Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and child death.

The difficult decisions that Cassidy Blake must make in the face of moral dilemmas to fulfill her true purpose shape the narrative. As the novel’s proactive protagonist, Cassidy makes things happen rather than merely reacting to the world around her. Thus, the thing that motivates her is what creates the story’s conflicts and moves the plot forward. Since she learned how to reap ghosts—to send them on—from Lara, a sense of purpose motivates her. Fulfilling that purpose requires Cassidy to make many difficult choices as she defines her responsibilities and ethical obligations in the role of ghost hunter. Through the plot’s actions, Cassidy realizes that she must do the right thing to protect those in danger, even if it puts her in morally ambiguous situations. By the novel’s end, she still faces tough choices that she has yet to address, which will propel the plot in the series’ final book. 

Cassidy’s sense of duty to reap ghosts emerges as her central motivation, but the choices that she faces challenge both her sense of purpose and her understanding of responsibility.