February 20, 2024

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 2013, when I read the original version. 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 "Deadgirl: Gravedust" review (fifth installment in the series) click here.
For my interviews with B.C. Johnson click here and here.
For more Afterlife books click here.

17 comments:

  1. I like afterlives scenatios. I don't read many. You know it's a good sign when you go back and reread right after finishing the book. I know you're a fan of this series and, honeslty, after reading the review I am very tempted to get these

    Back n Black are in Europe and honestly if I was there I would go see

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I will tempt you again when the fifth book comes out...might as well start reading now 😂 😉.

      Delete
  2. I can feel your excitement when you love a book :-)) I'm glad you are still enjoying the series. I STILL have the first one on my kindle. I had too many books to get through back then, and can't seem to read at all now lol One day though...

    Karen @For What It's Worth

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    Replies
    1. "I can feel your excitement when you love a book"
      I'm glad it comes through! And I really hope you can read DG one day, and maybe fall in love with the series. It's never too late...Oh, wait, but you aren't reading at the moment...oops 😅. Then again, I know that the winter gives you the blues...I'm sure that you'll find that spark again as the spring gets closer...

      Delete
  3. And...I love when something seems inconsequential, even boring or annoying at the time, but then becomes important enough to think...hey wait, I need to go back and reread that.

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    Replies
    1. Clearly, the author knew what he was doing here...

      Delete
  4. I haven't read this series but I can see why you like it. As long as you didn't mind the cliffhanger that's ok then.

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    Replies
    1. Sometimes cliffhangers are necessary - you wouldn't want to sacrifice a chunk of the story to fit it all in one book...

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  5. I think it's great that the pros outweigh the cons allowing you to enjoy this book.

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    1. It's like, when you close the book you realise that even the things you didn't love had a valid reason to be there, and the story wouldn't have existed without them, so you're grateful...

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  6. Oh wow, I feel like last time I visited you hadn't started the book yet, and now you've read it twice?! I'm so glad you loved it! I know how much you were looking forward to it.

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    Replies
    1. LOL, I read it twice in five days, I think? What can I say - when Johnson or McGuire are involved, I tend to devour books at twice the usual speed...

      I guess you're going to read the rest of the series eventually?

      Delete
  7. I'm glad you are still finding things to love about this series, even with a few minor concerns.

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    Replies
    1. It's very special to me...but the fact is, after reading, you realise that the parts you had some concern about were integral to the story...and you end up loving the whole thing.

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  8. I'm interested in this, like Greg I have not read that many books involving the afterlife (aside from a few epic poems and mythological tellings), so I might check this out sometime.
    -Quinley

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    Replies
    1. I hope you do! Afterlife/undead characters narratives (and I don't mean zombies 😂) are a wonderful subgenre IMO.

      Delete

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