Seanan McGuire

When her sister Patty died, Jenna blamed herself. When Jenna died, she blamed herself for that, too. Unfortunately Jenna died too soon. Living or dead, every soul is promised a certain amount of time, and when Jenna passed she found a heavy debt of time in her record. Unwilling to simply steal that time from the living, Jenna earns every day she leeches with volunteer work at a suicide prevention hotline. But something has come for the ghosts of New York, something beyond reason, beyond death, beyond hope; something that can bind ghosts to mirrors and make them do its bidding. Only Jenna stands in its way. Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day is a new standalone urban fantasy novella from New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire.

Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day

Maggie Gordon

Damn... Seriously, damn. There are a few authors who are on my always read pile. That doesn't mean I will always love their work. I've given Seanan McGuire a few low reviews over the years. But this book? This wonderful, beautiful book? Deserves all the stars I can give it and is a fantastic example as to why McGuire is one of my favourite writers. 

Before I go on, I do not talk about this much in the review, but I would like to add a content note for readers that this story revolves around discussions of suicide.

Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day is about ghosts, witches, death, and coming home. Jenna, our protagonist, is dead. She has been dead for almost 50 years at this point. She died after her sister died, except while her sister passed over into whatever comes next, Jenna wasn't supposed to die quite yet, and she needs to earn out her time. In this world, ghosts can take years from living people. The ghosts gets closer to their proper death and the living person gets a gift of youth. Jenna, however, complicates things. She feels guilty for not having seen and intervened in her sister's problems, so she decides to earn her time. And thus her not-quite-death proceeds slowly, while she works at a suicide hotline, until the rest of the ghosts in Manhattan disappear...

So, what did I find so amazing about this book that I had to give it a rare five star rating? Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day is filled with fantastic prose, quiet and weighty, full of weariness, but determination. From the first page, the words carry you through the story in a rush of Americana images and cityscapes. Unlike much of McGuire's other work, this novella isn't full of quips or wittiness. That just isn't Jenna or the crowd she hangs out with. It's subdued, but no less grabbing than the more explosive work McGuire is known for. 

One of the other reasons that Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day stands out is its use of ghosts. Ghosts are horribly underused in fantasy. Usually they are less characters and more plot devices. For McGuire, though, she's created an entire universe of ghosts, with different types tied to different rules. Readers first saw this in the Incryptid series, and Sparrow Hill Road where road ghosts and crossroad ghosts are some of her interesting creations. In Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day, ghosts follow a different set of rules, and fulfill many important roles in the world. But that's all spoilers so I will let you read all about how ghosts are integral to ensuring that cities function :)

McGuire also takes care to really build a sense of place into her stories. These are tales of new American folklore, using the imagery and ideas from a relatively young country to craft fantastical stories of ghosts, witches, and other fun creatures. From cities to fields, where one is from and the unique aspects of these American places are as important to Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day as the characters.

This book is perfectly edited to be a short, but fulfilling story of personal redemption and American mythology. It's a fantastic addition to McGuire's oeuvre, and I desperately hope she continues to write more about her ghosts and witches as they are so uniquely conceptualised.

Olivera Mitić

2.5, but only because the beginning was very strong.

Ben Nathan

I LOVED this story. Really cool idea, beautiful world, quality characters. Usually ghost stories are melodramatic or horror centric. This was neither and extraordinarily pleasant but interesting and fun in a way. Just really well done.

Liz Griffin

Really enjoyed this haunting novelette (I assume it’s a novelette since the audiobook was only 4 hours long). There was some repetition in Jenna’s inner monologue that seemed overdone a couple times, but overall I’m a fan. And now I have to read more by this author!

When her sister Patty died, Jenna blamed herself. When Jenna died, she blamed herself for that, too. Unfortunately Jenna died too soon. Living or dead, every soul is promised a certain amount of time, and when Jenna passed she found a heavy debt of time in her record. Unwilling to simply steal that time from the living, Jenna earns every day she leeches with volunteer work at a suicide prevention hotline. But something has come for the ghosts of New York, something beyond reason, beyond death, beyond hope; something that can bind ghosts to mirrors and make them do its bidding. Only Jenna stands in its way. Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day is a new standalone urban fantasy novella from New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day

Reviews