Dusk to Dawn: A Collection of Short Stories

by Sierra Smith

DUSK TO DAWN is the first short story collection from writer Sierra Smith, and features nine stories with a Southern flair, divided into two parts. In the night-themed DUSK, each of the five stories are centered around loss, horror, or pain. Featuring haunted houses, a summer camp for boys, and tragic high school parties, the stories in DUSK expose what we're afraid of in the dark, and in ourselves. In the day-themed DAWN, each of the four stories focus on self-reflection, revelation, and learning to grow with the new day. Featuring an imaginary friend, coffee shops, and a pair of inseparable and unforgettable children, DAWN explores facing hardships, building relationships, and the courage it takes to own one's individuality.

123 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 16, 2019

Reviews

[Tim Wickenden · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to write good short stories but Sierra Smith has put together this anthology that kept me entertained, amused, gripped and reflecting on life and death. The stories covered a range of topics from dark themes of loss and horror to philosophical stories reflecting on relationships, love and life. Despite the range of topics, they hang well as a collection and are cleverly themed and presented. All of the stories are strong, well observed and beautifully written. Sierra has a warm voice and writes in a clear poetic style that is both economical and eloquent. I found her style really pleasing to read and loved her descriptions that went just far enough. her characters are well observed and rounded - not an easy task in short stories. So a great book that I highly recommend - and my favourite story from the set? A hard one, but I really loved 'Fresh Grounds' as it was so brilliantly observed and a darn good piece of story telling! (and so were all the others!)
Favourite lines: "The barely-there breeze that blew over the lake, cooling me down in the Georgia humidy..." (from Montgomery) "He was scrawny, with freckles and that wild kinda hair you just couldn't seem to brush right." (from Montgomery) "Anna just smiled at them, but her expression told them to move along." (from Realest State) "I bit my lip and reached again for my drink, he broke out into a grin that stretched into his eyes." (from Fresh Grounds) and also from Fresh Grounds - "The bell on the door rang too many times to count, but I had stopped looking long ago."

[Megan Brookes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this collection of short stories from Sierra Smith absolutely brilliant. Despite the length, each story managed to draw me in and make me relate to the characters in some way, very quickly. It helped that all of the characters seemed very real and were easy to relate to.
Though hard to choose, one of my favourites would have to be 'What the moon sees', which I wished could have been longer even though I felt it came to a satisfying conclusion. Another favourite would be 'Ever After', which despite being probably the shortest story, it still managed to tug on the heartstrings and was just a very innocent story.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone and this collection of stories, really has something for everyone.

[Alana Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give this a 4 maybe actually 4.5 sadly can't add .5 rating thing or well don't know how to if you can anyways I really enjoyed the short stories in this and would definitely read more if she decides to write more I like her writing style it was a nice fast read and I'm so glad to actually know her I'd definitely recommend this to others there so many different types of stories and it was just such an enjoyable time

[James D FarnWorth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book very much and look forward to more from the author in the future. Keep up the good work.

[Lallen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good

I liked all the stories. Very well written. Beautiful writing. The last story “Montgomery” was my favorite. No problem recommending this collection

[Anna Plybon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dusk to Dawn is a FANTASTIC book that left me wanting more after each short story. I highly recommend reading this heartfelt and thought-provoking book!