Review by Booklist Review
Nera Harosen has lived her entire life at the Station, a lighthouse in Chicago constructed to help the dead cross into the afterlife. Her friends are the station dogs who accompany the dead on the ferry across the river, and her father runs the station while preparing her to take over when it's inevitably his time to cross over. Her easy, stress-free routine is disrupted by the arrival of Charlie Conner, a woman very much alive, who turns up at the Station looking for her recently deceased sister Sam. Meanwhile, the lighthouse's power is dimming, and when it's discovered that Charlie's music can keep the light on, she agrees to stay and play in exchange for help finding Sam. Nera and Charlie strike up a friendship that quickly deepens into something more, leading both women to important self-discovery and enables them to find inner strengths previously thought nonexistent. Dawson's latest (after First Bright Thing, 2023) is gripping, with characters that readers can identify with, and a heartwrenching story that shines a beacon of hope at its conclusion.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Greek myth, Jewish tradition, and slow-burning queer romance gracefully intertwine in this melancholy treasure from Dawson (The First Bright Thing). Nera's whole life has been spent in the lighthouse at the edge of Chicago that guides her father as he ferries dead souls across Lake Michigan to the underworld. When grieving Chicagoan Charlie, who has been able to see ghosts since the death of her sister, Samantha, six months ago, hears a fragment of a song Samantha wrote, it leads her to this liminal spot between worlds and the women's lives collide. Nera stops Charlie from venturing into the underworld and promises to help her find a safer way to ensure that Samantha crossed over and is not lingering among the city's ghosts, who face threats from a dark force. The women forge a sweet relationship that leads them to some emotional moments of self-discovery--and a high-stakes conflict with a demon. Incorporating historical events like the Great Chicago Fire and contemporary concerns like mass shootings and toxic familial expectations, the carefully crafted story doubles as an emotional love letter to Chicago and to life itself. The result is immersive, bittersweet, and wonderfully original. Agent: Stevie Finegan, Zeno Literary. (July)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
If the dead people of Chicago make it safely to Lake Michigan, they're ferried across to the afterlife. However, many of the dead are abducted by hungry spirits roaming the streets, despite the efforts of a pack of canine bodyguards. Each night, the dogs try to protect and guide the city's ghosts to the safety of a magical lighthouse on the shore of Lake Michigan. The human ferryman's strength is waning, though, causing the light to flicker. The ferryman plans to train his daughter Nera as successor, but this is complicated by a living woman named Charlie, who is infiltrating his safe haven for the dead. He worries that Charlie's quest to find her sister's spirit and her growing fondness for Nera may endanger all of Chicago's people--both living and dead. Dawson's (The First Bright Thing) novel is moving and tense but also infused with explorations of both sides of death--fear of what happens after and the crushing grief of those left behind. Even as the characters explore fear and hope in the afterlife, Charlie and her family struggle to find purpose in surviving with sorrow. VERDICT A grim, authentic exploration of death for those who appreciate mythology-infused fantasy, such as Samantha Sotto Yambao's Water Moon or Joanne M. Harris's Orfeia.--Matthew Galloway
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
