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Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Horror (2017)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.
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.
182 pages, Paperback
First published January 10, 2017
235 people are currently reading
8269 people want to read
About the author
Seanan McGuire
505 books17.1k followersHi! I'm Seanan McGuire, author of the Toby Daye series (Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses), as well as a lot of other things. I'm also Mira Grant (www.miragrant.com), author of Feed and Deadline.
Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and share my house with two monsters in feline form, Lilly and Alice (Siamese and Maine Coon).
I do not check this inbox. Please don't send me messages through Goodreads; they won't be answered. I don't want to have to delete this account. :(
Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and share my house with two monsters in feline form, Lilly and Alice (Siamese and Maine Coon).
I do not check this inbox. Please don't send me messages through Goodreads; they won't be answered. I don't want to have to delete this account. :(
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 880 reviews
January 25, 2018
(3? 3.5?) One of the strangest book I've read in a while. I was intrigued by the world/magic system but the overall story lacked a little for me to give it a better rating.
I'll continue to read more of her books because they keep surprising me!
I'll continue to read more of her books because they keep surprising me!
July 24, 2019
placeholder review until closer to pub date (<--- or maybe not, b/c i am so disappointing!), but for now:
dammit, i wish i liked urban fantasy.
i've tried a few times, but nothing has clicked for me yet. there's a quote in this book: Magic is real. Once magic is real, nothing is entirely out of the question, which unintentionally sums up my resistance. if "nothing is entirely out of the question," all tension is compromised - anything can be just magically fixed, which lowers the stakes a bit.
which isn't necessarily a complaint i had with this book; it's just a general one for books involving powers and magic.
for a more specific-to-this-book explanation of my refusal-to-love: i can handle witches OR ghosts in my books, but both together is just a little silly. clarify - both together in a "real world" setting is silly. to me. pure fantasy i can handle, but when all those creatures are in "our" world, ... which makes me sound totally racist, right? stick to your own world! there goes the neighborhood! etc etc
and there must be some examples of books i've enjoyed where there's lots of creatures... maybe - Revenge and the Wild?? - but that's not really "our world," is it? and you may say - "well - Every Heart a Doorway is kind of like having a bunch of different "creatures" together, and you were praising that book to the moon and back." which, fair enough, but that was more metaphorical, and more fantasy than this one. this is new york city, in which ghosts and witches commingle with humans, passing for the living, recognizing each other, passing time back and forth, whereas e.h.a.d. is technically our world, but it all takes place at a boarding school for damaged kids who've traveled to fantasy dimensions, which is so far removed from my experiences and what i can see by just looking out the window, that it may as well be pure fantasy.
it's very frustrating for me to not enjoy an entire genre - as a reader and as a readers' advisory person both. not that you have to like all genres to practice RA effectively, but it helps to have read widely across many genres. and i've tried, but it's just not working for me yet.
and it's doubly frustrating because i LOVE mcguire/grant. even though i didn't like this story overall, it's still well-written - it's not as funny as the other stuff of hers i've read, which is a shame, because her sparky sense of humor is one of her draws. it's an original premise - it incorporates traditional ghosty lore, but blends it together with some new stuff to make it into something fresh and new, but it just didn't HIT me. and i still want to read her urban fantasy series, but i'm just a little afraid of not loving them as much as i've loved her zombie/tapeworm/mermaid/Every Heart a Doorway stuff.
still - it's worth reading, and i'll review it properly closer to pub date, but for now - if you enjoy urban fantasy, you'll probably dig this, but if you are flawed like me, maybe read one of her other books, because those are so SHINY in my heart.
come to my blog!
dammit, i wish i liked urban fantasy.
i've tried a few times, but nothing has clicked for me yet. there's a quote in this book: Magic is real. Once magic is real, nothing is entirely out of the question, which unintentionally sums up my resistance. if "nothing is entirely out of the question," all tension is compromised - anything can be just magically fixed, which lowers the stakes a bit.
which isn't necessarily a complaint i had with this book; it's just a general one for books involving powers and magic.
for a more specific-to-this-book explanation of my refusal-to-love: i can handle witches OR ghosts in my books, but both together is just a little silly. clarify - both together in a "real world" setting is silly. to me. pure fantasy i can handle, but when all those creatures are in "our" world, ... which makes me sound totally racist, right? stick to your own world! there goes the neighborhood! etc etc
and there must be some examples of books i've enjoyed where there's lots of creatures... maybe - Revenge and the Wild?? - but that's not really "our world," is it? and you may say - "well - Every Heart a Doorway is kind of like having a bunch of different "creatures" together, and you were praising that book to the moon and back." which, fair enough, but that was more metaphorical, and more fantasy than this one. this is new york city, in which ghosts and witches commingle with humans, passing for the living, recognizing each other, passing time back and forth, whereas e.h.a.d. is technically our world, but it all takes place at a boarding school for damaged kids who've traveled to fantasy dimensions, which is so far removed from my experiences and what i can see by just looking out the window, that it may as well be pure fantasy.
it's very frustrating for me to not enjoy an entire genre - as a reader and as a readers' advisory person both. not that you have to like all genres to practice RA effectively, but it helps to have read widely across many genres. and i've tried, but it's just not working for me yet.
and it's doubly frustrating because i LOVE mcguire/grant. even though i didn't like this story overall, it's still well-written - it's not as funny as the other stuff of hers i've read, which is a shame, because her sparky sense of humor is one of her draws. it's an original premise - it incorporates traditional ghosty lore, but blends it together with some new stuff to make it into something fresh and new, but it just didn't HIT me. and i still want to read her urban fantasy series, but i'm just a little afraid of not loving them as much as i've loved her zombie/tapeworm/mermaid/Every Heart a Doorway stuff.
still - it's worth reading, and i'll review it properly closer to pub date, but for now - if you enjoy urban fantasy, you'll probably dig this, but if you are flawed like me, maybe read one of her other books, because those are so SHINY in my heart.
come to my blog!
August 29, 2018
3.5 stars. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day is a beautifully-told but slightly illogical novella about ghosts who can’t ― or won’t ― yet pass on, some of the surprising powers ghosts have over humans, and the fearful powers that human witches have over the ghosts. But on a deeper level it’s about those who are unseen and homeless, and about the power of love and of finding inner peace.
In 1972, Jenna dies in Mill Hollow, Kentucky as a young woman. Distraught over the suicide of her sister Patty, she runs into a stormy night in her nightgown and straight into a tragedy. Because Jenna died before her time, her spirit lingers on earth, eventually making its way to New York City where Patty had died. Since in this world, as imagined by Seanan McGuire, ghosts can be tangible at will during the day and pass as human, Jenna spends her days waitressing in a coffee shop and her nights as a suicide hotline volunteer.
Ghosts who die before their time are able to catch up to their fated time of death by touching living people and taking some of their time, leaving the human younger and fresher and the ghost closer to its fated time of death, when it can pass on to the other side. But Jenna feels such a huge burden of guilt over her failure to prevent Patty’s suicide that she’s not willing to take time from humans unless she’s “earned” it by helping suicidal people regain the will to live. Then one day Jenna realizes that almost all of the other ghosts in NYC have disappeared, and her home town of Mill Hollow seems to hold the answer.
Seanan McGuire does some nice world-building in this novel. In addition to the ghosts and the rules that both empower and bind them, there are humans with the power to see and even control ghosts: street witches, corn witches, water witches, and more. McGuire also weaves in some old superstitions about ghosts, like the need to cover a mirror used by a person who has died, lest their spirit kill the next person who looks in the mirror.
My biggest problem with Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day is that the internal logic of the story doesn’t hold water for me. There are too many coincidences and events that don’t really make sense to me, even within the context of the tale. The stealing and giving of time by ghosts never made logical sense to me, particularly in the way it works at the end of the story. And more questions: why would someone purposely kill another person before his or her time if they aren’t then taking steps to capture the ghost? I never saw an answer to this; it’s a stray plot thread that raises what seems to be a significant question, but then never leads anywhere. That last item really made no sense to me at all, and was important enough to the plot to create a major needle scratch in my reading enjoyment.
If you’re not overly fussy about the internal logic of a fantasy tale, there’s much to appreciate in Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day. Though this novella lacks the wry humor of what I view as her best work, McGuire’s writing here is evocative ― even poetic at times ― and insightful. She appreciates the people who go unnoticed and unappreciated by the masses, and that’s a needed reminder to our sometimes thoughtless world.
July 28, 2017
3.5ish stars
Another (too) short but sweet tale set in a unique, urban fantasy setting from a wonderful storyteller.
I think Seanan McGuire's greatest strength is her imagination and it's apparent in the worlds she creates. This novella is further evidence of that. In less than 200 pages she builds an interesting world of ghosts and witches with unique sets of abilities inhabiting Manhattan.
Unfortunately that's also this book's greatest weakness. In less than 200 pages she's busy building her world which only leaves like 20 or 30 pages of actual story. She somehow found a way to pull this off in the just-as-short Every Heart a Doorway, but seems to spend more time than necessary here on world-building and exposition leaving very little time for conflict or plot. There's a much bigger story that could have been told and it feels like a missed opportunity.
Other strengths: I don't usually love first person present viewpoint but in this case I feel like it helps us to understand and sympathize with our heroine, Jenna. She's an interesting, likeable, albeit dead (literally, not a criticism) character and the majority of the book is spent in thoughtful soliloquy reminiscing on past lives, present conflicts, and future wishes. As is typical of McGuire the prose is lovely. However, there's not a lot of the humor one might expect from her. This is a bit darker in tone and subject matter, but it's handled well and ends in a good place. If you like McGuire and/or UF with a tinge of dark and weird you'll probably enjoy this.
Another (too) short but sweet tale set in a unique, urban fantasy setting from a wonderful storyteller.
I think Seanan McGuire's greatest strength is her imagination and it's apparent in the worlds she creates. This novella is further evidence of that. In less than 200 pages she builds an interesting world of ghosts and witches with unique sets of abilities inhabiting Manhattan.
Unfortunately that's also this book's greatest weakness. In less than 200 pages she's busy building her world which only leaves like 20 or 30 pages of actual story. She somehow found a way to pull this off in the just-as-short Every Heart a Doorway, but seems to spend more time than necessary here on world-building and exposition leaving very little time for conflict or plot. There's a much bigger story that could have been told and it feels like a missed opportunity.
Other strengths: I don't usually love first person present viewpoint but in this case I feel like it helps us to understand and sympathize with our heroine, Jenna. She's an interesting, likeable, albeit dead (literally, not a criticism) character and the majority of the book is spent in thoughtful soliloquy reminiscing on past lives, present conflicts, and future wishes. As is typical of McGuire the prose is lovely. However, there's not a lot of the humor one might expect from her. This is a bit darker in tone and subject matter, but it's handled well and ends in a good place. If you like McGuire and/or UF with a tinge of dark and weird you'll probably enjoy this.
April 9, 2017
So. A ghost who suicided is forced to work as an operator at a suicide help hotline. Sounds like a neat setup for a joke, right?
Partially. The thing is, this UF is a ghost story where the ghost is just trying to get by, dealing in the coin that only she and her ghostly friends can spend... Time. Time and Ghosts. I guess Alan Moore has it right that we become creatures of the fourth dimension after we die! :) Or something. :)
But even though this is a pretty cool UF setup and I love the idea, we've also got witches. All kinds of witches. Corn witches, Water witches... and of course they prey on the ghosts and the power struggle can become quite predatory in that the poor ghosts can be trapped in mirrors.
Also cool.
It reminds me a damn lot of Angela Slatter's great fantasy stories, only a bit more accessible and mainstream.
The personal small-town nostalgia is nearly as heavy as the pathos of the main emotional arc, and I'll be honest... I probably would have enjoyed this more as a full novel with a longer, more developed end. Maybe not as a series, despite Seanan's proclivity with writing great series, but as a straight novel, I think this could have been a lot more solid and satisfying.
As it is, I'm just fine with the end, I just think it might have been a tad less easy. :)
Still, Seanan's a great writer, no doubting this!
Partially. The thing is, this UF is a ghost story where the ghost is just trying to get by, dealing in the coin that only she and her ghostly friends can spend... Time. Time and Ghosts. I guess Alan Moore has it right that we become creatures of the fourth dimension after we die! :) Or something. :)
But even though this is a pretty cool UF setup and I love the idea, we've also got witches. All kinds of witches. Corn witches, Water witches... and of course they prey on the ghosts and the power struggle can become quite predatory in that the poor ghosts can be trapped in mirrors.
Also cool.
It reminds me a damn lot of Angela Slatter's great fantasy stories, only a bit more accessible and mainstream.
The personal small-town nostalgia is nearly as heavy as the pathos of the main emotional arc, and I'll be honest... I probably would have enjoyed this more as a full novel with a longer, more developed end. Maybe not as a series, despite Seanan's proclivity with writing great series, but as a straight novel, I think this could have been a lot more solid and satisfying.
As it is, I'm just fine with the end, I just think it might have been a tad less easy. :)
Still, Seanan's a great writer, no doubting this!
September 6, 2018
The world is full of stories, and no matter how much time we spend in it—alive or dead—there’s never time to learn them all. They just go by so quickly.
Seanan McGuire has a talent for finding hope in the darkest of places; in this case, death. Behind its mystery front story, this novella is a study in the family you find and in finding hope in death. Dusk or Dawn or Dark or Day is a compelling mystery about the disappearance of ghosts in New York, but honestly, what stands out here is the next-level worldbuilding, theme work, and character work.
Honestly, my feelings on this are very similar to my feelings on McGuire's earlier Every Heart a Doorway. Her worldbuilding is stellar. The idea of a city full of ghosts is brilliant, and the execution is even more detailed and clever; the ghosts age by taking life from others, and can give ti back, too, which is interesting. I'd love to read more from this verse.
Her writing and theme work is also a standout. There's a lot of content here focusing around the death of kindness in our current age, and the sadness of aging in a world that seems to have left you behind. Yet the book also never becomes a session of look-how-terrible-technology-is; the concept is touched upon, but this story is no PSA.
As is also typical, I liked the characters. I think McGuire is quite good at making her audience care about characters in a very brief amount of time and without too much description. With a vast and intriguing cast of side characters, this story feels as if it could really be taking place with this exact cast.
And, as is typical - YET AGAIN - I thought it could've gone deeper. There's so much great here, but if the ending had done just a little more - the themes come closer to the surface, the fascinating worldbuilding get more exploration, the character development take full precedence - this could've been a five. But despite my lack of full adoration, this was great, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a creepy and quick read.
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February 7, 2017
Read with my lovely Wednesday UF read group at
3.5 Dark Start Stars
I normally don’t give warnings for books but I feel like this one might need one.
Warning: This book touches on death and suicide. If these are trigger points for you then maybe skip it. But if you are up for a darker read than most of Seanen McGuire’s other works then give it a try.
The beginning of this is pretty dark. Jenna has just lost her sister to suicide only to right after get caught in a storm and die too. --Not really a spoiler since that all happens in the first 10 pages. Now in her death she volunteers her time at a suicide hotline as her own form of penance to her sister.
As always I love Seanan McGuire’s (SM) writing style and her very interesting reimagining of the world we live in. She does a fantastic job of building a world with Ghosts and Witches in it in a very short time. I think that she is brilliant in the ways she interweaves the details of this world into the story without ever making it seem like it is an infodump and yet I get all of the great details I love in a book.
This is my least favorite of all SMs book I’ve read and I think that is because it is darker and the beginning was a bit depressing. But I will say that once we get to Jenna trying to figure out what happened to all the other ghosts in Manhattan when they go missing the flow and feel of the story changes significantly and it is much less deep than the beginning.
The ending was also really great and the best that it could have turned out for Jenna. I wouldn’t mind a spin off story about one of the Witches in this tale. She (I don’t want to spoil who she was in the story) was so interesting and I think SM could make up a fantastic tale based on the type of very unusual witch she is.
My Recommendation:
This isn’t a very long story so save it for a day when you can handle or want something a little on the dark side. I get in those moods and then this probably would have been a better read for me.
3.5 Dark Start Stars
I normally don’t give warnings for books but I feel like this one might need one.
Warning: This book touches on death and suicide. If these are trigger points for you then maybe skip it. But if you are up for a darker read than most of Seanen McGuire’s other works then give it a try.
The beginning of this is pretty dark. Jenna has just lost her sister to suicide only to right after get caught in a storm and die too. --Not really a spoiler since that all happens in the first 10 pages. Now in her death she volunteers her time at a suicide hotline as her own form of penance to her sister.
As always I love Seanan McGuire’s (SM) writing style and her very interesting reimagining of the world we live in. She does a fantastic job of building a world with Ghosts and Witches in it in a very short time. I think that she is brilliant in the ways she interweaves the details of this world into the story without ever making it seem like it is an infodump and yet I get all of the great details I love in a book.
This is my least favorite of all SMs book I’ve read and I think that is because it is darker and the beginning was a bit depressing. But I will say that once we get to Jenna trying to figure out what happened to all the other ghosts in Manhattan when they go missing the flow and feel of the story changes significantly and it is much less deep than the beginning.
The ending was also really great and the best that it could have turned out for Jenna. I wouldn’t mind a spin off story about one of the Witches in this tale. She (I don’t want to spoil who she was in the story) was so interesting and I think SM could make up a fantastic tale based on the type of very unusual witch she is.
My Recommendation:
This isn’t a very long story so save it for a day when you can handle or want something a little on the dark side. I get in those moods and then this probably would have been a better read for me.
February 27, 2020
3.5 stars
This is a study of time, of loss, of what it means to be alive. The older, sadder, and less innately magical version of Every Heart a Doorway but no less beautiful for it.
Concept: ★★★★
Pacing: ★★★★
Plot: ★★ 1/2
Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day. What a title. What a concept. What a (quiet) ride.
Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day continues on the thread that Seanan McGuire explores in many of here novels and novellas: the concept of time, and what it means for the human experience. For Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day, this was explored through the theme of ghosts. These ghosts aren't the usual hauntings—they interact with the world, they have jobs, they can touch you. They're basically humans, but they don't "age" traditionally. Ghosts are individuals who have died before their natural death date, and spend much of their ghostly day-to-day lives attempting to take/give time from the living in order to amass more age on themselves to achieve their natural death "age."
Jenna is a ghost of a girl who died in 1971 in a small Kentucky town. She's been running ever since, and has gone to ground in New York City, the place where the living and the dead live on top of each other in the city that never dies, never sleeps. The poetic nuances made between the idea of ghosts and the atmosphere of New York City are one of shining points of the story. It makes me wonder if a visit to the city prompted the concept.
The ghosts in New York City start disappearing, and it's up to Jenna, her ghostly landlady, and a corn witch to discover the truth. I was expecting to want the perennial "more" that I feel at the end of every McGuire novella, but for Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day it was not necessary—the perfect length, the perfect arc for this quiet tale.
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This is a study of time, of loss, of what it means to be alive. The older, sadder, and less innately magical version of Every Heart a Doorway but no less beautiful for it.
Concept: ★★★★
Pacing: ★★★★
Plot: ★★ 1/2
Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day. What a title. What a concept. What a (quiet) ride.
Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day continues on the thread that Seanan McGuire explores in many of here novels and novellas: the concept of time, and what it means for the human experience. For Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day, this was explored through the theme of ghosts. These ghosts aren't the usual hauntings—they interact with the world, they have jobs, they can touch you. They're basically humans, but they don't "age" traditionally. Ghosts are individuals who have died before their natural death date, and spend much of their ghostly day-to-day lives attempting to take/give time from the living in order to amass more age on themselves to achieve their natural death "age."
Jenna is a ghost of a girl who died in 1971 in a small Kentucky town. She's been running ever since, and has gone to ground in New York City, the place where the living and the dead live on top of each other in the city that never dies, never sleeps. The poetic nuances made between the idea of ghosts and the atmosphere of New York City are one of shining points of the story. It makes me wonder if a visit to the city prompted the concept.
The ghosts in New York City start disappearing, and it's up to Jenna, her ghostly landlady, and a corn witch to discover the truth. I was expecting to want the perennial "more" that I feel at the end of every McGuire novella, but for Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day it was not necessary—the perfect length, the perfect arc for this quiet tale.
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February 17, 2017
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2017/02/16/...
This book isn’t your typical ghost story. While it includes a significant number of urban fantasy elements, there is also a darkly profound, rather despairing thread running beneath its surface. Thematically it is also on the weightier side, dealing with topics like suicide, survivor guilt, and emotional trauma. Fans of Seanan McGuire are still going to love her engaging storytelling style and loveable characters, but if you’re used to more offbeat and quirkier UF, I think this one may leave you with a heavier heart.
The story begins with the funeral of Jenna’s older sister Patty, who left for New York City with big dreams but ended up taking her own life instead. Grieving with the loss and blaming herself, a stricken Jenna runs off into the night during a bad rainstorm and tragically slips into the river, drowning in the raging current.
Because Jenna’s death was an accident, however, she died too soon according to a ledger of cosmic checks and balances which states a person’s soul cannot pass on until they have served their full time on the mortal plane. When Jenna died, she found quite a hefty debt still on her record, so like everyone else before her who died before their time, she became a ghost and must remain among the living until that balance is repaid.
Fast forward forty years, and Jenna is living in New York City leeching off a little bit of her debt each day on living strangers, with every minute she gives being another minute added to their youth. However, because Jenna sees “time left” as a form of currency, her gift of life in fact becomes an act of theft in her eyes. In order to earn back what she has stolen, Jenna also volunteers at a suicide prevent hotline trying to save others from Patty’s fate, hoping that when her time finally does come she will rejoin her beloved sister with a clean balance and conscience.
This is probably my third or fourth foray into McGuire’s work, and while overall I have enjoyed her books, I confess thus far I’m still waiting for “the one” which would blow me away. I started Dusk or Dark of Dawn or Day with the hopes that this would be it, but ultimately there was just something about it that didn’t quite click for me. Like I said, this is a story with some heavy, tragic themes to it, so it might simply be a case of the wrong book at the wrong time. Admittedly, the whole thing left me feeling kind of worn and heartsick by the end of it, even though I was hooked by the intro with its fascinating look into this world of ghosts and their concept of “time owed”.
Looking at this from another angle though, it clearly speaks well of the author that she can so successfully convey emotional impact with her writing and portrayal of her characters. My personal reaction to this novella aside, I can recognize a good story when I see one, and this has all the elements of an engaging tale full of imagination and feeling. Jenna is a narrator with a unique perspective, yet the care and attention to detail paid to her backstory makes it easy to sympathize with her decisions when all around her are other ghosts that do not share her same views or values. She’s a genuinely good character who not only extends her kindness to people in need as evidenced by her goal to rescue as many aging cats from shelters as possible, giving them love and a comfortable place to live out their final days. Death is a theme that infuses every page, but sometimes its oppressive presence is lightened with compassion and scenes like that.
The ideas in this book are also mind-bogglingly original. It took me some time to wrap my head around ghosts and their ability to give and take time, but I eventually came to appreciate the ingenuity behind the concept. As well, McGuire paints an interesting picture for her ghosts’ existence, linking them to special relationships with mirrors and witches. For a novella, the world-building is surprisingly robust.
Ultimately, I feel the ending could have been handled better, but since I can’t elaborate without giving away details, I’ll just say that it didn’t come across as eloquent or consistent as the rest of the story. That said, there is no shortage of feeling, and at the end of the day I think the conclusion manages to achieve its desired impact. If this book sounds like something that might interest you, I highly recommend giving it a try.
This book isn’t your typical ghost story. While it includes a significant number of urban fantasy elements, there is also a darkly profound, rather despairing thread running beneath its surface. Thematically it is also on the weightier side, dealing with topics like suicide, survivor guilt, and emotional trauma. Fans of Seanan McGuire are still going to love her engaging storytelling style and loveable characters, but if you’re used to more offbeat and quirkier UF, I think this one may leave you with a heavier heart.
The story begins with the funeral of Jenna’s older sister Patty, who left for New York City with big dreams but ended up taking her own life instead. Grieving with the loss and blaming herself, a stricken Jenna runs off into the night during a bad rainstorm and tragically slips into the river, drowning in the raging current.
Because Jenna’s death was an accident, however, she died too soon according to a ledger of cosmic checks and balances which states a person’s soul cannot pass on until they have served their full time on the mortal plane. When Jenna died, she found quite a hefty debt still on her record, so like everyone else before her who died before their time, she became a ghost and must remain among the living until that balance is repaid.
Fast forward forty years, and Jenna is living in New York City leeching off a little bit of her debt each day on living strangers, with every minute she gives being another minute added to their youth. However, because Jenna sees “time left” as a form of currency, her gift of life in fact becomes an act of theft in her eyes. In order to earn back what she has stolen, Jenna also volunteers at a suicide prevent hotline trying to save others from Patty’s fate, hoping that when her time finally does come she will rejoin her beloved sister with a clean balance and conscience.
This is probably my third or fourth foray into McGuire’s work, and while overall I have enjoyed her books, I confess thus far I’m still waiting for “the one” which would blow me away. I started Dusk or Dark of Dawn or Day with the hopes that this would be it, but ultimately there was just something about it that didn’t quite click for me. Like I said, this is a story with some heavy, tragic themes to it, so it might simply be a case of the wrong book at the wrong time. Admittedly, the whole thing left me feeling kind of worn and heartsick by the end of it, even though I was hooked by the intro with its fascinating look into this world of ghosts and their concept of “time owed”.
Looking at this from another angle though, it clearly speaks well of the author that she can so successfully convey emotional impact with her writing and portrayal of her characters. My personal reaction to this novella aside, I can recognize a good story when I see one, and this has all the elements of an engaging tale full of imagination and feeling. Jenna is a narrator with a unique perspective, yet the care and attention to detail paid to her backstory makes it easy to sympathize with her decisions when all around her are other ghosts that do not share her same views or values. She’s a genuinely good character who not only extends her kindness to people in need as evidenced by her goal to rescue as many aging cats from shelters as possible, giving them love and a comfortable place to live out their final days. Death is a theme that infuses every page, but sometimes its oppressive presence is lightened with compassion and scenes like that.
The ideas in this book are also mind-bogglingly original. It took me some time to wrap my head around ghosts and their ability to give and take time, but I eventually came to appreciate the ingenuity behind the concept. As well, McGuire paints an interesting picture for her ghosts’ existence, linking them to special relationships with mirrors and witches. For a novella, the world-building is surprisingly robust.
Ultimately, I feel the ending could have been handled better, but since I can’t elaborate without giving away details, I’ll just say that it didn’t come across as eloquent or consistent as the rest of the story. That said, there is no shortage of feeling, and at the end of the day I think the conclusion manages to achieve its desired impact. If this book sounds like something that might interest you, I highly recommend giving it a try.
February 12, 2018
I only discovered after I finished this book that the author also writes as Mira Grant and that I have already enjoyed one of her books, Feed. I meant to follow up on her other books but forgot. I will now!
Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day is an entertaining little book about ghosts and witches, both of which are depicted in rather different ways than the norm. The main character, Jenna, is a ghost who works on a suicide help line and keeps cats. Definitely not your usual ghost.
There is some interesting stuff about giving and taking time, a pretty good story about ghosts disappearing when they shouldn't and a satisfying little ending. All very enjoyable and recommended to readers who like their ghosts less than horrific.
Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day is an entertaining little book about ghosts and witches, both of which are depicted in rather different ways than the norm. The main character, Jenna, is a ghost who works on a suicide help line and keeps cats. Definitely not your usual ghost.
There is some interesting stuff about giving and taking time, a pretty good story about ghosts disappearing when they shouldn't and a satisfying little ending. All very enjoyable and recommended to readers who like their ghosts less than horrific.
February 6, 2017
You can always trust Seanan McGuire to give you a great story. I loved the dedication in this one, and I think this novella was further evidence of Seanan's ability to weave a story, no matter the length, into a masterpiece.
April 11, 2019
OMG you guys.... I finished a book!!! I ACTUALLY FINISHED AN ENTIRE BOOK!!! 😲😲😲 This is the first book I've read since being released from the hospital and I couldn't be happier!!!!
This book was the epitome of short and sweet. It had horror elements but was not scary at all. Perfect for a quick read for anyone who enjoys dark fantasy.
🖤🖤🖤👻🖤🖤🖤
This book was the epitome of short and sweet. It had horror elements but was not scary at all. Perfect for a quick read for anyone who enjoys dark fantasy.
🖤🖤🖤👻🖤🖤🖤
November 30, 2018
Every bit as bizarre in narrative and unique in concept as McGuire's Wayward Children series, but lacking the whimsy I so loved in the latter.
April 8, 2017
A interesting ghost story, but I had a bit of trouble connecting and feeling engaged with the characters. The pacing also felt a bit too end loaded for me. I liked the premise for the main conflict, although once the action started to resolve it, everything was over pretty quickly.
Overall, I liked the ideas in the story more than how they were actually executed.
Overall, I liked the ideas in the story more than how they were actually executed.
February 6, 2017
Usually I love Seanan McGuire's book. She's an amazing author and her writing is incredible. This book, however, was the exception to the rule. It's not a bad book, it just leaves you drained. That feeling is the reason why it took me so long to both read it and then put my thoughts in any semblance of order.
This is a dark book, one that deals with suicide and how much it taxes the people closest to the person that took that way out of life. Maybe that wasn't the point of the book, because the majority dealt with a fairly standard mystery, but it was the thing that made the biggest impression on me. Life is valuable and I can appreciate that now even more following a bad result from routine doctor's check up. During the time it took for the doctors to figure out if indeed I had what the initial results indicated, I not only realised how much more I want to do with my life but also that I've touched so many other lives. And that it would be those people who would have the hardest time if I was indeed sick. So the beginning of this book put me in a frame of mind that I was trying to avoid for months and it felt like a solid punch to the gut. At more than one point I felt overwhelmed and wanted to just give this book up. But it also prompted me to call my friends, tell them how much I love and appreciate them, get up and give my parents and grandmother a hug. small things but important because you're never sure when you're time will be up and if you'll ever have the chance to do them again.
This is a dark book, one that deals with suicide and how much it taxes the people closest to the person that took that way out of life. Maybe that wasn't the point of the book, because the majority dealt with a fairly standard mystery, but it was the thing that made the biggest impression on me. Life is valuable and I can appreciate that now even more following a bad result from routine doctor's check up. During the time it took for the doctors to figure out if indeed I had what the initial results indicated, I not only realised how much more I want to do with my life but also that I've touched so many other lives. And that it would be those people who would have the hardest time if I was indeed sick. So the beginning of this book put me in a frame of mind that I was trying to avoid for months and it felt like a solid punch to the gut. At more than one point I felt overwhelmed and wanted to just give this book up. But it also prompted me to call my friends, tell them how much I love and appreciate them, get up and give my parents and grandmother a hug. small things but important because you're never sure when you're time will be up and if you'll ever have the chance to do them again.
April 23, 2017
I thought this was a reasonably entertaining tale of ghosts and witches, with a bittersweet edge to it. Like others though, I found it seemed a bit too short for the story it was trying to tell, so that it had an underdeveloped feel somehow. Good, but not amazing.
January 30, 2017
Forty years ago Jenna’s sister Patty, who moved away to New York committed suicide and Jenna was so distraught about her beloved sister that she tragically died soon after. And ever since she’s tried to atone for not seeing her sister’s pain, working at a suicide prevention hotline, and hoping that she can accumulate enough time and repay enough debt to one day see her sister again.
But when the ghosts of New York starts disappearing, evil preying upon them, Jenna is the only one who can help.
I like to think that when I finally catch up to my time—whatever age that is—and move on to wherever Patty is waiting for me, she’ll be proud. She’ll see I did the best I could.
She’ll see how much I love her.
Suicide is always such a difficult subject to touch upon, and it was so very sad to read about it in this book. My heart hurt for Jenna and her parents, and later for the people Jenna tried to help.
I did find the fact that ghosts could take years from the living to increase their own age, like Jenna who died very young, very interesting and the plot regarding all the ghost from New York that has gone missing and who was taking them was quite captivating.
Seanan McGuire has a gift for tugging on your heartstrings, and just like Sparrow Hill Road this book had its dark and heartbreaking moments. I’m really not a fan of reading such depressing and tragic books and I really hope our next Wednesday buddy read won’t be so dark and sad.
April 2, 2017
"The world is full of stories, and no matter how much time we spend in it — alive or dead — there’s never time to learn them all."
McGuire's writing style is again beautiful and haunting - and that first chapter!
She offers us a ghost story with a difference, full of detail and pathos. I loved discovering how she re-though the dynamics between humans, ghosts and witches. It is a fascinating and rich world. As for Jenna's journey of redemption, it stays with you. I just wish this was longer...
McGuire's writing style is again beautiful and haunting - and that first chapter!
She offers us a ghost story with a difference, full of detail and pathos. I loved discovering how she re-though the dynamics between humans, ghosts and witches. It is a fascinating and rich world. As for Jenna's journey of redemption, it stays with you. I just wish this was longer...
August 22, 2017
I love love loved the premise of this book, but unlike with Seanan McGuire's other books, I feel like this was too short for me to connect to the characters. I think I would have liked this more if it was a little longer so I could spend more time getting to know the characters instead of spending all my time trying to understand the world.
June 29, 2017
First thoughts: lovely and touching. Witches and ghosts, loss, responsibility and sadness.
November 9, 2016
So this book pretty much sealed the deal for me with Seanan McGuire. I know I've read the first two her her Incryptid series and enjoyed them, but after reading "Every Heart a Doorway" earlier this year and "Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day" now, I think I'm going to have to devour everything this woman writes - and that's a lot of books because doesn't she write as Mira Grant as well?
This book is just beautiful and similar to "Every Heart a Doorway," McGuire takes an urban fantasy theme and makes it somehow become so much more and touch your heart. "Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day" tells the story of Jenna, who accidentally dies as a teen following her sister's death. However, Jenna's death was a tragedy whereas her sister's was all part of the plan, and she is left haunting the earth in New York City. McGuire has captured such an interesting concept with her ghosts. People who die before their "scheduled" times are doomed to haunt the world. They can "steal" time from individuals until they internally age to the point where they would have died if things has played out as charted, and they are also able to give time to other people to extend their time haunting. Jenna wants to move on and meet her sister, but she is depressed and has specific methods in which she feels stealing time from others is acceptable. All of a sudden, Jenna learns that many of the ghosts in her city are disappearing. She and her acquaintances, for Jenna really has few true friends, start to unravel the mystery and eventually learn what is happening.
While a relatively short book, it sure packs a punch. There are a variety of interesting characters and the subject matter clearly takes aim at loss, depression and moving on. I was totally absorbed by the story and hated for it to end. If you want an urban fantasy that contains so much more, or if you love ghost stories, this book is definitely for you!
This book is just beautiful and similar to "Every Heart a Doorway," McGuire takes an urban fantasy theme and makes it somehow become so much more and touch your heart. "Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day" tells the story of Jenna, who accidentally dies as a teen following her sister's death. However, Jenna's death was a tragedy whereas her sister's was all part of the plan, and she is left haunting the earth in New York City. McGuire has captured such an interesting concept with her ghosts. People who die before their "scheduled" times are doomed to haunt the world. They can "steal" time from individuals until they internally age to the point where they would have died if things has played out as charted, and they are also able to give time to other people to extend their time haunting. Jenna wants to move on and meet her sister, but she is depressed and has specific methods in which she feels stealing time from others is acceptable. All of a sudden, Jenna learns that many of the ghosts in her city are disappearing. She and her acquaintances, for Jenna really has few true friends, start to unravel the mystery and eventually learn what is happening.
While a relatively short book, it sure packs a punch. There are a variety of interesting characters and the subject matter clearly takes aim at loss, depression and moving on. I was totally absorbed by the story and hated for it to end. If you want an urban fantasy that contains so much more, or if you love ghost stories, this book is definitely for you!
April 7, 2017
Seanan loves her ghost stories.
Jenna lives a solitary life, working by day in a coffee shop and by night as a suicide hotline counselor. Her day job pays her bills and her night job earns her the minutes of life that will move her ghostly existence further towards her eternal rest. But then she receives a warning from a friend that all the other ghosts of New York have suddenly disappeared.
Jenna is a deeply sympathetic individual with a sad story, and a sadder existence, with a way of moving forward that's brave and a bit wonderful. Her story is complete with this book, but I'd love to read more about the witches and ghosts of New York.
Jenna lives a solitary life, working by day in a coffee shop and by night as a suicide hotline counselor. Her day job pays her bills and her night job earns her the minutes of life that will move her ghostly existence further towards her eternal rest. But then she receives a warning from a friend that all the other ghosts of New York have suddenly disappeared.
Jenna is a deeply sympathetic individual with a sad story, and a sadder existence, with a way of moving forward that's brave and a bit wonderful. Her story is complete with this book, but I'd love to read more about the witches and ghosts of New York.
February 6, 2017
This is a short story and I thought about abandoning it several times. Instead of giving the reader a good ghost story, McGuire spends most of the time explaining how her ghost world works. For all the explaining she did, I still couldn't grasp her ghost/time concept.
February 6, 2017
I never left, not in body, not in bone. Dusk or dark or dawn or day, I've been here the whole time.
one of the biggest releases of last year was seanan mcguire's every heart a doorway. everyone was reading it, everyone was talking about it, and it showed up on a bunch of 2016 favorites list. i read it, liked it enough, but it didn't impress me that much.
this novella, however. this was everything i was expecting her other book would've been for me.
the plot of this is pretty simple - the ghosts of new york start disappearing, and a ghost named jenna needs to figure out what's going on before whatever has happened to them happens to her as well.
jenna died on a during a storm some 40 years ago. ever since then, she's been working at a suicide center in new york, slowly earning the time she needs to reach the age she was supposed to leave earth. i don't know if i made a lot of sense, but the basic worldbuilding is this: everyone has a defined time as a living being, and if they die before that allotted time, they come back as ghosts and need to take that time - and they can do that by touching the living. when ghosts touch humans they give them as many days, months or years as they want. the humans get some extra time and the ghosts get a step closer to their due date.
anyway, all of that is better explained in the story. the ghost lore mcguire creates is honestly amazing. i'd never read a story before that focused solely on ghosts and i was eating this one up.
also, the writing was PHENOMENAL. jenna makes a lot of social commentary about the way people deal with relationships in the era of modern technology, the way kindness has become a rarity, and it was just so beautifully written. it was a quiet writing, if that makes sense; the kind that sneaks up on you, filled with beauty in its tiny corners.
i loved this. it was quick, lovely and it affected me in a way that i wasn't expecting. please please please pick this up if you need a fast but beautiful read. you won't be disappointed.
February 13, 2018
4.5 stars
McGuire's short novel has one of the most remarkably powerful openings I've read. Even though it is the prologue, I don't want to spoil it for those that haven't read it.
Once into the novel proper she builds her world - a New York full of ghosts - with consummate skill. The she spans myth and fairy tale and realism brought to mind Charles de Lint, and there can be no greater praise. (Seriously. If you haven't read him I am not saying he's one of the greatest fantasy writers in the English language, I'm saying he is one of the greatest writers in the English language)
McGuire wonderfully sketches a small ensemble (almost entirely female) cast, and introduces rules for her spectres and magic that draw from folklore and work perfectly well internally - but did leave me wondering somewhat about the wider implications
The only other issue I have is that, despite the power of the prologue and opening chapter, the depiction of the passage to an afterlife did rather take away death's sting, although perhaps that's an inevitable problem with this type of ghost story.
All in all, a gorgeous gem of a book.
McGuire's short novel has one of the most remarkably powerful openings I've read. Even though it is the prologue, I don't want to spoil it for those that haven't read it.
Once into the novel proper she builds her world - a New York full of ghosts - with consummate skill. The she spans myth and fairy tale and realism brought to mind Charles de Lint, and there can be no greater praise. (Seriously. If you haven't read him I am not saying he's one of the greatest fantasy writers in the English language, I'm saying he is one of the greatest writers in the English language)
McGuire wonderfully sketches a small ensemble (almost entirely female) cast, and introduces rules for her spectres and magic that draw from folklore and work perfectly well internally - but did leave me wondering somewhat about the wider implications
The only other issue I have is that, despite the power of the prologue and opening chapter, the depiction of the passage to an afterlife did rather take away death's sting, although perhaps that's an inevitable problem with this type of ghost story.
All in all, a gorgeous gem of a book.
May 30, 2019
4.25/5stars
GUYS. THIS novella is 100% better than the doorway novellas by this author like holy crap why are those the things that blew up by McGuire?? THIS novella is GREAT it was so unique and she truly made me feel a lot for these characters in such a short amount of time. Her world building was also better in this less than 200 pages than some 400+ paged fantasy novels. Really enjoyed this, and its such a quick audio read!!
GUYS. THIS novella is 100% better than the doorway novellas by this author like holy crap why are those the things that blew up by McGuire?? THIS novella is GREAT it was so unique and she truly made me feel a lot for these characters in such a short amount of time. Her world building was also better in this less than 200 pages than some 400+ paged fantasy novels. Really enjoyed this, and its such a quick audio read!!
July 3, 2018
3.5 stars.
I read this novella just because of the title. I had no idea what this was about, but I trust Tor.com novellas to be, if not always great, at least always interesting.
And it was, but I have to say that I thought this was going to be a horror book, and it's not creepy at all. It's a ghost story about grief, growing old and letting go.
The main character of this book is the ghost of a girl who died by suicide in 1972, and she's now a grown ghost who works at a suicide hotline. She also keeps old cats left behind in her home so that they have a comfortable place to live in during their last months.
I really liked her, but the story was too short for me to get attached to the main character and too long for its actual plot. There are many good ideas here, but not much happens, and I wanted more creepy things happening in a world where there are rat witches, corn witches and ghosts.
It's a solid story, but I feel like it could have done more with its premise, or that it could have been shorter.
Also, I like Seanan McGuire's writing most of the time, but she has a problem with subtlety. She writes messages I agree with in her books, but the way she brings them up is usually preachy and forced. During the first scene, the main character is talking with Vicky, who has just called the suicide hotline. At some point during the conversation, Vicky says:
True! Also extremely forced, given the context.
It's not a one-time thing, it's something I noticed also in Down Among the Sticks and Bones and Beneath the Sugar Sky, in which the unsubtle, forced writing was even worse.
I read this novella just because of the title. I had no idea what this was about, but I trust Tor.com novellas to be, if not always great, at least always interesting.
And it was, but I have to say that I thought this was going to be a horror book, and it's not creepy at all. It's a ghost story about grief, growing old and letting go.
The main character of this book is the ghost of a girl who died by suicide in 1972, and she's now a grown ghost who works at a suicide hotline. She also keeps old cats left behind in her home so that they have a comfortable place to live in during their last months.
I really liked her, but the story was too short for me to get attached to the main character and too long for its actual plot. There are many good ideas here, but not much happens, and I wanted more creepy things happening in a world where there are rat witches, corn witches and ghosts.
It's a solid story, but I feel like it could have done more with its premise, or that it could have been shorter.
Also, I like Seanan McGuire's writing most of the time, but she has a problem with subtlety. She writes messages I agree with in her books, but the way she brings them up is usually preachy and forced. During the first scene, the main character is talking with Vicky, who has just called the suicide hotline. At some point during the conversation, Vicky says:
Statistically, women are more likely to go for poisons than men are. We don’t like to leave a mess. We spend our whole lives learning how to be… how to be as neat and tidy and unobtrusive as possible, and then we go out the same way.
True! Also extremely forced, given the context.
It's not a one-time thing, it's something I noticed also in Down Among the Sticks and Bones and Beneath the Sugar Sky, in which the unsubtle, forced writing was even worse.
May 29, 2018
A ghost keeping to herself and working at a suicide prevention hotline suddenly finds herself teaming up with a witch for a rescue mission.
Loved this story 🖤
Loved this story 🖤
February 7, 2017
In this standalone novella, Jenna, our friendly NYC ghost, died well before her time after her sister Patty committed suicide. She now works at a suicide hotline where she "earns" her time back by helping the callers and in turn, helping them stay alive. She then bleeds time from herself to humans (or witches) which in turn makes them that much younger and her that much older. And then shit gets real, which is where I'll leave you.
Seanan McGuire is easily my favorite urban fantasy author. Her writing grabs right from the beginning, and never leaves me disappointed. This was a beautifully done novella. Highly recommend.
Seanan McGuire is easily my favorite urban fantasy author. Her writing grabs right from the beginning, and never leaves me disappointed. This was a beautifully done novella. Highly recommend.
December 8, 2017
This was an interesting book but I didn’t really enjoy it. It just made me feel sad. It’s about loss, bereavement, legacy and finding our way home; about death and haunting and suicide; about dying before our time and being ready to move on. The ending was a good one and I’m glad it ended that way.
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