DNF @ 15%

This just isn't working for me right now. The writing style isn't doing much for me, there's a focus on personal drama over worldbuilding, and I don't feel anything for the characters besides the occasional annoyance. I could finish it, but I doubt it would get higher than a three star, so this is where I'm leaving it.

"At the edge of Chicago, nestled on the shores of Lake Michigan, there is a waystation for the dead."

This first line of the description blurb grabbed me, and reading on: sapphic urban fantasy? It's coming to terms with grief in a variety of ways (the dead, the letters of those long lost, our very human main character searching for reason and answers after living through a now all-too-common tragedy that took her sister from her family), with a very Jewish philosophy of remembrance and also, there's a lot of Really Good Dogs that talk? What a joy that was.

I didn't realize this was set around ~2005ish and I found it sort of... refreshing? Maybe because I live in 2025 and we're all sucked into our phones all the time (even researching!) and there was less not only ability but also social norm for Charlie to whip out her phone to take pictures or look up stuff while learning about this whole, ferry-for-the-dead on Lake Michigan. Likewise, the waystation and all it had to offer reminded me a lot of the sort of east Asian urban fantasy that have been so popularly translated over the last few years, or books that have been heavily inspired by them, but Lighthouse has us as readers more in the moment, grounded with Charlie's desperately grieving humanity even faced with Nera's otherworldiness and her coming to terms for the first time in her ???-years life that she, too, is human.

I also liked the relationship between the girls, and even though it was gone over pretty fast, Charlie's internal thoughts about her own demisexuality was one of the better-explained ones I've seen, and in that (well especially with all the deep flowery love language at that moment) we know how much and how deeply Nera means to her, even in the short time they've known each other - there's something about trauma that brings people closer together very quickly, after all. I also liked the interspersion of the diary entries from various sources sort of giving more depth to the world and also the payoff of "I think x is going to happen" actually happening. There's several things left unfinished but you know what... that's life, and I also didn't mind that for some reason... also I just really liked those dogs, man.

The dual narrators sometimes didn't sound too dissimilar, BUT I know this is mainly a me problem because I usually listen to audiobooks while driving which takes away some nuances, and I realized here I really don't like when a narrator doesn't use contractions - I think another book I read earlier this year super burned me when an otherworldly-type character doesn't use contractions and hearing this (although it didn't happen all the time with her) made me go, "Oh no" but again I think that's another personal problem I may not have noticed as much in text. But it was good, the narrators had good performances and really did live through those characters (and the good dogs).

Thank you to Tor for the eARC - even like halfway through I was recommending this book to certain people I think would really like it.

I really wanted to love The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World. It has all of the ingredients of a favorite: urban fantasy, talking dogs, meaningful LGBTQ+ representation, and intriguing story, and themes of grief. It feels like the perfect recipe for a 5-star read. But somehow, it didn't quite come together for me. I wasn't fully drawn into the characters, so I didn't connect with their journeys the way I hoped to. In the end, I was left feeling disappointed. Still, I'm glad I read it, and I hope it finds the readers who will love it. 2.75

Both narrators did an amazing job!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this title in exchange for my opinion.

The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World is a book that I’ll think about for a long time. When I picked it up, I didn’t expect to *feel* for these characters as much as I did, but I couldn’t help myself. Loss and grief are such a large part of this book, but underneath it all you’ll also find a story full of magic, myth, and a beautiful queer romance.

Nera and Charlie could not be more different, but in the end it’s death that brings them together. Nera has lived her life cloistered away from the land of the living and death is all that she knows. As the daughter of The Ferryman, death has been an everyday part of her life. They help others pass into the Void, and then welcome along the next group. Charlie’s life has been upended by the sudden and violent passing of her sister. When Sammy dies, her whole family falls apart and it’s just Charlie left with nobody to care for her. Until she stumbles into an Nera’s world she is literally surrounded by ghosts and the “ghosts” her parents have become. Nera seems to come to life herself when she meets Charlie and she starts to see the world on a different way. She begins to really see the people they’re helping and think about life and death in a different way. It really does feel like fate brings these two women together and I loved watching them fall in love.

I think one of the other reasons I loved this book so much is the setting. Dawson paints Chicago in a beautiful light, and really captures the magic of the city. I could picture these places in my head and it was so easy to feel like I was apart of the story. Dawson’s writing is beautiful, and I can’t wait to read their debut in the future.

I really appreciate the dual narration, and thought Lindsey Dorcus & Mara Wilson did such an amazing job bringing these characters to life. I found the story very easy to follow and it was easy to tell every character apart, including the dogs. A lot of emphasis is placed on music in the novel and I thought the musical elements were a nice feature to tie back to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a review copy.

When I read the synopsis for The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World, it immediately called to me, so I was very excited to receive an alc (advanced listening copy) from Macmillan Audio.

The book centers around Nera, a human who has been raised at a waystation by her father, the ferryman responsible for ushering the souls of Chicagos dead through to the afterlife. At the beginning of the story Nera has lost complete touch with her humanity, until a human woman (Charlie) enters the waystation looking for her sister who has passed away.

While TLATEOTW dealt with a lot of heavy topics like death, afterlife and grief, it somehow also felt like a cozy contemporary fantasy and the blossoming sapphic romance really hit the spot for me. There was a lot of serious and sad moments, but overall I found it unique and a beautiful love story.

I haven’t read Hadestown, I thought the comparison to Under the Whispering Door was a spot on comp, so if you liked UTWD, I think you’ll love The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World.

I primarily listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Lindsey Dorcus and Mara Wilson. The narration was well done, and the actors completely felt like the characters. I got lost in their narration (in the best way) and had no difficulties differentiating between their voices, whom was talking, and whom was thinking.

This was a clever little novel about what happens after you die but before you move on to the afterlife. The answer is you hang out in the purgatory that is the lighthouse run by Nera and her dad. The ghosts you meet in this book were one of the best parts. Each felt unique and you needed them to get help from Nera in order to be at peace and move on. Nera is my favorite of the two main characters. She felt the most fleshed out and has the best story arc and growth throughout the book. Charlie fell flat for me. Her personality seemed to start and end with her guilt over her sister's death and her obsession with finding her in the afterlife.

It sounds like I didn't enjoy this book but I did. It was well written and the world gave you the information you needed as you needed it to understand and be engaged with the story. There was a subplot about Nera's dad that was good, I just wish we had gotten more.

I would recommend this book to someone who doesn't need a ton of action to move the plot and is content in sitting with the main characters and just spending time with them as they navigate finding Charlie's sister.

Rounded up for 3.5 stars

3.75 stars rounded up
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for giving me the oppurtunity to listen to this book!
Mara Wilson and Lindsey Dorcus did a great job as narrators, they really brought great depeth and emotion to the characters.
Charlie's sister was tragically murdered when they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. After the event, she begins to see ghosts and spirits everywhere. Driven by her grief, she hopes to find her sister every time she sees a spirit. While she is out looking one night, she stumbles on a lighthouse surrrounded by spirits. Enter Nera, the ferryman's daughter who helps the souls cross over in the world that comes after. While Nera is in fact a living person, she has never left the lighthouse. The two woman grow to care and support each other in their own forms of grief, the loss of life in some way for each of them, and work together to try to find cluse to locate Charlie's sister.
The story is a beautiful portayal of grief in its many forms. I did feel that the story could been slightly more concise in the middle. The ending suffered a little from the middle moving slowly.
If you're looking for a poignant story about confronting grief, this might be a book you would enjoy!

I listened to the ALC for The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World by J.R. Dawson and narrated by Lindsey Dorcus; Mara Wilson and the narration was excellent. This book is a study in grief. Charlie, our FMC has lost her sister, Sam. They were shopping, in a mall, when a gunman opened fire. Sam ran and Charlie could not find her so she hid. Sam was killed. Charlie blames herself, and so does her dad. It's unclear what her mom thinks because her mom left them shortly after the funeral. Everyone grieves differently. One day, Charlie, in the midst of her grief, follows music that sounds like an unfinished song that Sam was writing, as well as a dog, to this lighthouse. The lighthouse on the shores of Lake Michigan, is the waystation, where the souls of the dead come to travel beyond the veil. Lake Michigan is the stand in for the river Styx. But, the light from the lighthouse is flickering. As the light weakens, the Station Master worries it is because he is old and he needs to go beyond the veil. He has been on the job since the Chicago Fire and is ready to surrender the responsibility to his daughter Nera. Nera is alive but has always lived among the dead at the waystation and she desperately wants to experience life especially after she meets and falls for Charlie. I would be remiss not to also draw the comparison to Orpheus and Eurydice. Death is only the beginning, and even though Nera and her father have been at the waystation guiding the dead to the veil for a long time, even they do not know what lies beyond the veil. This is an intriguing story of learning to forgive yourself and letting go. I thought this story was very well done. I really liked both of our FMCs, Charlie and Nera. I kept waiting for the book to take the easy way out on some of the elements and the fear around death, and it does not. I give this book four stars. It comes out on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Thank you Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for my advance listener copy.

This is a ghost story. And it is a story of life, its vibrancy and its echoes. Fantastical and bursting with magical realism, this novel’s bones are shaped around the stories of Orpheus and Eurydice and Charon and the duty of ferrying souls, while its heart beats with the the themes of loss and overwhelming grief, love (filial, sororal, sapphic and demi), hope, the importance of music in life and its power to heal, the big question of what happens to souls and the complexity of moving on. There is so much beautiful humanity in this book. Touching, and emotional, love and grief spill from the pages, breaking your heart only to mend it- multiple times over.

Dawson’s writing is engaging, a masterclass in character development and creating emotional connection to the characters. The author’s creativity shines in setting and description, and superbly builds a layered world of ghosts/souls and the living, including successfully conveying the sensations of “living” from someone who has never been alive and is experiencing it for the first time:dreaming, the need to use the bathroom, experiencing cold in the body and against the skin, and even the terror of pins and needles in a limb.

If you are familiar with Greek myth and literature, the twist/ending are predictable BUT well done, worth it and you are left satisfied.

This is a rare novel. Skilled in immersive world-building and urban fantasy against the an early 2000s Chicago while also beautifully heart wrenching. An absolute must read.


Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the audiobook ARC. The above is my honest opinion and review.

Firstly, Mara Wilson & Lindsey Dorcus did a phenomenal job bringing the story of Charlie and Nera to life. The story is beautiful on its own but hearing it with their voices truly elevated it to the next level. The only negative to this audiobook is I do wish there was a male narrator for some of the male parts however Lindsey did a good job during those scenes as well.

The story is hauntingly beautiful in its portrayal of grief and loss, showing the steps someone will take to accept the death of a family member or friend. The mix of the fantastical with the real world was done really well.

I loved the relationship between Charlie & Nera - although there was trauma and that was ultimately what brought them together - where they ended up was beautiful.

I think the audiobook is a must for experiencing the true impact of this story. I would highly recommend this book!

I knew from the first chapter I was going to fall in love and oh, I was so incredibly right about that. It's an absolutely beautiful story that's everything fantasy as a genre can do: reflect humanity in a deeply moving way. It explores grief and loss, and weaves themes and imagery from Greek myths with Jewish beliefs and traditions.

Both Nera and Charlie were immediately endearing with depth and heart that made their stories compelling. I fell in love right alongside their own love. The author created an intricate world that feels creatively novel and thoroughly developed. I loved the concept of a place built entirely from the best memories of the dead. And while that part is fictional, the book is also very much a love letter to the real world Chicago. (And the dogs. Absolutely would not have expected the dogs to be something that worked in a story like this, but they're such a cute addition and add levity to a deeply emotional book.

Both audiobook narrators were excellent. They captured Nera and Charlie's personalities and added another layer to everything making this book beautiful. I do plan to get a print copy of the book, as I'm curious to see the "interludes" as written, since they were an interesting addition in audio form.

While I unfortunately cannot give it more than 5 stars, this book immediately has a place as one of the best books I've read in 2025, and I think solidly lands among my favorite books of all time.

I believe this is the first I’ve read from this author, but as soon as I realized there were TALKING DOGS 🐕 in the mix, I knew I would love it!

**** NOT YET RELEASED ****

Very interesting concept in that, when people die, they travel to a station to board a ferry to go to the next life…

The ferry master and his daughter run the transport ship, and have for a very long time (centuries, I think…)
So, all the people ON the ferry have already died…

Until one night when a live woman boards the ferry, and everything is about to change!!

A bit of love. A bit of fantasy. A bit of magical realism…

And, what people will do when they are faced with tragedy and loss… and what lengths they will go to…

This one touches you deep down inside.

It will make you laugh. It may make you cry. It will make you re-think certain things in your life too!

Family. Friends. Community. Life. Death… Choices… and everything in between!

4 1/2 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 for me, happily rounded up to 5!
Because, yes! It did make me feel all the feels!!

#TheLighthouseAtTheEdgeOfTheWorld by @JRDawson and narrated nicely by @LindseyDorcus and @MaraWilson.


*** THIS ONE HAS NOT YET BEEN RELEASED!! PLEASE LOOK 👀 FOR IT ON JULY 29, 2025!!! ***

Thanks so much to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for an ARC of the audiobook, in exchange for an honest review.

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Are you looking for a book about grief that will hit you in all the sensitive places? This may fill that void. It was written with heart and thought for the passing of souls and the grief of those who remain.

Charlie is grieving the loss of her sister who died in a tragic, senseless act of violence. Though Charlie can now see the souls of the departed, she can not find her sister's soul and she feels she has so much left unsaid to her. After the incident, her mom left and her dad has turned into a husk of the person he once was. Charlie feels alone and abandoned by those she loves most and has no lifeline keeping her afloat.

One evening while Charlie is wandering the streets of Chicago looking for a sign her sister is still in the city, when she wanders upon the lighthouse where souls converge to pass beyond the veil. There she meets Nera, the daughter of the ferryman who helps the souls cross over. Nera has never lived outside of the lighthouse and Charlie is alive but looking for a reason to keep going. The two women find solace in each other as they each figure out what it means to be alive while trying to find clues as to where Charlie's sister's soul is.

I don't read a lot of emotionally charged books but I picked this one up at a time I was ready for it. I do see how someone may compare it to Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune but the authors both have different ways they get to their end goal. Though there are hard topics in this book, I am glad I was provided the opportunity to read it and provide an honest review. I hope more will pick it up when they are in a good place to face these topics.

I wanted to spend the time in The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World by J.R.Dawson. I wished it was tighter and shorter but I enjoyed my time spent in its’ world. I think this will resonate most with someone who has lost someone that meant the world to them as it has with me. The created world with the dog guardians meant a lot to me. Nera’s innocence and joy in experiencing life for the first time was joyous. Charlie’s quest to find answers was so human. I am going to shout about this book as one of the best this year. ALC was provided by Macmillan Audio via NetGalley. I received an audiobook listening copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

3.75 🌟 rounded up

This is a charming, cozy, queer fantasy novel that reflects on life and loss. Both Nera and Charlie were very relatable. Each was lost in their own way, and trying to find meaning. I loved the talking dogs who escort the departed at the station. They were so funny and cute. It fell short for me in how slow-moving it all seemed. I was also expecting more from the ending.

Narration is done by Lindsay Dorcus and Mara Wilson, who each voice one of the FMCs. I liked that both women had separate narrators; it made them more distinguishable from each other.

Recommended for fans of the genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

4.5 ⭐️ I very much enjoyed this book - equally poetic and existential, while also tackling the very difficult topics of religion, the afterlife, queer acceptance, grief (child loss specifically) and tumultuous family relationships. The author has an enticing prose and the narrators did an INCREDIBLE job breathing life (pun intended) into the characters!

A lot is covered in this story and there are several genre categories it can fall into; I want to address each as best I can because this truly is a wonderfully layered novel.

LGBTQ+/Romance - Firstly, the heart of this book is a romance AND the two most notable romances in the book are queer (ff and mm). Showcasing both ends of the spectrum - closeted, fearful, at-risk and accepting, exploratory, joyful - the author did a wonderful job of making each of these pairings feel integral to the plot and heartache-y. I absolutely adored the love that blossomed between our FMCs, and I won't go into detail about the other pair (spoilers) but it was heartbreaking.

Contemporary Fiction - Even though the lighthouse and its caretakers are set in modern day Chicago, IL (Lake Michigan), we get a great deal of flashbacks and period-piece characters. I found this both engaging and a fun dynamic as we got both quirky dialogue and what felt like organically given plot development.

Fantasy/Supernatural - Talking dogs, static "undead" monsters, light magic, entertaining ghosts, portals to different planes (of existence? dimensions?), the underworld vs overworld, historical points in time used as sources of the birth of certain magics - this book checks all the boxes as far as meeting the fantasy/supernatural requirements.

There were two small things that kept me from giving this a 5 ⭐️rating and those were: our adult FMCs often acted childish or ridiculously selfish and I wish there had been a greater emphasis on content warnings (triggers, etc.) at the beginning of the book. It feels nit-picky to point out the childish/selfish aspects of the FMCs but there were several occasions where I rolled my eyes and wondered how these grown women, albeit in incredibly dire or fantastical situations, were behaving so silly given the subject matter, high stakes and constant compromises with each other. I listened to an ALC of this book, so I hope the printed book has some sort of warning or mention to the very heavy subject matter covered in this story. I'll list as many as I can recall here now: child loss, loss of child to gun violence, public place gun violence, murder, closeted queer characters, religious homophobia, religious trauma, PTSD (gun-related), family grief, survivors guilt (HEAVY), death, depictions of the afterlife, and probably a few more that I'm unfortunately forgetting.

Overall, I was rapt by this story, its characters and the incredible journey it took us on - from the shores of Lake Michigan all the way to the Lighthouse at the Edge of the World.

Nera's father, a ferryman for the dead, has decided to turn over his position to her. The ferryman is responsible for assisting the ghosts of the dead across the veil (the other side). This story deals with love, loss, grief, hope. The talking dogs are awesome. The dogs also assist the dead. A young lady somehow wanders into "the station" that is not visible to the living.  The cast of characters is very large and diverse. The story is complex, it did take a bit for me to catch on. This was a very enjoyable read.

I think how this one hits will depend on the individual reader - your own relationship to grief and grieving and moving on and to presentations of that process. Some people will find this cathartic and like it's speaking directly to them.

For me, it never quite hit. I think the audiobook was the best way to experience it, with the interstitions of Sammy's music and Wilson and Dorcus' performances bringing Charlie and Nera to life. Unfortunately, for me, the biggest problem here is pacing and the way the story tries to be both very specific to its characters but also that dreamy, fuzzy fable that everyone can connect to. In trying to tie these specific characters to the big, nebulous events of death, the afterlife, and the Chicago Fire, it just raises more questions than I think it wants to and detaches from being that more universal experience of finding meaning in life and moving on and building something new.

I also always question when things are put in near-contemporary. There's very little that dates the story (other than discussion of buildings or parks being built), so why specifically the mid-late 2000s? Unless there's some specific Chicago location Charlie and Nera visit that stopped existing after a point in time that Dawson wanted to include, the choice to set something in a specific year not near the year of writing without a tie to that time period always strikes me as odd.

On the bright side, it's definitely one of those books where the setting feels as much of a character as the ones given lines. Chicago and the Station are so integral to the plot and characters' decisions that it had me looking up locations and places and making a list for when I visit.

Last year I read my first book by this author, and it was one of my favorites of the year. So, I was really excited to pick this one up. The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World is a beautifully written story. A premise that was perfectly executed. Charlie is a haunted character, both figuratively and literally. I really felt for her both because of the loss of her sister but also the gaping hole that was left by her father and mother all but completely disconnecting from life. I really liked Nera as a character, and it was really fascinating to witness her journey and how she really came into her own. I loved that Charlie was able to bring her to life so to speak. I really liked the "magic" system in this story. I thought the way that the ghosts interacted with Charlie, Mera and Harrisson was interesting. Harisson at first was not my favorite but as the story progressed and more of his story came out, I really was able to understand the things that had bothered me so much before. There were so many lovely moments in this book and there were so many parts that really make you reflect on a life fully lived; I also absolutely adored the ending on this one.


I loved the audio on this one. Lindsey Dorcus and Mara Wilson did an amazing job of bringing this story to life in such a deep and lovely way.

The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World is an emotion packed read featuring magic, family, and loss. This story follows Charlie who’s struggling to come to terms with her sister’s death and Nera, whose father helps ferry lost souls through the veil. I felt Dawson did incredibly well with crafting Charlie’s character, and I believe anyone who’s lost someone will be able to connect with her soul deep grief. I also could not get enough of Nera’s child like wonder about the real world. It was refreshing to experience that kind of joy about things as simple as deep dish pizza. While I wouldn’t call this a fast paced read, it draws you in where it feels fast paced. I also loved the addition of talk dogs to help ease the crossing of the veil. For me, the ending was where this book shined especially bright and I liked the approach that Dawson took with wrapping up the story. I really appreciate the decision to use separate narrators for the audiobook. This is a story where I think it could be easy to get confused if only one narrator was used when swapping POVs. This was crucial for me being able to follow the story and ensured I was fully engaged. I also enjoyed the use of musical sound effects and felt they were appropriately utilized in this audiobook given the story is rooted in music. Overall, I found this well worth the read.