Waiting for Dawn: Living with Uncertainty

by Marisa Renee Lee

Author Marisa Renee Lee shares how to care for yourself during uncertain times—a disorienting emotional period when life is fundamentally altered without your consent, in prose Maggie Smith deems "nothing short of a miracle and just what we need right now.”

In Waiting for Dawn, bestselling author Marisa Renee Lee reveals how to prioritize and care for yourself when change you don’t want is thrust upon you. Lee guides you through the hard times that arise unexpectedly and disrupt your life for in-determinate periods. Uncertainty and fear impact how you interact with the world and understand your place in it. You manage the loneliness and isolation by convincing others that you are fine. Lee debunks the idea that you must force positivity and, instead, helps you learn how to hold compassion for yourself in hard times.

Through rich, revelatory prose, Lee assists you in navigating life’s unstable and overwhelming moments. Using research and her personal experiences, she argues that self-preservation is necessary when life is at its worst. If you are experiencing pain, chronic stress, or loneliness or are burdened with self-doubt, Waiting for Dawn brings you from a place of instability to hope.

Lee shares her two-year journey battling loss and illness—the death of her mother-in-law, ongoing sickness, and the emotional challenges she endured—that taught her that healing is about finding your own unique way through the darkness. Waiting for Dawn provides a compass to help you rediscover your worth and identify how to live well. These dark periods are necessary for things to grow and transform, but it never stays dark forever.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Grief, Psychology

192 pages, Hardcover

Published April 7, 2026

Reviews

[Gloriana]

I may be a bit biased when I say this, but Waiting for Dawn is my favorite book so far this year. Nevermind that one of my college besties wrote it, in its pages there lies so much practical and thoughtful wisdom for navigating these deeply disturbing times when just opening our phones exposes us to horrifying stories and all too depressing realities shared by millions around the world. Marisa uses her personal experiences to connect with the reader and show a way to deal with what she coins as "grey grief," which she defines as a period of uncertainty or turmoil that upends everything, bringing heaviness, pain, and sometimes debilitating grieving. Even though the subject matter sounds heavy, Marisa's tone is actually cheerfully hilarious at times, and she goes from self-depreciating humor and anecdotes about her own family life to heavier subjects with a deft touch that never sounds preachy or forced.

I actually listened to this book, and did read through earlier drafts of the book, and hearing Marisa herself narrate the book felt like a warm hug, as she took me through an ultimately uplifting journey to finding our way out of the fog of grey grief to a brighter dawn where problems are more manageable and the burden doesn't feel as heavy on our souls. Sadly, I feel like many of us can use a book like this this year, and I hope it speaks to you as clearly as it spoke to me.

[Deborah Redden]

Excellent self help book about how to manage life when it gets overwhelming with reminders about boundaries and self-care. It also discusses the impact of grief on coping skills when life becomes challenging.
Only downside was the humble bragging about personal achievements but I dislike that in all books of this type and is the only reason I gave it four stars instead of five.

[Marjan]

This was the book I didn’t know I needed so much.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author, and her calm, grounding voice made the experience even more powerful. It’s a short book, but every minute feels intentional, nothing wasted, nothing filler.

It blends self-help with deeply personal reflections, weaving in moments from the author’s own struggles in a way that feels honest rather than performative. At its core, it’s about moving through periods of uncertainty, those times when your identity feels like it’s slipping and you start questioning who you are.

What stayed with me most is the idea of “fog.” The author uses it as a metaphor for uncertainty, and it’s incredibly fitting. You’re not lost, you just can’t see clearly right now. Instead of pushing you to find meaning in the chaos, this book focuses on something more realistic and more helpful, how to navigate it.

It reminds you to hold on to what’s inherent to you, your core values, when everything else feels unstable. To celebrate small, positive steps. To keep moving, even if it’s slow and unclear.

It’s not about fixing everything. It’s about learning how to walk through the fog.

A thoughtful, practical, and comforting read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

[Crimson Books]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5 Stars)

Because Waiting for Dawn is a non-fiction book based on true events and real-life experiences, I don't feel right giving it a conventional review in the same way I would a fictional story. Instead, I'm giving this an automatic 5 stars.

This is someone's real life, their experiences, and the things they have had to live through. Hearing her story and the advice she was giving left me really touched.

There were parts that hit me hard, because in my own life a lot of things have happened, and over time I slowly started to minimise myself, talking myself out of things I wanted and sometimes needed to do for my own well-being.

I took loads of notes because I wanted to be able to express and remember the parts that spoke to me, such as:Learning to be kind to yourself, Standing your ground and being brutally strict with boundaries and how you treat yourself, etc.Building a disability/mental health toolkit, never forgetting who you are Finding comfort in the discomfort, Radical acceptance.

There was so much that she talked about which made me reflect on where I was and see what I could improve on.

I am on a mental health journey because of events and relationships in my life that made me go through an ego death that I've found hard to bounce back from... yet reading books like this makes me believe it's possible.

I was touched by what she has shared and how she tells you about the inner strength she had to find to live her life, be a good mother, and to be a good friend, etc.I appreciated being able to hear these experiences through the author's own perspective.

It offered a look into a condition that most people look at and have no idea about in terms of the pain and how it changes your life—often seeing it as an excuse when it's not, and when it can be a life-threatening condition.

It gave me things to think about and made me look at certain parts of life differently.For me, the important thing is that these experiences have been shared and that someone has taken the time to tell their story.

My hope is that people see this and gain more understanding, and that the people who are going through the exact same thing feel represented.

I'm glad I read this, and I'm grateful to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to do so.Automatic 5 stars from me.

This is also a book I plan to buy and add to my shelves!

[Marla Burke]

Closer to 4 stars than 3, just not quite there.

[Beverly]

I won a copy of "Waiting For Dawn: Living With Uncertainty" on Goodreads First Reads. I'm looking forward to receiving my book.

[Kate]

(4.25 stars)

Thanks to Legacy Lit & Hachette Audio for the free ARC and ALC! All opinions are my own.

This book - a self-help/memoir hybrid - is for anyone who has ever been burned out, those living with chronic illness, busy parents, other caretakers, or anyone who has dealt with grief or a health crisis. So basically, for all of us.

I have followed author Marisa Renee Lee online since her first book, Grief Is Love, came out. I learned of her through Elizabeth Holmes (no, not that one - the author and creator who covers royal fashion and other topics). Marisa has worn many hats and had many high-powered careers but today she describes herself as a grief advocate, author, and writer. This book was originally going to be about caretaking, but it evolved when Marisa got sick with long COVID and had to adapt herself and her life as a result.

This is a great read for anyone who has gone through a tough time, is going through one now, or wants to be better equipped for the times of uncertainty that come for us all eventually. There is no toxic positivity here, just reminders and advice for how to take care of ourselves.

Much of the power of the book comes from Marisa's open and honest account of some of her most recent struggles. Despite all the obstacles she has encountered throughout her life, long COVID compounded her grief in a new way and forced her to slow down like she never has before. Marisa shares how she reckoned with her own internalized ableism to admit that she was disabled and adjusted her mindset in the process. I really appreciated the candid way Marisa recounted her story and brought out the lessons she wanted to share with her readers.

I ended up listening to the audiobook for the most part and loved listening to Marisa read the book herself. That said, I don't think you can go wrong on format here, so pick up whichever version fits your reading preference!

[Maggie Driver]

This Advanced Review Copy was provided by Grand Central Publishing and Legacy Lit via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really unexpected and beautiful! I was super drawn to the title at first glance, but this book revealed itself as a beautiful memoir of hope, resilience during times of chronic illness, and lessons on living with uncertainty. One large facet of the book is centered on the author’s illness from Long COVID and how it impacted her as a mother and wife. I also particularly loved reading about the author’s relationship with her mother and what she learned about life, illness, and uncertainty through her mother’s own personal experiences. It was very reflective and beautifully written.

This book had a lot of comforting and reassuring chapters that made me fall in love with it, including anecdotes and lessons on rest, boundaries, and personal growth, which were aplenty and always told with a firm but validating tone. The chapters on loneliness, performance, and healing were my favorites.

The little lessons in this book, like sitting with our pain and taking time to understand it and then taking action to heal, building emotional endurance, having boundaries around our true capacity, and asking for help are all things that I will take with me from this beautiful book.

Anyone who is dealing with chronic illness, grief, or who is living through a period of uncertainty, whether physical, emotional, or mental, will find wisdom and comfort in this book. Thank you, Marisa Renee Lee for sharing your story and teachings. ❤️

[MICHEAL DOANE]

Waiting for Dawn is a deeply reflective and necessary work that confronts one of the most under-articulated human experiences: living within uncertainty. Marisa Renee Lee approaches this space with clarity, restraint, and emotional intelligence, offering not prescriptions, but permission, permission to feel, to struggle, and to exist without resolution.

What distinguishes this book is its rejection of forced optimism. Rather than encouraging readers to bypass pain, Lee validates it, reframing emotional difficulty as something to be acknowledged and navigated rather than corrected. This shift is both subtle and powerful, positioning the book as a more honest companion through grief, stress, and instability.

The integration of personal experience with broader insight gives the narrative weight. Lee’s reflections on loss, illness, and emotional endurance are not presented as isolated events, but as part of a shared human condition. This universality allows the work to resonate across a wide audience without losing its intimacy.

Equally important is the book’s function. Waiting for Dawn does not promise transformation through sudden clarity; instead, it offers a steady framework for enduring difficult periods with self-compassion and awareness. It becomes less of a guide to “fixing” life and more of a companion for moving through it.

The result is a work that is quiet but powerful, one that meets readers where they are and remains with them through the process of finding their way forward.

[Julie]

I received an advance reading copy of this book, and I have to admit that based on the title, cover design, and author, I thought I had chosen a new work of fiction by an Asian American author (clearly I had missed the subtitle). I was a bit confused when I read the introduction, but it wasn’t until I actually started the first chapter that I finally realized that this was not fiction at all.

This is an inspirational book based on the author’s experiences. I wasn’t looking for this book, but I am very glad that I found it. It is a quick read, yet packs a lot of insight. It is thoughtful, with deeply personal examples. Her advice is very grounded and reflects lessons that I have realized myself when looking back at tough periods in my life. It’s hard to keep them top of mind when you’re not your best self. I think this will be a book that I will refer back to when I need a reminder that things will pass. I also think this would make a good gift for anyone going through a tough time.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Cole Hobson]

I was introduced to Marisa through her first book, Grief Is Love, and automatically knew I needed the second, Waiting For Dawn, when she said she was writing it.

This book encapsulates what it means to live with uncertainty: from living with long COVID, daily mishaps that shift our perceptions of self, internalized ableism when your body now responds differently to certain tasks, and also navigating grief, Marisa truly embodies how to maneuver all of life’s uncertainties with a grace and grit only she can write.

I think, for all of us, generally speaking, we collectively see change as bad, bad, bad. But Marisa’s approach is compassion, gentleness, and the ability to navigate with some love of self.

Throughout all of life’s many complexities, Marisa urges us as readers to sit with this uninvited change and know that dawn is coming if we can just hold on a little longer.

Do yourself a favor and be on the lookout for this stunner of a book. Coming your way April 7.

Thank you to the publisher and author for the gifted ARC. 🫶🏼

[Jenna]

Picked this up spontaneously and it was a very lovely read. Honestly, came at a great time, I really need the motivational speech.

Quotes that resonated with me:
- "I get angry and frustrated because I am suddenly navigating a complex body and all I want is to get shit done."
- "Whatever it is, you must find a way to hold both your frustration and pain and your joy for others authentically, simultaneously."
- "And doing the most in the midst of uncertainty is how we destroy our power. Doing the most isn’t about exercising agency, but about living in fear and living at war with your circumstances and surroundings."
- "As a Black woman, a childhood caretaker, and now a mom, putting the needs of others before my own comes naturally to me. As I assessed how to respond to my aunt, I realized that I hold an internal expectation that love must involve sacrifice. But that’s just not true. Good love shouldn’t feel sacrificial. Sacrifice breeds resentment and, left to fester, infects love until it dies."

[Em]

Waiting for Dawn by Marisa Renee Lee is a quiet, reflective book about what happens when your life shifts in ways you can’t control.

Lee writes candidly about living with long COVID: the brain fog, the exhaustion, the small daily mistakes that slowly chip away at your confidence and the internalized ableism that can surface when your body no longer cooperates. Alongside her illness is layered grief, as she and her husband navigate the loss of their mothers and the strain sorrow places on a marriage.

One of my favorite aspects of the book is her framing of uncertainty as something that arrives uninvited and changes the landscape of your life. Instead of pushing forced optimism, she invites gentleness. Self-preservation. Compassion.

This book feels like permission to move slowly through the dark and trust that dawn will come in its own time.

[Ryan George]

I listened to Marisa Renee Lee’s book after a podcast interview she did in support of it had led me to tears as well as a business breakthrough. I was in the midst of what she calls “gray grief,” the kind of mourning you feel over the loss of certainty. Turns out, Lee’s hour-long interview proved more profound—or at least more personally applicable—than her book. I was annoyed by her incessant humble bragging and wondered how someone who makes less than $50,000/year would absorb her recommendations and permissions. For a short book, I was also annoyed by the redundancy of later passages—not callbacks, just retellings. Still, if you need to be convinced that you need to take care of yourself to better care for others, this book might be the inspiration you need. My favorite quote from the book: “Our identity is always in flux, and it should be.”

[Rachel Fulginiti]

This book is so good and so incredibly in tune with the uncertainty so many of us are living with right now. I've had my own struggles with chronic health issues and this is the real deal- it reads like hanging with a good friend who's been through it all too - though you needn't have a chronic illness to get so much out of this book. In a sense we are all "waiting for dawn" as the world continues to morph and change. I love the encouraging, conversational tone she captures without minimizing how difficult it can be struggle or "spiritual bypassing". It's a great read and no doubt one I will turn to again for hope and wisdom.

[Allison Salzer]

Lee shares her journey through the past three years of her life dealing with a loss in her family, a murder, and living with long COVID by learning to sit and live with uncertainty. The compassion in which she has given herself in dealing with the changes this disability has brought her is a reminder to us all to treat ourself as we treat others. Lee reminds people how important it is to give yourself grace, lean on your community, ask for help, and rest when you need it. In this time of uncertainty we can all learn something from Waiting For Dawn.

[Courtney Panasuk]

NO NOTES YET AGAIN!! While Grief is Love was (obviously) about the grief experience, I'd highly recommend this one to anyone going through any level of change or uncertainty in their life. Marisa has such a beautiful way of making the reader feel so seen and validated, while also being incredibly pragmatic about life. She does it all without ever seeming too optimistic OR too doom and gloom. Just perfectly pragmatic and also tender and perfect.

(Not the point of this book, but it was also so lovely to tangentially get a peek at Marisa's life since her last book).

[Lizzie]

Marisa Renee Lee writes about some of the hardest things in life – loss, illness, uncertainty – but does so with tremendous hope and encouragement. She generously shares both heart earned learnings from her own experiences alongside evidence-based research on coping and adjustment. Her writing is captivating and goes down easy. this is ultimately a very supportive and encouraging read that will spark and fuel hope for anyone managing life‘s big challenges.

[Lexi readingwhilehot]

I read the authors first work and really enjoyed it from a grief perspective.
In following her story on social media I saw her come to reflect on some of the disability and chronic illness related grief and internalized ableism in a new way. This book really did continue the beautiful reflections this author can make about life. Making personal memoir style relatable, I am always such a fan.

I’m so grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced audiobook copy for the honest review!

[Bridget Marvinsmith]

This is a beautifully written combination of memoir, guidance, and evidence backed methods for dealing with loss, illness, and the many curveballs life throws at us. As with her first book, Grief is Love, Lee draws the reader into her story with equal parts humor and wisdom. To read her is to feel a part of a community, which, she reminds us, is a universal comfort in the human experience.

[Chase]

Some very insightful chapters, I wrote down quotes I like from this type of book and the list is much longer than normal. Towards the end it sometimes felt like the same points were repeated multiple times, but the final chapter was very inspiring. Can recommend a read to anyone experiencing grief, or who just don't know where to go

[lauren murray]

Waiting For Dawn is a comforting read that sheds light on many of the difficult waves one rides through life. Marisa’s writing is reassuringly relatable. She recounts physically and emotionally challenging moments while staying true to her upbeat, optimistic self.

[Carmella]

This book came into my life at exactly the right time. Waiting for Dawn: Living with Uncertainty helped me when I was dealing with anxiety and reminded me that uncertainty is a part of life, not something we have to fear. It felt like someone sitting next to me saying, “You’re going to be okay.”

[Danae]

Another honest and thought-provoking book from Marisa Renee Lee. In mixing her raw experience with insightful, well-researched insights she makes the personal universal to help us all better handle the uncertainty that is part of life.

[Jenni Swan]

4.5 stars

[Linda J Weimer]

4.5

[Marsha Basloe]

My daughter has long covid and this book was helpful to her.

[Teri]

nothing surprising but always good to hear

[Michele Erickson]

Unfortunately, I did not finish this book. I read the first five chapters, and I decided it was not worth finishing.
I did not find any golden nuggets to pick up along the way 😒

[Allisen Hein]

Likely not for everyone but very helpful for framing the last couple years for me.