Review posted on GoodReads (October 25, 2022)
Review linked.

3.5/5 stars!

A huge thank you to TorTeen for sending me an E-ARC of this book for an honest review.

I have really enjoyed Dennard’s writing in the past, so I was excited to pick this up.

The atmosphere of this book was one of my favorite things about it, because despite my issues that I had, every time I picked the book up I was transported into the creepy, spooky atmosphere of this story immediately. To me, this book is Scooby Doo meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer and as a childhood fan of both of those things, this book was super fun to read.

Ultimately, I think that this book is a great idea, but just did not have the space it needed. To me, I devoured this book because I was so intrigued by the characters, the world, and the story, but in the end I was left wanting more.

Dennard’s language in this book was really beautiful. I remember opening up the first page and really loving the first paragraph. I think that was one of my favorite parts of the story itself. I also loved Winnie (Being autistic, she read as very autistic coded to me, but in a very good and respectful way). I really loved how Winnie interacted with the world and just how unapologetically herself she was.

I think my issues with this book stem from the story not having enough space, and some plot points being hinted at, but not expanded upon in this book. I know that this is a series, and I will definitely be picking up the sequel because I need to know what happens. But I did feel like some big plot points were left out to be revealed in the next book where I felt they should have been revealed in this book.

Language, amazing.
Character design, great for the main characters, but I did need a lot more from some of the side characters.
World building, super cool, but in the end wanted a bit more.
Plot, needed more.

I would say that I recommend this book, because I really had fun reading it, and I am interested to read what comes next in the series!

Thanks for reading!
Caden

I don't really know where to start with the Luminaries. I was so excited to read this book, since the premise sounds amazing. And of course because the few books I had read from Susan Dennard had been really great, and I was curious about her new series. Yet, I found myself really struggling to get into the story.

I feel like the biggest thing for me was that we were told a lot of things rather than shown. And I get it, there are a lot of things that we need to know about the world and the nightmares, but it did slow the story down. Winnie, our main character, often recites the definitions or descriptions of different nightmares in high stress situations, which is a way to deal with the mental stress, but as a reader just can be redundant, and slows the pacing down.

The other thing was that there wasn't as much story wise as I would have liked. Yes, we see Winnie go through the three trials, but other than that, it felt like there were a lot of plotlines being started. It felt like this could have been condensed to become the first half of a faster paced novel, with a second half that made it feel a little more complete, while still leaving me a hook for a sequel. Because this first book left me feeling underwhelmed.

Overall, The Luminaries is not a bad novel. It's okay. I think it had a lot of potential, but failed to set a pace that worked for me. I truly think many readers will enjoy it, but it was fully what I expected and wanted from it. Will I read the sequel? Yes, because the premise still has a lot of potential, and I want to see if she will bring me more in the rest of the story.

The premise of this book was delightful and new. The world building and creatures were fresh and exciting. I enjoyed Winnie and her inner monologue as well as her fervent desire to be accepted back into the fold and fulfill what she considers to be her life's purpose. However, that was all we got....the end. I'm not sure why anyone would publish a book without a clear climax or even a cliffhanger to entice readers back for another installment. There are hints at what could be to come but as a singular entry it is lacking. The writing and pacing were on point I just wish there had been more here to cheer for.

If you're a fan of the television show Supernatural, I think you would like this book.
It's basically what happens when teenagers go monster hunting. It's all the drama a high school and all the high stakes of Supernatural.
I found it fun and interesting and easy to read.

The Luminaries by Susan Dennard is a unique look at magic in America. The main character is Winney Wednesday, whose father betrayed the Luminaries (a group of people dedicated to keeping people safe from the nightmare creatures that come out every night). Winney wants to be a hunter but due to her father's betrayal, she and her mother and brother have been exiled.

This book is rich with details. I supposed it has to be because of the complex social and magic of the story. I was drawn to this book because of the YA outsider/monster hunter vibe. Dennard leans into that quite well, we feel the anger Winny holds from the first chapter and there is carnage right from the get-go. That said, I had a hard time concentrating on the book, which made it less enjoyable for me. This is likely due to me being a bit spacey but it might also be because Winny was so young. Winney was emotional, and rightly so, but as a reader, I just didn't want to see her lashing out so hard for the first part of the book. That's my only complaint though, and it really isn't even much of a complaint.

If you like YA and atmospheric books this is for you! I will try to reread it again at another time.

The Luminaries is a contemporary fantasy set in a small town where magic and nightmares have a strange hold over the surrounding forest, and those who can hunt these Nightmares are considered elite - The Luminaries.

The premise of the book is super super cool. I love magical beasts, and this mysterious Whisperer who keeps haunting Winnie is super intriguing, as well as the mystery of what’s behind all of this. I also thought the characters for the most part were well thought out.

However, my big issue with this book (and something other reviewers have said) is that it doesn’t really go past the premise at all. The synopsis you read is essentially the book. There’s little to no development in the plot, and almost nothing is resolved at the end of the book.

If I felt SUPER drawn in by other elements of it, maybe I would have slightly overlooked that, but ultimately things just felt a tad bit underbaked. I wish there was more to the story, and I hope sequels get there faster

The prologue had me gripped like no one's business, but then Chapter 1 just didn't have the same spark and it didn't pick up for me. It felt like an info dump. I could see average fantasy/sci fi readers giving it an "OK." Too many questions are left unanswered.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the ARC.

I've been following Winnie since the choose-your-own-adventure style Luminaries tale on twitter and I was so so excited to read this because I just know I was going to enjoy the chaos and I was not disappointed! I loved Winnie so much, especially because she sort of reminded me of Zahru from Kinder Poison--she has a knack for getting into trouble.

I also think it was so fun to see a hijabi character in this story! I was so shocked and excited about that! Of course, I'm obviously obsessed with her friend dynamics with Erica and (ugh) Jay, especially because I feel like Susan Dennard writes really interesting family and friendship relationships.

I was a bit thrown off in the beginning because it was in present tense, but I got used to it and really enjoyed the feeling of being in the same situation as Winnie throughout the story. It added a layer of anxiety and adrenaline and it made the Trials even more heartracing! The monsters were so creepy and well written and the little mystery interspersed was so intriguing!

I'm just very mad that this wasn't a standalone because OF COURSE THERE'S MORE AND I NEED IT NOW.

The Luminaries is the kind of YA novel that really appeals to me.  It’s a bit of a throwback to early 2000s YA contemporary fantasy, but also has fresh ideas and a darkly imaginative world. Reading it felt like snuggling under a warm blanket.

Winnie Wednesday lives in Hemlock Falls, a town next to a forest that’s full of monsters.  Winnie is an outcast from the Wednesday clan, a group of monster hunters who were betrayed by her father.  Her only way to win redemption for her family is to sneak into the hunter trials when she turns 16 and survive in the woods against vampiras, werewolves, basilisks, kelpies, and other creatures that want to eat her.

Our heroine Winnie feels like a real person.  At times she’s optimistic and brave, and sometimes she’s bitter and fearful.  She’s smart and caring, and a nerdy badass.  There’s a very slow burn romance set up for book 2 (my favourite: slow burn and no love triangle!), and Winnie’s larger group of family members, friends, and enemies are all interesting, well-drawn characters.

The stars of this book for me are the monsters.  The Luminaries completely immersed me in its world.  I’m obsessed with the different twists on monsters that Dennard created — the vampiras and the whisperer in particular are so delightfully creepy.  I also like the slow mystery of what’s really going on in the town, and I wish I had book 2 in this series right now.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Teen for my review copy of this book.

The Luminaries by Susan Dennard
This YA fantasy started as a Twitter adventure, with followers voting on how the story unfolds, and grew into this amazing tale.

Winnie Wednesday and her family have been shunned because their father’s traitorous activities. This means they can no longer have the important jobs they once held, best friends avoid them, and others make derisive comments. Winnie is desperate to alter her family’s course by taking the tests without formal training to become a hunter, a hunter of nightmares that threaten the town of Hemlock.

What I loved: the cover! OMG I knew I had to read it as soon as I saw it.
What I liked: the ideas of the nightmares that came to life with darkness and faded with dawn.
What made me angry: the societal shunning - it’s supposed to I know!
What frustrated me: the ending! It just sort of stopped.

This is a nice YA book. If you’re looking for adventure you’re in the right place. If you want steam check out something else.

Thank you #torteen #netgalley for the opportunity to read this arc!

Pub date November

I remember when The Luminaries was a twitter book and people voted on polls for what would happen next. I flitted in and out of voting and reading along, and I remember enjoying what I read! So when this book popped up on Net Galley I needed it 😌

I’m happy to say I had fun reading The Luminaries! I know for sure that sixteen year old me would have been absolutely obsessed with this book. It had so many elements to enjoy, mainly creepy monsters and a spooky forest. I am always here for that, sixteen or not 😹

The world building could have done with some work but there’s a chance this could be improved in the final book as I was reading an ARC. More could also be explained in book two. As it was I did have questions but just went along with what I did know.

Winnie was a teen protagonist that actually felt like a teen, and this was really refreshing. As was the lack of smut for adult readers because this is a book for teens after all 👌🏻

As a narrator, Winnie was likeable and relatable, and I rooted for her throughout the books and trials. There was a wee hint at romance between her and her childhood friend, Jay, and it was really sweet.

All in all, I enjoyed my time reading The Luminaries, and I’ll most likely be picking up book two when it comes out!

TW: hunting violence, gore, near drowning, blood, emesis, underage drinking, bullying (extensive), and poison

A part of me was upset to learn originally of this book's release because I'm dying to get the Witchlands finale, but after the initial shock wore off, I became very intrigued by this book. For starters, while I did not follow/ actively participate a lot in the Luminerds Twitter polls during the pandemic, I knew they existed and checked on them every once in a while. When I realized this book was partly based off of those Twitter polls, that's where my excitement truly mounted. And I read Susan's acknowledgments at the end and know she took liberties with this story ultimately with a few easter eggs, but it's so incredible to think about where this story began. Someday, I'll have to really dig deep into the Luminerds Twitter posts.

Anyway, let's get this review rolling for The Luminaries!

I loved the concept for this book. I've always loved cryptids, which this story is not about but reminds me of my nostalgia, and monster hunting stories—cue the Supernatural Carry on My Wayward Son—so it comes as no surprise that this book was meant for me. I've actually just finished reading a lot of dark adult fantasies, so I went into this book wanting something light but mysterious and was rewarded with exactly that.

The Luminaries is a contemporary fantasy about the town of Hemlock Falls where monsters run rampant through the forest and hunters known as Luminaries seek them out. The Luminaries are actually a global organization. A new sect springs up whenever a specific spirit forms and starts to create/ nurture monsters within its borders. My favorite part of this world building is that from every Luminaries sect around the world, clan families go by last names in accordance with the days of the week. There's a detail about about a transfer family with the last name Lunes, which is Monday in Spanish, and then another transfer family with Vtornik as their last name, which is Tuesday in Russian. It was these little details that made the world feel more real, and I liked it a lot.

In terms of the plot, Winnie Wednesday is our protagonist, and for the last four years, her family ( along with her mom and bro) have been outcasts from the Luminaries because Winnie's father betrayed the clan to the Dianas, which is another group of people within this monster hunting world that take advantage of the magic within these special forests. The Wednesday family is known for their loyalty above all else, so their fall is especially harsh in that they are disgraced for 10 years. And dear old dad ran away in the process. With Winnie's 16th birthday coming up, she's determined to exploit a loophole which allows her to compete in the dangerous hunter trials. But monsters even worse than those within the Compendium (Luminaries monster hunting guidebook) are lurking within Hemlock Falls, and Winnie may have much more to lose than she ever thought before starting the trials.

Winnie is by far one of the shining lights of this book. She's intelligent and blunt, realistic and compassionate, and most importantly a freaking badass. She has not officially trained with other hunters since she was around eleven years old, but for the last four years, she's created her own version of training because she wants to be a hunter that badly. She's basically willing to die to end this disgrace on her family, and while many of us would agree that's a bit extreme, the toxicity of the hunters and their culty, bureaucratic indoctrination make this reality understandable. If you aren't a hunter, then you're nothing, and Winnie refuses to let this be the case any longer. Moreover, I relate to her wholeheartedly with her experiences in losing friends. Erika, Jay, and Winnie grew up as a trio before her father's actions, but suddenly, Winnie lost them both along with her aunt and whole community. When the tide starts to change in the midst of the book due to Winnie's first trial, Winnie doesn't embrace these people's change of heart. It actually makes her bitter, more enraged, because it took her putting herself in danger for anything to become better. That part felt very realistic to my own experiences in my life with friendships. You're allowed to be angry and unforgiving because your feelings and pain are valid. Jay and Winnie's relationship really exemplifies this point because they start to grow close in the book, and Winnie cannot forgive him immediately, which causes strain in their rekindled friendship and her tumultuous feelings for Jay. And while I don't think this fully applies to Jay cause he has a lot going on, the change in people's hearts prove that this society is fake. They don't actually care about the hunters individually, and they're a hive mind more than anything else. This makes me excited for the sequel because I think toxic bureaucracy is going to play a huge role.

Now a giant surprise, in my opinion, about this book is the number of theories coursing through my brain. I was expecting this big reveal on a particular element throughout the course of the book, and to not have it happen at all blew me away. Susan is building some tension and angst with not revealing the truth, and my theories are spinning wilder and wilder. I'll be returning to this review to word vomit all about them once The Luminaries releases—notably my ones that involve Jay because he's the mysterious rocker, ex-bestie, bad boy that everyone fawns over in town. But the new, haunting creature is another big theory of mine.

Lastly, going back to my old nostalgia for monster hunters, I loved every minute Winnie was in the forest. From the terrifying chase scenes in the mist to fresh scents of trees and plants, it was a wondrous atmosphere and setting. The details in the monsters was another phenomenal element to the book's atmosphere. I'll never get over the vampira horde at around the mid-way point in the book, and I really enjoyed Susan putting her own spin on these creatures, like vampira, that have been written about for centuries. The monsters gave me goosebumps at times, and I can't wait to see Winnie trudge into there even more in the sequel, particularly with Jay as her hunting buddy—please and thanks Susan!

Thank you to Tor Teen and NetGalley for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC!

I loved the concept of a creepy forest full of monsters and a society that hunts them, those are my favorite kind of eerie stories. At first, it started good but overall the story was very flat. I wanted more details about the world/forest/monsters. It could have done with more details but it wasn't horrible.

Well I'm already freaking ready for book two!! Let's goo. I really enjoyed this story, the characters were so great. I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of all the nightmares, so fun! I havent read a book like this before!

Thank you netgalley for this earc in exchange for an honest review.

Defnitely enjoyed the fact it had forests full of monsters and a secret society built to hunt them and an intrepid girl determined to clear her shamed family's name, but overall the story fell flat to me due to lack of world building and complexities in the characters. None of the side-characters stood out as more than just names, and I couldn't get a real grasp of who Winnie even was. She is so determined and in love with the idea of being a monster hunter, but yet doesn't seem like a bloodthirsty person. I did enjoy how it actually felt like a YA book, very Supernatural meets Shadowhunters. Lots to explore in the sequel I'm sure.

The Raven Boys meets Gravity Falls. THE LUMINARIES is mystical, mythic, cryptic, and downright DARKLY deliciously romantic.

Rating: 4/5
Pub: 11/1/22
I received an eARC for my honest opinion

I thought this book gave off a little bit of Hunger Games/Mean girls vibe, I thought it was well written. With a lot of attention to details, the nightmares are a mix of folklore and legends. With all the details in the book it really brought to life the nightmares and the overall atmosphere was very spooky.

When reading this book remember it is the first book, so a lot of details and background on the plot come out. We get to see why, what, and who Winnie is and slowly watch her development more into her own character.

I do think that there were some slow parts, but then again, I wouldn’t count it against the book. I do wish that we had a little more at the ending or more of a cliffhanger, but I will be picking up the next book. I have to know what nightmare is out there in their forest, is it a new kind or is it what they believe it is.

I loved the main characters and I found myself easy to connect with them. Winnie was a great character, who is still young and learning and you see that in this book. Jay is a young adult as well, but we really didn’t get to know much about him. I did find myself wanting more Jay and Winnie time, and I hope in the next book we get to know them more as a couple or friends.

If you love YA fantasy, paranormal, a little horror, with some Hunger Games vibes you should pick this book up and give it a try.

I want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Tor/Forge for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you so much to Tor books for my eARC and a finished copy!

"Death is a part of life in Hemlock Falls.It's a part of life beside the forest.You lose your family, you lose your friends, you lose yourself"

Susan Dennard has yet to disappoint me, so far I LOVED whatever her pen produced. The Luminaries is no exception, I love how her worlds are complex and highly imaginative, Hemlock falls is brilliant and delectably dark yet her writing made it very easy to follow the story. I am mesmerized by her descriptive writing and the way she'd written the "nightmares" is eerily fascinating, I love books with trials and tribulations and The Luminaries served
perfectly on that front too. The secret society and how they were divided in the clan to protect the community and the "nons"(normal people) is expertly done.

Winnie Wednesday, the outcast of the Wednesday clan is such a joy to read. I really enjoyed her perceptive character and how she handles all the high's and lows of the plot, the sweetest romance between her and Jay is so fun to read. The plot is fast paced and full of mysteries, I am so excited to see where the story goes and I am ready to go on another adventure with Winnie and Jay through the dark forest of Hemlock falls.

If you enjoyed Susan Dennard's books, you will most certainly enjoy this refreshing and original plot

"You either trust the forest or you don't, Winnie"

<u>On a high level</u>
-Hunger games but spooky
-Dark and eerie woods
-Nightmare creatures
-Secret societies and mysteries to solve
-Adorable romance
-Fast paced page turner
-perfect for spooky season without actually being scary

My only disappointment with this book was that it ended without (explicitly) addressing either of the two major reveals that the plot revolves around. It’s clearly a setup for the second book, and because of that, the pacing struggles just a bit.

That said, if the point of this book is to get you to read the second book, it’s extremely effective. I’m invested. I need more Winnie Wednesday, like, yesterday. I need the big reveal that has been so clearly setup from the start, and I need to know what our mystery monster is. I need to know Winnie’s dad’s story.

Basically, I am foaming at the mouth for this sequel, and if I want to complain that this book didn’t wrap enough for me, I really can’t, because it did it’s job. I will be holding my breath in anticipation until book two is announced.

If you you were a big fan of Supernatural or Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series, definitely give The Luminaries a read when it releases November 1!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor for providing an eARC to review!

My only previous experience with Susan Dennard is briefly starting Truthwitch earlier this year, so I was excited to pick up something that seemed a bit darker/spookier from her. Sadly, this read like a pretty generic YA for me and I didn't feel particularly connected to the characters or the story.

We had the isolated society with distinct groups of Divergent, the traitor father with a daughter wishing to prove herself from Skyward, the monster hunting of We Who Hunt the Hollow and the fighting nightmares element of The Darkening. I think I would pitch this more to fans of The Darkening than the others, or newer YA readers looking for something a bit gritty.

The setting was cool, and I liked the idea of different monsters being generated around the world, but I didn't get enough from our protagonist or the 'conspiracy' to keep me engaged. Winnie I feel could have been very compelling, living as an outcast in an insular community and having her family's weight on her shoulders when she finally found a way back in, but I just didn't feel I got much from her. I also found her teeth chattering thing really distracting.

Sadly not for me but could be a fun quick read for a lot of people!