Thank you so much to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

To start off with, while I don't think this book was particularly for me, I can definitely see others really loving it, so this mostly a case of "it's not you, it's me." I loved this author's debut, A Crown of Coral and Pearl, and was very excited to read something else.

Unfortunately, my feelings on this landed very much in the "meh" category. I didn't particularly like the main character, Liora, I know that she was young, but some of the decisions she made just straight up annoyed me. The same goes for her love interest, Evran, who demonstrated a fantastic case of the use of miscommunication to drive the plot, one of my absolute least favorite tropes. He deliberately didn't tell her things that SHE NEEDED TO KNOW AND HAD NO REASON AT ALL FOR SECRETS TO BE KEPT, and lied to her and kept her in the dark deliberately anyway, causing her to make certain decisions, and they both just brushed this under the rug like it was nothing?

The big bad guy started out being bad the for sake of it, but in an effort to humanize him, we were then stuck with an exceedingly long travel sequence that lasted longer than I cared for so we could see that he maybe wasn't the worst (but he still definitely is).

There was more that really bothered me, such as the pacing (see long travel sequence above, followed by an abbreviated ending that felt kind of...abrupt?), and some of the side characters that I didn't really love. I gave this 3 out of 5 stars because there was nothing that I actually hated and I can see others liking it, but it was definitely not for me.

A beautifully told story, but it lacked uniqueness.

Mara Rutherford knows how to write beautiful prose that is reminiscent of fairy tales. I knew this from her first duology and was happy to have received her newest book.

I really liked the writing style and pacing of the book - and I also liked the world- and characterbuilding, but it just wasn’t unique enough for me.

A naive young girl with a power she doesn’t really understand and is trying to hide - a mysterious young-looking but ancient dark lord who is gathering everyone with powers around himself for his own gain, who finds the girl weirdly fascinating because she is JUST NOT LIKE THE OTHER GIRLS, (dark) magical beings that have to be tracked by the best friend/love interest, a land of shadows versus a power of light ...

It all reminded me just too much of Shadow and Bone. The execution was very well done, but I was kind of bored because it felt like I had read this story before.

I also listened to the audiobook whilst reading along and I can really recommend it. It was well done and a lot of fun.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for providing an ARC.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. The protagonist is smart and cares for others. The family dynamic is compelling and interesting. The villian had potential. Unfortunately, these things all fell away in the second quarter of the book when they are lost in the tapestry. I couldn't wait for it to be over and would skim and want to flip ahead. I feel like this is a fun and creative idea, but the juxtaposition between the two made it seem like a different book and slowed me down.

This was such a sweet story about sisterhood, love, learning to trust yourself, friendship, perseverance and a lot of hope.
The magic system was so unique and cool- it gave me all the Darklina vibes. There is also a sweet friends to lovers romance that I really enjoyed seeing develop.
Liora is a witch who has been hiding for years. Her powers are super special and unique- she has the ability to make light as her entire skin glows. However, this has made it difficult for her to hide and therefore does not go out at night where she could be exposed.
Darius is the king's dangerous warlock- he feeds on other mages' powers and has dangerous and mysterious plans for the kingdom.
When Darius discovers Liora, he takes her sister captive in order to make Liora comply with his demands. In turn, Liora makes an alliance with the local witch and agrees to work under her while secretly exploring her powers.
However, Liora's best friend and crush goes missing and Liora becomes desperate to find him and save her sister. The only way to do so is by tapping deep into the powers within her that she has been hiding all her life. Liora must learn to face her fears or doom them all.

This was such a good book! The setting was fantastic and I loved the witchy elements. Super unique story with a sweet message.

I really enjoyed the plot of the witch trying to control their power or else something will go wrong. The characters were great and I really enjoyed the plot of the book. It was a fun read and I look forward to more from the author.

I always love stories about having to hide magic, and Luminous did not disappoint! Liora is an imminently likeable character, and even Darius was fleshed out and a compelling character (not always the case with the antagonists). It was nice to see a world with a magic system that was different enough to be interesting but not too complicated that trying to understand the worldbuilding would detract from the reader's understanding of the plot.

This was a wonderful story. Although I do wish that the author would have gone darker I still really loved this story. I hope that we get a book two as well since it had an open ending. I loved how the story unfolded and the characters. They were all amazing, Liora was a joy as she learned about her powers and what it meant to be who and what she was. Since we learn certain things towards the end of this book I think the author could go two different ways with a sequel. One would be about the ending of this one and the journey that characters are on. The other would be a companion title about Liora's sisters learning about where they lay in their world. Since we know new things. (This is so hard to wright without spoilers) Darius reminded me of a toned down Darkling from Shadow and Bone. And her sisters were a joy and I wished we would have seen more of them.

The setting was the same old same old in a new fantasy world. I loved the darkness and the creatures and the magic. I would love to learn more about their world as well as Liora and her sister's mother and father. The pacing in this one was done so well it was steady not to fast and not to slow.

The romance in this one was very light. I think readers who don't really want romance in their stories would really enjoy this one. As there is romance there but its not the main reason for the story. The ending of this one was wonderful and perfect for this tale. I do hope to see a book two or even a book three in the coming years as there is so much Mara could do with it.

#NetGalley #Luminous
The main character has spent her life in hiding and having all the details she really needs to know hidden from her which makes life rather difficult and also impacts the reading a little. Plenty of action and adventure. Secrets. Beautiful cover. Checked to see if this will be a series, Internet says stand alone, but ending leaves the possibility open.

Liora has spent her life in hiding, knowing discovery could mean falling prey to the king’s warlock, Darius, who uses mages’ magic to grow his own power. But when her worst nightmare comes to pass, Darius doesn’t take her. Instead, he demands that her younger sister return to the capital with him. To make matters worse, Evran, Liora’s childhood friend and the only one who knows her secret, goes missing following Darius’s visit, leaving her without anyone to turn to.

To find Evran and to save her sister, Liora must embrace the power she has always feared. But the greatest danger she’ll face is yet to come, for Darius has plans in motion that will cause the world to fall into chaos—and Liora and Evran may be the only ones who can stop him.

Thank you so much, NetGalley and Inkyard Press, for the chance to read and review this book in exchange of an honest review.

Liora has a brilliant and dangerous power, a power she's forced to hide to protect herself from the king's warlock, Darius, who would do anything to get more power, using other's magic. But when she's discovered, something worse happens and Darius get her younger sister to the capital, instead of her. To make everything worse, Evran's her childhood friend and the only one who knows her secrets, goes missing and Liora finds herself alone. Determined to do anything to save her sister and to find Evran, Liora is forced to embrace the power she has always feared. When she discovers an even worse danger in Darius' plans, Liora and Evran may be the only ones who could stop him and save everyone.

I loved reading Luminous! The story is captivating, so beautifully written and the characters are so realistic and compelling. It's a wonderful tale of a young woman, embracing her powers, learning to be herself and to accept herself fully, willing to do anything to save and protect her loved ones. The book is full of interesting characters, everyone is skillfully well rounded and Liora is a magnificen heroine, I couldn't not love her.
I loved the book, the relationships between characters, their fierce love and loyalty, Liora's powers, the love story...everything is perfect and well rounded. I loved everything.

Thanks to NetGalley & Inkyard Press for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. Sadly, I went 40% of the way through before deciding to stop.

Luminous focuses on a girl forced to live in hiding thanks to an evil lord who hunts witches and exploits their powers.

My main issue with this story is how Liora and Darius actually had more chemistry than Liora had with her love interest, Evran. Evran was SO uninteresting and had no personality...Maybe he gets better later on but I don't really feel like trying to read more.

I wanted more world building but didn't really get much. I liked when Liora was in the city with her younger sister but the city itself wasn't really described enough to feel more alive, it felt more like a minor footnote.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to HTP Books, Netgalley, Inkyard Press, and Mara Rutherford for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

Shout out to Rutherford for writing such an immersive witchy novel just in time for Halloween! It’s definitely a mood booster during this season. Since this is also a standalone, it works out for not having to worry about when the next book is coming out, although when the book is great like this, you kind of want another book to come out so you can see what is going to happen next, you know?

I liked that we got to see how Liora deals with the journey that she embarks on, from having her father hide the family from Lord Daurius potentially using and torturing her for her magic. Especially since she has glowing skin… that would be a huge giveaway wouldn’t it? I also like that Rutherford made sure that the magic system wasn’t too convoluted so we don’t need multiple books to understand it fully. It was another great story from Rutherford and I’m curious to see what comes next.

Thank you to the publisher, Inkyard Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In a land where mages are hunted for their magic, Liora has spent all her life hiding her abilities, most particularly her glowing skin that would give her away instantly. But when she is discovered by the king’s warlock, Darius, instead of taking Liora, he instead takes her younger sister Mina to work in the palace, essentially holding her hostage. Even worse, Liora’s best friend Evran, the only one outside her family who knows her secret, has been acting strangely of late and he goes missing following Darius’ visit. Liora must set out on a journey to not only find Evran and save her sister, but also stop Darius from unleashing a dark power upon the world and she’ll have to accept and learn to use her magic in order to succeed.

Luminous was a quick and easy read, and I really liked how there was quite a decent amount of world-building done in the first quarter of the book without it ever feeling like an info dump. The setting and background of the story certainly fit the cover of the book and the magic system was an intriguing one which I would have liked more of an explanation for. The pacing of the story was decent, and the way the plot unfolded held my attention throughout. The narration style actually reminded me of various fairy tale retellings I’ve read as the feel is very similar.

However, I felt that the character development was lacking in this book as none of them felt like they had much depth. I couldn’t connect with Liora at all, and found it extremely hard to be invested in any of the character arcs to be honest. There were a lot of secondary characters introduced with a wide range of magical gifts, but the book did not really take the time to dwell upon them enough. Darius did make for a good villain though, and a lot about him and the dynamic between him and Liora reminded me of the Darkling from the GrishaVerse. Margana, Evran’s mother, was another interesting character and her magical weaving abilities were fascinating.

The pacing really sped up in the last quarter of the book and I wasn’t sure for a while there that it would be able to resolve all the loose threads before the end, but things were tied up rather neatly. Overall, while I found the concept of this story interesting and it was a nice read, much of this book felt very familiar to other YA fantasy novels and it didn’t stand out in any manner. Unfortunately, this was a bit of a miss for me, but I would still recommend it.

Liora is a witch has spent her life in hiding, knowing that the light she emits will alert others of her powers. If anyone were to find out about it, it would mean that she would be given to the king's warlock, Darius, who uses mages' magic to grow his own. On one of Darius' witch hunts, he grows suspicious of Liora but a neighboring witch, Margana, takes Liora on as an apprentice, covering for her. However, Darius takes Liora's little sister Mina instead to work at the palace. Under Margana's tutelage, she begins learn about her power and that those around her have been keeping secrets that will affect their world as they know it.

This was a good, stand alone fantasy. It did feel like this book could be more for a younger teen as it's very light on romance and Liora feels quite naive and younger than her age and does give me some Shadow and Bone vibes. All in all, I liked it.


*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

This book had some cool things going for it and I was really excited to read it but it just didn't quite live up to what I was expecting. I loved Rutherford's previous duology and was hoping for the same for this one but it just fell short. The magic system was really well done and I enjoyed learning about that. The world and atmosphere were also fantastic. I felt like there was a bit too much telling rather than showing in this book. I also didn't really connect with the characters. I will definitely look forward to more books by this author but this was a miss for me.

Title: Luminous
Author: Mara Rutherford
Pub. Date: October 5, 2021
Rating: 2.5

This will be a spoiler free review. Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review. I paired the audiobook with the eARC as I had the time and ability to read while at work.

I loved her first book – Crown of Coral and Pearl. I went in with no expectations and ended up falling in love with it. I enjoyed the sequel, just not as much as the first book. But regardless, I was excited for this new Rutherford book. Based on the synopsis and the cover, it looked like it was going to really good, and that I was going to love it.

Unfortunately, this book was a miss for me. This book was a bit of a mess – and I couldn’t wait for it to end. That sounds terrible, I know, and I do feel bad for saying it, but I didn’t enjoy this book at all. It felt like so many different plots tied together, and they didn’t mesh well. I kept feeling like the end of the book was coming up, only for the plot to shit directions and continue on. There were so many points where I was like “this book could end right here, and it would be a complete story. The various plots just didn’t mesh well together and it left me feeling like I was reading a handful of different stories that just happened to feature the same core set of characters.

The more I read, the angrier I grew that I was still reading and listening to it. Felt like Rutherford was trying to go for a Light vs Dark story (kind of reminded me of The Darkling and Alina), but realized that the Bad Guy was irredeemable, so she gave someone else in her life, dark powers. Only then to completely flip it all on its head.

I’m for redemption stories, but this wasn’t good in my opinion. I wasn’t invested at all, and really only finished it because I was listening to it at work and what else would I do? I also listened to it at like 2x speed to get through it.

And don’t even get me started about the reveal at the ending – it was bullshit and I hated it. Actually, the whole ending felt anticlimactic compared to everything that happens in the whole book. Which was somehow everything, but also, nothing felt like it happened.

I’m glad this is a standalone, because I couldn’t suffer through another installment. That sounds really harsh, but I was really disappointed in this book. Like, woefully disappointed. I don’t think my expectations were abnormally high or anything.

I really didn’t care about the characters, and I had no idea that the MCs name was “Liora” – the curse of audiobooks. I’m going to blame the fact that I hear “Lira” on the fact that I was listening to it sped up. But now her nickname makes sense.

Overall, I wish this had lived up to my excitement and expectations, but it didn’t. I’ll probably still pick up Rutherford’s book in the future.

This captivating tale of a young girl discovering her own power falls somewhere between A Court of Thorn & Roses and MarcyKate Connolly’s Shadow Weaver, meaning it will appeal to advanced middle grade readers as well as to teens and adults who enjoy fantasy.

The story is familiar - a young girl must hide her powers to keep herself and her family safe, but in Rutherford’s hands readers are treated to some first class world-building and character development. Rutherford draws inspiration from multiple places - e.g. the use of three sisters, the weaving of fate from Greek mythology, even The Nothing from Neverending Story - but the story she creates in wholly hers and it’s one of the best things I’ve read lately. While the main character Liora was charming and brave, I was utterly captivated by the character of Margana and thought her fate, while unexpected, was well-done.

Highly Recommended.

I’m so sad I didn’t love this one. I really enjoyed Crown of Coral and Pearl by this author. However, the worldbuilding in Luminous was near nonexistent, and the characters had all the dimension of paper dolls. This one was a miss for me.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this story. I was hoping that Darius and Liora ended up together but that was not to be I guess. Lol

‘Crown of Coral and Pearl’ is on my TBR, but I haven’t read it yet, so ‘Luminous’ was my introduction to Rutherford’s storytelling, and let me tell you: I loved it. And it’s left me wondering why it’s taken me so long to get to the ‘Crown of Coral and Pearl’ series (I’m remedying that ASAP; it’s my next read)!

I couldn’t put ‘Luminous’ down. It was paced well, and the story was engaging, intriguing, suspenseful, magical, and a bit romantic. I loved Liora. She was a bit naive about the world at first because she’d been hidden away most of her life, but she was very aware of and practical about this. She worked with what she had, and made it her mission to learn what she didn’t know. She worked to grow stronger, smarter, and really found herself throughout the story. I just loved how self-aware she was, and not ruled by her ego. If she didn’t know something, she wasn’t afraid to admit it or ask. And that was how she blossomed, slowly but surely. It was nice to see her push to step into herself. I also loved her family, and how much she loved them. They all had distinct personalities and their bond was strong and you could feel the years of history between them from the start; they felt like a real family with substance, not hollow. I loved how alive they—and all the other characters, major and minor—were.

The world-building and the magic system were compelling, but not too complicated, which I actually liked. It was an easy, atmospheric world to get immersed in. The magical creatures were equal parts creepy and fascinating. The antagonist was well done, and I liked that he wasn’t straight-up evil, but made to be (very) morally grey, and he also didn’t try to pretend he was anything other than what he was, which was actually a breath of fresh air. The dynamic between Darius and Liora was…interesting, but I much preferred her dynamic with Evran. And what a complicated, back-and-forth dynamic it was.

‘Luminous’ was perfect for Fall (also, just look at that cover!), and it kept me turning pages like a madwoman until the end. I couldn’t put this down.

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘺 𝘏𝘛𝘗 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴/𝘐𝘯𝘬𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 (𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬-𝘺𝘰𝘶!). 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

It’s always interesting to explore an author’s first novels away from their debut series. I first read Mara Rutherford in the early days of this blog (you can find my review for her debut novel here) and I really enjoyed the characters and the overall style of the book. This one felt the same and I am not sure if that’s a good thing. I might just be a little bit tired of the standardized format that these YA stories tend to take.

I did really enjoy the main character and I was intrigued by a world that marginalizes magic users because the leader wants to control all magic rather than just wanting to stamp it out altogether. I’ve only seen this done in one other series (L. Penelope’s Earthsinger Chronicles) and I’ve been interested in this trope since reading that. Beyond this trope the world-building is acceptable, but very sparse, with the reader not really learning a ton about the world, beyond aspects that are vital to the story. I would have liked for some more details to make the world really come to life rather than just stay in the background.

The heart of this story is the romance and I struggled with this aspect. When the main love interest gets virtually zero screen-time in the first 50% of the book, there’s not enough time to even know who the character is, not even considering the romance. So when the entire back end of the book is dependent on the relationship I just didn’t see it. The familial relationships were also a major portion and I still didn’t see it. There were a few moments that worked beautifully, such as the theatre scene, but much of the progression of the story was told in a, this already happened way that didn’t build my connections to the story.

This book also features a very strong internal narrator, that I absolutely adored. She breaks from the traditional tropes and honestly that aspect was a breath of fresh air. She was introspective and didn’t immediately trust everyone she met, understanding the dangers of the world and navigating them. Just reading from her perspective improved the reading experience.

Overall this one was a mix of positives and negatives. I would recommend this book to those looking for enemies to lovers romance in a less overwhelming fantasy setting. This felt like a great novel for someone that is just entering the YA Fantasy genre and looking for something that’s similar to books they are already familiar with. Sadly this wasn’t what I personally was looking for.

Thank you again to the publisher for my review copy. What’s your most anticipated book for the rest of the year? Leave a comment and chat with me below. Happy Reading.

3.5 stars