Love doesn't die, people do.
Paraphrasing Coppola's Dracula movie tag line apparently.
Well, all righty then.

So, why is there a lighthouse at the edge of the world or, more specifically, at the edge of Chicago? Why, to guide the souls to the afterlife, of course. Naturally. The plot of this novel borrows very, very heavily from the TV show Kaos, but then puts its own, trendily sapphic spin on it.

The Juliet and Juliet romance involves two young women from very different worlds. Nera was raised among the dead, while Charlie is very much alive, although terribly unhappy and grieving her dead sister. And then Charlie realizes that perhaps she doesn't have to grieve as she can just find her sister again in the land of the dead and bring her back, and who better to help her than the woman whose father is in charge of the entire place.
But then sparks between Charlie and Nera begin to fly - very, very slowly, one might add - and it complicates everything, as sparks inevitably do.

Is this a romantasy? It seems like one. A genre I intensely detest in concept and wanted to check out in execution. To my surprise, it wasn't actually terrible. The author did a lot of interesting things with her world building, so that it works both a unique depiction of an afterlife and a love letter to Chicago.
There are a lot of fun, interesting side characters of two- and four-legged variety. And also an interesting exploration of duty and free will.
But the romance, which takes up the bulk of the novel, is very emotionally young and sort of twee. Or at the very least, overwrought and overwritten.
So it's a bit of a mixed bag, but a surprisingly readable one at that, even for someone who doesn't care for the genre. Presumably genre fans will go wild for it. Thanks Netgalley.

A beautifully written; story, heartbreakingly beautiful and sad at the same time. This book should be a must read for fans of T. J. Kluge.

Any fan of Klune will become a fan of Dawson, this story had all the feels that could be had. Great storytelling and character unfolding.

This was both devastating and beautiful. When Charlie ends up on a boat to the Ferryman, something has gone very, very wrong. But can it be fixed?

This book was highly detailed and beautifully written. It was also very heavy. Each of the souls in this story face a darkness that feels insurmountable in many differing ways. It tells the story of how each person navigates grief differently while also leaving room for hope.

A book about love, loss, and moving on, The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World is a poetic song that gives voice to anyone who feels like they’re drowning.

Charlie sees ghosts. They’re everywhere: on the street, on the trains, still living in their old apartments. Charlie can see them, talk to them, but despite her searching, she can’t ever seem to find the only ghost that matters. Her sister, pulled from the world too early.

Nera is the daughter of the Station Master. The Station is a safe haven for those recently deceased as they come to terms with their deaths and pass beyond the Veil into whatever comes next. Nera has spent her entire life at the Station, not quite alive, but not dead either. Until one day, Charlie stumbles out of the busy Chicago streets and right into Nera’s lighthouse.

For the first time, Nera feels alive.

Told between Charlie and Nera’s alternating viewpoints, The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World moves like a lilting, indulgent melody. With flowery language and an even pace, the novel tackles a variety of difficult topics from queerness to grief to overcoming fear. Each of the characters play an important role in guiding Charlie or Nera in helping them (re)discover what it means to be alive and to live a life with all its pain and beauty.

I found the premise and plotting of this novel really well done. It definitely does have Under the Whispering Door vibes with some classical mythology mixed in. The imagery is beautiful, and J.R. Dawson paints a breathtaking picture of not only the lighthouse but also the small joys of being alive. At times, the writing was almost too saccharine that it bordered on gross. There were two lavish descriptions of eating pizza that just made me never want to see a pizza again (as someone who’s not a big fan to begin with).

My biggest disappointment with this novel is that is never quite moved me into feeling anything. This book is a woven tapestry of emotion, but it never quite imparted that emotion to me. Maybe it’s just where I am in life right now, but I didn’t feel for or with the characters. I craved to feel wonder at the beauty of the world and the all-encompassing grief that both Nera and Charlie were surrounded with, but I just never did. I hope this novel speaks to someone else in that way, because books that can completely wring me of emotion are the ones I cling to the tightest.

The novel is beautiful; it’s all about music and emotion, and I think it could be everything to the right reader.

The marketer at Tor that clocked me as a Hadestown fan who loves queer fantasy and sent me an ARC of this book deserves a raise. I may not have loved this as much as I wanted to based on that description, but it stood out at the top of my TBR. The similarities to Hadestown and Under the Whispering Door are undeniable and the romance between Nera and Charlie is incredibly sweet. Grief isn't linear, and it certainly isn't easy, and the Lighthouse at the Edge of the World never pretends otherwise. It paints a bleak picture of the world that is slowly brought into color as Nera and Charlie recognize their rightful place among the living.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Wow. Such a good but different story about death and how people deal with it. Loved that it was set somewhere that people know to help move the story. Very moving.

If I had the option to submit a photo in place of a review it would simply show the giant pile of tissues I sobbed into whilst reading this novel. Once again J.R. Dawson has given us a story that reflects on the past while looking towards the future. While looking for the ghost of her sister (who died in a mass shooting) Charlie encounters a dog who is humming her sister's WIP song. Following the dog leads her out of Chicago and into a magical waystation where a mysterious lighthouse keeper and his daughter ferry the spirits of the dead to the afterlife. But not everything is going smoothly at the lighthouse and Nera (the daughter) is determined to find out why. Nera enlists Charlie's help to fix the lighthouse in exchange to helping find out what happened to her sister. Things get complicated when they discover that Nera's father is keeping secrets, and also when they start to develop feelings for each other. This is a novel about grief, and how to move on after your world has ended. It's about hope, friendship, and learning how to live life to it's fullest. Once again Dawson has written a novel that will break you heart and heal your soul. Timely, important, and brilliant.

Sometimes you read a book and you say to yourself: “I don’t want this book to end. I hope this book never ends.” And then it ends and you miss the characters and the story and you wish there was more. Of course you’re also grateful for the story. You loved all of it. And for me, The Lighthouse At the Edge of the World by J.R. Dawson is one of those stories. I wish it hadn’t ended. I wanted to see what was next. And I’m grateful for the story. It was beautiful.

In The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World, my latest early review book from Net Galley, Nera is the daughter of the ferryman who takes souls to the world beyond. She has lived her whole life at the lighthouse near the land of the dead. And now, Charlie, a living woman, has appeared looking for her sister who died. These two stories become one beautiful, magical story.

The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World is such a fantastic book. J.R. Dawson creates wonderful characters with Nera and Charlie and the dogs and everyone else in the story. And the most wonderful part of the book is when not much is happening in the plot. Instead we get to know Nera and Charlie and we get to see the bond that forms between them. We get to know some of the ghosts and the lighthouse. We get to care about the characters. And so when things go bad, we absolutely care about Nera and Charlie and everyone else and we worry for them.

As I mentioned before, I didn’t want this story to end. I wanted it to last forever. I could have just read about Nera and Charlie and the dogs in the lighthouse and been happy. So when the story did end, I felt sad but also grateful. The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World is such a magical book. It was like a cozy hug, a cup of hot cocoa in the middle of winter or like a warm blanket.

J.R. Dawson has created such a wonderful book. I will never forget Nera, Charlie, and the dogs. I will carry this story with me forever.

The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World comes out on July 29th, 2025. I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for magic and wonder and ghosts and most of all: dogs. Gurty is a very good boy indeed.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the early digital copy of this book. Thank you to J.R. Dawson for writing this story.

What a lyrical, beautiful book. This is such a tearjerker and J.R. Dawson does such a fantastic job of setting scenes and explaining about the hope and sadness that comes with grief and love.

It was beautiful. The characters were incredibly sweet, especially all the dogs. It could have done with some editting because it felt really unnecessarily long in some places, but I enjoyed it. I don't know how to pitch it to the everyday reader though...

I received an advance copy via NetGalley. Also, the author is a friend, and I've highly anticipated this book!

A haunting study of grief, death, and the complexities of "moving on," Dawson posits an incredible lighthouse on the brink of Chicago and Lake Michigan. There, a station master on guard for over one hundred years, since the Fire, helps spirits make it to the nearby Veil each night. Nera is his daughter, raised among the dead, but never fully alive--not until a living woman named Charlie stumbled into the liminal space as she searches for her dead sister. A dark threat looms in the city beyond and the lighthouse itself seems to be failing, raising the stakes as the two women gradually fall in love.

This is a beautiful book. Some moments and lines are especially heart-wrenching. While the general themes resemble T.J. Klune's Under the Whispering Door, this is a very different book, and powerful in its own right.