I got this book to review through NetGalley. This is a short and quick ghost story that was well done. I ended up enjoying it a lot. It's beautifully written and very creative.

There are two main things that drive this story. The first is concept that everything has a “time” it’s supposed to die. If it dies early than it can give time to living people in order to get closer to its death date and eventually pass. Ghosts can also take time from living humans to extend the time to their own death date and visa versa...humans can trap ghosts and steal their time extending their lives but forcing the ghost to it’s death date quickly. It’s a concept that is a bit confusing at first but it’s very creative and makes for an intriguing story.

The second thing that drives this story is the mystery as to why ghosts have started disappearing all around New York. Jenna is a ghost who is committed to helping people and for every minute she helps someone and gives them more life she moves closer to her final death.

The book is thoughtful and beautifully written with occasional humor throughout. It flows well and is a quick read and I enjoyed it. This is a story that really makes you think about the lines between life and death.

Overall I enjoyed this little urban fantasy ghost story a lot. It was creative, fast-paced, thought-provoking, had a great mystery, and was engaging. I would recommend to those who enjoy ghost stories.

And yet another Sinead McGuire book that has left me in tears. Because it was sad, yes, but also because it was beautiful. And I will say, even though I tend to go for happy endings to balance out my own depressive tendencies, it was an almost happy sad ending, in that it was right and meant to end that way. I won't describe the storyline, as that has been done by previous reviewers, but there were a number of things I loved that I will mention: the reference to old prose, which she does so well; her beautiful writing style, so rich and layered and nuanced, but not airy fairy; the wonderful alternate world she established, with its ghostly rules; the contrast between this alternate world and her character's use of logic within this framework; and, her adoption of elderly cats from shelters (nothing to do with a good story, just made her even more of a good person for me). This is yet another wonderful work from Seanan McGuire, and like all her books, I can't recommend it highly enough.

(Also posted at Goodreads)

It's early enough in the year that I don't have much to compare it to yet, but I feel confident in saying that Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day is one of the year's great novella-length works. It's smartly written, well-paced, has a compelling cast of characters and an original mythology, and is altogether compulsively readable. It's perfect reading for a cold day or a rainy afternoon, exactly the sort of thing that is easy to zip through in a single sitting like I did.

It might be easy to just focus on the characterization of this book as "that book about the ghost who works at the suicide hotline," but Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day is something really special and interesting that isn't done justice by that facile, humorous-sounding description. Yes, Jenna is a ghost and she works at a suicide hotline, but this isn't a funny book and, while a fast read, isn't really the kind of light reading that superficial description would suggest, either. There's some lightness here, but this is a book that deals mostly with themes relating to grief and mortality and Seanan McGuire has something quite serious to say about these issues. She does touch on some ideas about community and found family, but those are mostly incidental to the story and more implied than explicitly examined in the text.

Because the book is so emotionally and thematically weighty, the plot is a fairly basic one. After the introduction of Jenna's predicament and some explanation of her life as a ghost, Jenna and her friend, a witch, have to rescue a bunch of other ghosts when they mysteriously disappear. We never meet any of the disappeared ghosts, so there's not much emotional stake in their rescue, but the book isn't really about them at all. Instead, the first person narrative puts the reader completely inside Jenna's head for the duration of the story. And while Jenna is a kind and caring person, there's an interesting detachment in her ways of caring for her pets (all elderly cats) and the people in her after-life, and McGuire does a great job of exploring how Jenna's circumstances have changed her perspective and her understanding of life and death.

McGuire also has an interesting take on witches here, where they have magics tied to any number of things--streets, rats, corn... presumably the options are basically unlimited--that fuel their powers and inform and limit their abilities. The relationship between witches and ghosts is complex and adversarial rather than symbiotic, but it adds another dimension to the reader's understanding of the themes. Like ghosts, witches exist in a social space somewhat removed from humanity, and both ghosts and witches live extended lifetimes and are subject to forces and motivations outside their control. McGuire's "What If?" question in this book is broad and perhaps ill-defined, but I love the multiple angles from which she's chosen to try and answer it.

Looking back on the reading experience of this one, I think the genius of Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day is that McGuire has used an extremely simple and fairly straightforward plot in order to hang a ton of mythology and worldbuilding upon, but she's managed to do it in a way that feels complete and not as if it's just an introduction to a bigger fictional world or a longer series. Sure, there's tons of storytelling potential here, and there is at least one character (Delia, if you want to know) that I'd love to see McGuire return to in the future. But Jenna's story in this volume is completely self-contained and entirely emotionally satisfying. I would definitely like to read more about this fantasy world, but I don't think any sequels are necessary. I'd love for these kinds of singularly lovely standalone stories become a trend even more than I want to see sequels or companions to this story.

A fairly gentle ghost story from fantasist and horror writer Seanan McGuire.

After the death of her sister, Jenna ran from her home into a raging storm, fell into a ravine, and died. Now she has an unlife in Manhattan, far from the small town in Kentucky where she grew up. She volunteers at a suicide hotline, earning the time she needs to give to the living to final reach her dying day, when she can be reunited with her beloved sister. When word reaches her that the other ghosts of New York have all disappeared, her existence becomes much more precarious.

A bit spooky, a bit sad, and very satisfying.

https://lynns-books.com/2017/01/09/dusk-or-dark-or-dawn-or-day-by-seanan-mcguire/
Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day is my latest read by Seanan McGuire and again it is a book that, even thought it’s fairly short, is packed with emotion and characters that you can’t help yourself but warm to. Basically this is a ghost story but one that is completely different than anything I’ve ever read about before.

The story starts with a funeral. Patty left her small hometown to find her own fairy tale in New York. Unfortunately, the dream didn’t pan out and, unable to find happiness Patty took her own life. Her sister Jenna, struggling to cope with the death of her beloved sister, rushes out into the night and meets with an untimely end!

We then leap forty years forwards. Patty is living in New York, volunteering at a crisis helpline centre, with a day job serving coffee. Yes, I said Patty was living. Well, to be honest, she’s a ghost, but, like the other ghosts that live in the City, she has substance. Basically, Patty died too soon, in a freak occurrence and like other people who died before their time she has become a ghost and must serve time until she reaches her own ‘time’.

Now, added to this we also have witches. Witches and ghosts have a strange relationship and don’t often become friends – for very good reason. Witches are alive and kicking and are only too well aware of the benefits they can glean from ghosts. You see ghosts can knock the years off a person simply by touching them. As you may imagine this makes ghosts an attractive proposition for people – no more botox or beauty treatments – simply turn back the hands of time and experience the fountain of youth by ensnaring your own personal ghost.

I won’t elaborate on the plot other than to say I love the ideas that McGuire has come up with here and the way she weaves her ideas with superstitions. She seems to be an expert on tugging on heartstrings and this story is, of course, no exception in that respect.

The setting is modern and urban and one that we’re all familiar with except of course for the ‘living dead’ walking amongst us. This is such an unusual ghost story. There are no spectres, no shaking chains (although strangely enough I did think of Jacob Marley and his purgatory) and yet I find the thought of the dead walking amongst us, living, working and sharing the same space in complete annonymity – it’s a tiny little bit chilling isn’t it! But, in a strange twist it seems like the ghosts are more at threat from us than the reverse.

In terms of the characters, well, even though this is a relatively short story it’s very easy to like Jenna and to have a good deal of sympathy towards her. We have Brenda, who is a corn witch, she shouldn’t be friends with Jenna and yet she is. Sophia is another witch. She seems to live rough on the streets and doesn’t always seem coherent but she has quite a fascinating storyline that will be revealed in due course. Without doubt though, for me, the show stealer was Jenna’s landlady Delia and her pet bird Avocado. I loved them.

This is going to be a fairly short review, only because I don’t want to give away too much. This is a book about give and take – it’s not always as simple as it seems, some times people are very giving and some times people take more than they deserve. This is a great story, full of imagination and heart and I have no hesitation in recommending it. Seanan McGuire is certainly becoming one of my go to authors and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.

I received a copy from the publisher courtesy of Netgalley for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.