Format: 241 pages, Kindle Edition
Release Date: September 16, 2025
Publisher: Black Dog Books
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Kierce sacrificed himself to save Frankie, and now it’s her turn to rescue him. Whether he wants her to or not. That means venturing into Abaddon, the land of the dead, and hoping she can locate him within its shadowed depths before Dis Pater notices his favorite toy is missing. But Dis Pater isn’t the only deity she has to fear. Frankie’s father has learned of her journey down to his domain, and he won’t take no for an answer when he welcomes her into his home. As if one MIA parent materializing wasn’t bad enough, her mother arrives with her own emotional baggage in hand. Forget the perils of traversing the underworld. Navigating this family reunion just might be what kills her.
Ride or Die is the 5th and final installment in author Hailey Edwards' The Body Shop series. If you've been riding shotgun with Frankie and her ragtag family of survivors since Fair Market Value, this book is the high-octane payoff you've been craving. For newcomers, it's a solid entry point—though I'd urge starting from the beginning to fully appreciate the layered lore—but be warned: the emotional investment runs deep. At its core, Ride or Die picks up right where Cheater Slicks left us dangling on a knife's edge.
Frankie, the fierce, no-nonsense protagonist who's clawed her way from a childhood in a notorious "house of horrors" to become a force of nature after returning from the dead, and learning that she's not exactly human any longer. Kierce, her enigmatic love interest and reluctant hero, has made a devastating sacrifice to protect her, thrusting Frankie into the treacherous depths of Abaddon—the realm of the dead.
What follows is a high-stakes rescue operation laced with divine interference, as Frankie navigates not just eldritch horrors and godly egos, but the messy, baggage-laden reappearances of her long-lost parents. Here Frankie meets the man who created her, Ithas, a deity of terrifying whims, who demands a family reunion on his terms, while her mother's arrival dredges up old wounds that cut even deeper than any underworld blade. Forget the literal perils of the afterlife; it's the emotional minefield of fractured familial bonds that threatens to unravel Frankie completely.
There's a sense of cosmic scale here, with gods clashing and ancient magics unfurling, but it's grounded in the personal: Frankie's unyielding determination to save those she loves, even when they push her away. The found family dynamic, a thread running through the entire series, shines brightest in this finale, as Frankie's adopted siblings (the wryly named "Mary's" Matty, and Josie) rally with loyalty that's equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, along with Carter, Harrow, and Anunit who has stuck by Frankie's side ever since Frankie agreed to become guardian of bones from the long dead.
Adding Lucia Silva to the story was a good idea. It gave context into Frankie's life and their shared goals align when the time is right to fight for their lives against powerful Gods who want to use Frankie as their pawn. My rating is based on how quickly things wrapped up. I would have loved a bit more of a challenge and less predictability. Also, every character who has been in this series from the first book takes a curtain call. That means Frankie, Kierce, Josie, Carter, Matty, Keisha, Harrow, Aretha, Badb, Jen-Claude, Vi, and Rollo, as well as Pascal, Pedro, Paco, and the Buckley Boys.
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