B.C. Johnson: "Deadgirl: Daybreak" (ARC Review)

Title: Deadgirl: Daybreak [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: Deadgirl (4th of 5 books, but there's also a novella about a side character that is chronologically book 2.5 in the series - though best read after book 3 if you want to avoid a spoiler about its ending)
Author: B.C. Johnson [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Afterlife, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy, Contemporary
Year: 2024
Age: 14+
Stars: 5/5
Pros: Imaginative plot. Unique, mind-blowing afterlife concept/visuals. Flawed yet lovable characters who manage to feel realistic in the middle of mayhem.
Cons: Very dark in places (though tempered with funny dialogue/inner monologue). More of a slow-burn than the previous installments. Features some questionable characters' choices.
WARNING! Horror, gore and heartbreak (both for the characters and the readers). Underage drinking. A couple of nudity/underage sex scenes (though not graphic/detailed, mostly happening offscreen). An instance of infidelity. An animal sacrifice. Lots of language.
Will appeal to: Those who love afterlife scenarios. Those who enjoy a mix of laughter and tears, action and strong feelings. Those who like brave, resourceful teens who don't pose as heroes.

Blurb: The final year of high school approaches, and Lucy is ready to break. Too many of her friends have died. Too many monsters have taken their bite. And now Lucy must face her greatest challenge of all: the end of everything she knows. With high school disappearing and the world before her, Lucy must make her choice on what's to come. But with the rise of an old enemy who's been stalking her for three years - and a rapidly dwindling supply of allies - can Lucy even make it to graduation? And more importantly, does she want to? (Amazon excerpt)

Review:  First off...DISCLAIMER: I received this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review. And the author being B.C. Johnson, you all know I've been campaigning for his first Deadgirl book with all my might since 2012, when the original version came out. Also, B.C. Johnson and me have stayed in touch, if sporadically, for the whole time. I'm not what you would call a friend of his though, only a fan of his work. And an unbiased one. As usual, this review is the love child of my penchant for quirky, uniquely worded books and B.C. Johnson's ability to deliver them.

THE LONG GAME

Seven years have passed since the last Deadgirl installment (or six, if you count the Daphne novella in 2018...not like one year makes a huge difference), but B.C. Johnson hasn't lost his touch. It's funny, because Daybreak is a bit of a slow burn compared to the other books in the series, especially since the first 100 pages include lots of domestic scenes (if a funeral can be considered "domestic", but you know what I mean) and the main plot seems to revolve around the protagonists' alliance with a certain faction, which isn't my favourite thing to read about. But all this turns out to be a necessary premise to the most exciting (and heartbreaking...and heartwarming - usually, with Johnson, the two go hand in hand) part of the story. Which is why, upon turning the last page, I went back and reread the whole thing, and enjoyed the hell out of it. It doesn't hurt that the afterlife where Lucy has been spending lots of her time since becoming a (still very human) phantom is everything I - the afterlife junk - crave for in a story and more. The Grey is imaginative, visually stunning, almost videogame-like at times, teeming with danger yet interspersed with pockets of love (literally) and beauty. Plus, hands down home to the best scenes in the book - and the most poignant. [...]

IT'S BEEN REAL

Continuing a tradition that dates back to the first installment, the contemporary bits of the story and the supernatural/paranormal ones are very well balanced - though of course, the second heavily inform the first. Lucy's condition (technically not dead, but not alive either, and barely growing older) and some of her friends' predicaments (no spoilers, in case you haven't read the previous installments) make for a very unique perspective, to say the least. And yet, the human experience can only be overwritten by supernatural mayhem so much. Told in the dual POV of Lucy and her best friend Morgan, Deadgirl: Daybreak ultimately has a lot to say about love, friendship, family, loss, depression, guilt, sense of self, uncertainty about the future, and the general messiness of being a teen on the verge of adulthood, but a teen all the same (in case this sounds too gloomy, hey, the series' trademark snarkiness and jocularity are still there!).
Which brings me to my next point...apparently, if I love a story (and its protagonists) enough, I'm pretty capable to rate it 5 stars even if I have some reservations (as my review of House of Hollow attests). Now, one of my literary pet peeves is teens getting drunk at a party and having casual sex. I do realise that these things are relevant to the plot here (and believable on a purely psychological level), so I'm going to make allowances, even if, for a certain character, there's a...gap between the mind and the body that brought me some discomfort (I can't elaborate because it would be a giant spoiler for those who haven't read the series yet...). I also wish we'd seen more of Lucy's mom (though I loved to see her bonding with her dad), and that at least one of Lucy's parents would address the problem of giving shelter to two (and in the end, three!) "special guests" who can't (or won't) go home...especially since a friend of the family is looking for one of them, who is missing...I mean, I know they can't exactly up and tell that person that her loved one is under their roof, for very valid (supernatural) reasons, but at least feel bad about it...?

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

With that off my chest, I can go back to praising Deadgirl: Daybreak for what each and every book in this series does best: build a unique world and populate it with characters we can't but care for. Surprise us at every corner. Break our hearts and put them back together and make us LOVE the whole painful process. Even do a couple of nice role reversals (in this house, we stan girls who can fix a car and who are the more experienced sexual partner). All with fine prose to boot. Alas, if you hate cliffhangers, this particular installment has one, out of necessity - the series' ending needed much more space to breath than a single book would allow. Personally, I don't mind the cliffhanger that much - not only because the next (and last) book is due in 6 months. My reasoning is - if you're reading a series and you're committed to it and the author drops a cliffhanger in a later book for perfectly valid reasons, why complain? Not to mention, the (mysterious) POV and the writing in the epilogue are intriguing and lyrical (though ominous) - probably the best part of the book on a purely stylistic level. So here's where this review comes full circle: B.C. Johnson did it again 😃. Now I'm even more psyched for Deadgirl: Gravedust (out on August 20th) - and I'm bracing myself for more glorious heartbreak...👀

For my "Deadgirl" review (first installment in the series) click here.
For my "Deadgirl: Ghostlight" review (second installment in the series) click here.
For my "Daphne" review (installment 2.5 in the series) click here.
For my "Deadgirl: Goneward" review (third installment in the series) click here.
For my interviews with B.C. Johnson click here and here.
For more Afterlife books click here.