed them in the story at all. I think there was enough cautionary tales with Miss Mathis, Clea and Kevin.
'I could tell you this was the story of the fourth time She took control over my body, but that would be a lie. I did this. Me and her did it together.'
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