What is Day of Now about?
Siblings Dayna and Pax are trying to survive in a dystopian world on their own after their father falls ill. The biggest threat to them is the fungal spores that have decimated the human population, and turned animals rabid. There is no electricity, technology, or society left. They have been raised by their father in this world, and they have honed survival skills.
The threat they haven’t learnt enough about is other people. This is a lesson hard-won after much danger, courage and love for each other.
Plot summary of Day of Now (No Spoilers)
Dayna and Pax are worried about their dad when he is bitten by an animal affected by Echidna. Echidna isn’t the Australian animal we know of, but the name given by scientists to a disease that races through the human body if the fungal spores are breathed in, or if they are bitten by something carrying the disease. Echidna has wiped out society as we know it, taking electricity, technology and any semblance of order.
When they hear of a place that might be able to help their father, they seek it out, putting themselves in even more danger. In their desperation to find help, they meet other people. Hiding away with their father their entire lives, they have never met anyone else. Despite their dad’s warnings in their endless survival training, they put too much trust in what the strangers are saying.
Using their survival skills, they escape, only to fall into more traps as they navigate the world alone. Increasingly wary of other people, they fall back on relying on each other, and a few that have proven themselves to be trustworthy to them. The sibling’s end goal is to find and save their father from the people that took him from them.
But shocking surprises wait for them in their quest, along with a need for their skills, courage, and desire to do the right thing, just as they were raised.
My thoughts
I love post apocalypse or dystopian fiction for any age, and Day of Now is a thrilling, engaging YA novel with both characters I loved and villains I deplored.
Being the viewpoint character, Dayna in particular is a fleshed out pre-teen character struggling with real day-today or sometimes minute-to-minute horrors. Her growth through the novel is great to watch, but at the same time, her trust in people and the dangers she faces personally are troubling to read. This is a time of survival and she is forced to grow up quickly, become a leader and feel the weight of responsibility for her group.
Day of Now is well written, surprising, tense, and even heart warming in moments. Looking forward to the sequel, which may be entitled Silence Beneath Fire. No matter what it’s called, I’ll be snapping it up.
Characters
Dayna was born just before the world fell apart. She lives with her father and little brother Pax in a house with a blue door in an abandoned small town. Pax and Father are the only people she’s ever known, heard, or seen in her life. They are very close, growing up in a world surrounded by continuing threats to their lives.
She is a skilled lock-picker, and survivalist, and will do anything for her family. Dayna is sensible, resilient, determined, brave and always thinking ahead, and as her travels with her brother advance, she becomes a leader of not only the two of them, but others they meet and trust along the way.
She must do a lot of growing up on their quest to save her father, facing things no pre-teen must face, and making life-saving choices that affect her group.
Pax looks to his big sister for guidance on everything, as their father has taught him. He trusts her judgements implicitly and will fight for her life if put to the test. He too must face terrible dangers, violence and fears as he follows Dayna’s path.
Pax falls back on his father’s teachings about good people and bad people, and is insistent about being the hero like in their treasured storybooks. This trust in believing the hero always prevails is slowly worn away as they encounter one dangerous person or group after another. When a teenage boy named Jason joins them, Pax begins to look to him for advice and praise, but ultimately it’s Dayna he follows.
Jason is discovered by Dayna, bound and gagged in a cage. The first thing he does is warn them about the dangerous situation they are all in. He is the first person to join the sibling’s small group, and is very welcome, especially by Pax. He knows much more about the world than they do, and is a constant help on their journey.
He and Pax clash often in their thinking, and is proven to be untrustworthy in some of they information he is providing. But, no matter how stubborn or single-minded Dayna is, Jason too, soon sees her as their leader and dubs her ‘Sarge’, as he begins to trust her judgement more and more.
Jason is helpful and more understanding of a little girl named Evie that joins their group, looking out for her when the others don’t.
Evie – a six year girl who was part of a group that took the children in to feed, bathe and allow them shelter. She is special in their world, and has been raised as such, making her spoilt, demanding and prone to outbursts in dangerous situations.
Writing Style
Told in four parts – from where the siblings, and then their small group find themselves.
Dayna is the main point of view character in the novel, in present tense. Readers see and hear what she does, along with seeing her thoughts and worries in their incredibly dangerous journey. Raised away from others and believing everything she has been taught by her father, she struggles with many things she must now face, and the decisions she must make for their group.
FAQs
What age is it for?
13+
Where & When is it set?
Future / Dystopian England
What is the Point of View / Tense of the novel?
3rd person / Present tense
Is there Violence?
Yes
What genre is Day of Now?
Post Apocalypse-Dystopian / Young Adult
Is there any sex in the novel?
No
Themes
Post Apocalypse, Dystopian, Family, Friendship, Courage, Trust, Survival
Is it part of a series?
Yes – a Duology
The sequel is not yet published (2026)
Author
Miranda Reason
Publisher
Bloomsbury UK
Read an interview of Day of Now’s author
Find it here
Want to read more Dystopian novels?
Find them here
(2026, Bloomsbury UK, Survival, Post Apocalypse, Dystopian England, Fungal Spores, Cults, Gangs, Danger, Horrors, Undead, Choices, Trust, Friendship, Courage, Risk, Future, Family, Science)