Thank you to NetGalley and and MacMillan - Tor/Forge for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Rating: 4.5 stars, rounded up.

Since I absolutely love the Witchlands series, I was really looking forward to literally anything else Susan Dennard writes. I was especially excited when I saw that The Luminaries looked like it had spooky vibes, plus a monster-hunting secret society. And it definitely did not disappoint.

Winnie Wednesday and her family are exiles from the Luminaries, the group of people that are charged with controlling the monsters that are produced in the forest each night, because her father was found to be a traitor to the cause and part of a rival faction. Since Winnie found that she technically wasn't forbidden to participate in the hunter trials, she decides that is the best hope for her and her family. But what if there are things lurking in the forest that even the hunters don't know about?

This book definitely had the 'creepy' factor done really well. I especially liked the lore around the monsters. While they tend to be quite familiar and occur in other stories, that doesn't stop them from having neat twists and also still being absolutely terrifying. The suspense was amazing, and it was hard to predict what would happen next.

This isn't even published yet and I already can't wait for book two in the series.

The Luminaries is a fast paced coming of age tale with a twist, Winnie Wednesday is a nightmare hunter. Defending her town against evil is a full time job for the inhabitants of Hemlock Falls, whose clans have seen and killed every monster you can dream about, or have they? Winnie has seen something new, unlike anything spotted in the forest before. Can Jay Friday train her sufficiently to find out what this strange phenomenon is and stop it before it kills the clans of Hemlock Falls? A strong tale, atmospherically told.

Susan Dennard creates a fantasy world that is captivating in its eeriness. Who doesn't like a world in which there are monsters and hunters? These hunters, called Luminaries, are trained and vetted enabling them to enter the forest nightly to stop any monsters from crossing the boundaries and entering into the world. Very well-developed characters that grow and evolve as the plot unfolds in a mysterious emergence of unexplained incidences. You will find yourself entranced by the relationship between Winnie Wednesday and Jay Friday. Looking so forward to our coffee date at 3:00!

Such a unique story, I loved this book! The world was stunning with the forests and monsters, I loved Winnie and her friends and family. This book was a fun, crazy ride and I loved every bit of it.

After watching the amazing "choose your own adventure" version of this on Twitter, I couldn't wait for this book, and it definitely didn't disappoint. Great worldbuilding and fun characters. Ugh, Jay!

The characters were amazing. I loved the book creepy atmosphere and the detailed moster descriptions were on point. I admire winnie's determination to finish her goal, despite the towns harsh treatment towards her and her family. Would recommend

As always, reading a Susan Dennard book feels like a masterclass in writing. I was SO excited to get this arc because the story felt so different from anything I'd read from her before. I love that it started as a Twitter Choose Your Own Adventure story and you can definitely tell Dennard had fun writing it. The vibes! The comradery! The banter!

The worldbuilding was excellent (Susan Dennard is truly wonderful at craft), but I thought the character relationships really got to shine in this book. Winnie has a wonderful group of friends that support her throughout the book. There are some great scenes of the girls just hanging out and having fun that might feel slow anywhere else, but work in the context of this story because it gives us a chance to breathe and really dive into those character connections.

This was exactly what I needed to get back into fantasy!

Have not previously read anything by this author so I did not know what to expect, but I was totally captivated by this book and could not put it down

The characters were amazing. Plot was very well developed and and descriptive settings were exceptional. Susan is an amazing writer. I am currently following her on all my social media platforms as I do not want to miss book two!

Highly recommend.

Thank you, thank you NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an advance copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

I want to thank Netgalley for making it pot to read this masterpiece early. It really means a lot!

The Luminaries by Susan Dennard is something special. The original idea for this book was created on twitter as a choose your own adventure, where readers voted on polls and helped guide the story where they wanted. From that, the bones of this book were formed.

The Luminaries is written for that YA audience that loves monsters, hunters, forests, "urban" fantasy and redemption arcs. The story follows a character, Winnie, who belongs to a world where hunters live in clans near ancient spirits that dream up nightmares every night. The hunters are there to kill these monsters and keep the larger world safe.

Due to past events, Winnie, her mom and brother are outcasts from their clan. And Winnie hasn't been trained in hunting for the past 4 years. But hunting is all she wants to do. So she decides to attempt the hunter trials on her 16th birthday. This will help her family reclaim their spot in their society. But she gets a bit more than she bargained for when her trials start to bring more questions to light than anyone is willing to answer...

I would definitely recommend this for fans of Lore and of A Deadly Education. It has the same adrenaline rush, monster fights and just a smidge of old friendships being rekindled. I absolutely love Susan Dennard's writing and I am sure I will continue to love it for years to come! Cannot wait to see what else gets uncovered in the next one!

This was a fun read! It took me a little while to really get into it, but by about a third of the way in I was invested. If there's ever a sequel (which is definitely teased, given some plot elements that aren't wrapped up) I will read it. I will be recommending this book get added to my library collection.

A good book. I love the secret society, the monsters, and the fantays type elements in this book. It was a easy read, which gives it big points, because worlds building can sometimes be awufl, but this one was really well thought out. It also loves how it involves a coming of age type story that's not such a typical one you might read. The writing absolutely faboulous, and this book was overall, such a good read.

Word of advice: don't read this book if you are camping in a dark campground. Especially if there are no lights between your campsite and the bathroom. Inevitably you will need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. At that point, your flashlight will fail, the moon will go behind the clouds, and you will be forced to wander through the woods in complete darkness. Suddenly all the things that go bump in the night get... much... LOUDER!

I received a kindle copy of this book from Netgalley.

At the beginning of the book, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. This is one of my favorite genres but the author was new to me.

Susan Dennard is THE queen of figurative language and weaving it into her story. She makes the reader feel the emotions of not only the characters in the story- who are all either self-relatable or the classic "I know someone just like that"- but the passion Susan must have felt as she was writing this novel.

"The lyrics of her songs might be lost to time, but the ghost of the tunes never seem to fade."

The diction and syntax Susan Dennard used in that line are beautifully repeated throughout the entire book. This novel's plot is like the ultimate mixture of "Harry Potter" meets "Maze Runner" meets "Miss Peregrin's Peculiar Children".

The only thing I can even think to critique is the unanswered questions about Erica's family specifically. I'm sure Susan will incorporate the answers to those questions in the second book of the series but I feel like even giving more hints as to Erica's sister's relevance would have clarified some of the confusing content (don't want to specify as it is a spoiler).

I look forward to reading the second book and hope to see even more from this incredible author!

FWIW, I read the majority of this in about three days’ time while pretending to “adult.” That’s how good this was!

I had high expectations for this book, but tried to tamp them down with some realism— the Sooz Your Own Adventure of 2019 was a magical, unique moment in time. Could that really be captured within the confines of an actual novel?

LET ME TELL YOU. NEVER DOUBT SOOZ. Reckless idiocy is the name of the game, and boy does Winnie Wednesday have it in spades. I adored the writing style, even though it had a markedly different feel and tone from the Witchlands. I loved discovering the various aspects of the Luminaries world as Sooz peeled back the worldbuilding bit by but, very cleverly through Winnie’s constant stream of Compendium knowledge. (I honestly want to start my own Compendium now!) All the little nods to the Twitter polls of 2019, as well as Sooz’s other marvelous works seee much appreciated. Despite the Spring never coming to Hemlock Falls, I felt that warmth of the first blue-skied spring day fill my heart with joy.

This book is perfect for fans of the 2010s era of paranormal fiction, with a dash of romance & crushes, and is an adventure-filled romp!

I loved this book! I could not put it down once I finally got started reading it.

The story takes place in Hemlock Falls. A town near a forest where nightmares come to life each night fueled by a spirit. The Luminaries are a secret society of sorts, all around the world, that protects us from the monsters that come to life each night. Winnie is a 16-year-old girl who wants to chase her dream of being a hunter and get her family back into the good graces of their town. As she goes through the trials of becoming a hunter, she also goes through trials in her personal life.

This book gave me lots of questions and no answers! None. Well maybe one answer, but none of the important questions were answered and I will be impatiently waiting for book 2. While that maybe sound frustrating this book just has the magic that does it for me. And I'm not talking about the magic system. I"m talking about the characters, the angst, the monsters, and the plot. It left me wanting more.

I went into The Luminaries without any of the Twitter background, but even so I really liked this as the beginning of a series. Winnie Wednesday wants desperately to be back in her clan in the Luminaries, a group that runs the town of Hemlock Falls and patrols the neighboring forest each night to kill the monsters lurking in it. An outcast for the last four years since her father was discovered to be a dreaded Diana--a type of witch--Winnie has plans to enter the hunter initiation, which will theoretically wipe away her family's outcast taint and return them to their former glory within the Wednesday clan of the Luminaries.

If only it were so simple. Winnie is unprepared for what the trials will put her through, and when she winds up succeeding initially by accident she's burdened with the guilt of knowing she doesn't belong here. She wants to be a hunter, but she knows she's not good enough, not without training, which her former best friend Jay reluctantly provides.

The Luminaries' first installment is Winnie discovering who she is within her society and how she fits. It's about repairing broken relationships and overcoming the trauma of feeling like you're not good enough--all well done by Susan Dennard. Literally all the other mysterious plotlines are left hanging. Who is the werewolf? What is the Whisperer? What happened with Winnie's dad? What are Dianas? What corruption lurks in the Luminaries? All of that is left for later installments, and I'm okay with that. This book accomplished Winnie's emotional arc, and I'm eager to see where she goes from here.

I knew nothing of the author going into reading the book. While there are some issues, the character development and pacing are excellent. The world-building is extraordinary and illustrates a vivid imagination. The book is trap-like, in that it allows the reader to slowly engage without noticing how fully engrossed they have become. By the end, the reader has been on a wild adventure and is left wanting more.

tl;dr = Engrossing read, recommended. 4/5

4 stars
This is a really great read. Lots of action and adventure, world building is just right and not overdone, characters on both sides of the isle. I can’t wait for the next!

Thank you, Tor Teen, for allowing me to read The Luminaries early!

I was prepared for this novel and at the same I wasn't? I found it both enticing and predictable at times. Nevertheless, it was a fun reading experience.

I've been avoiding fantasy books like the plague recently - nothing can hold my interest, but The Luminaries finally did it!  I understand this story started as a 'choose your own adventure' style story on Twitter?  I knew nothing about that (and still don't, other than it was) so I had no prior information before starting the book.  

Monsters and dark forests are always my jam and this book had the creepy atmosphere and detailed monster descriptions down pat.  I loved that the main character, Winnie, was so into the anatomy and behaviour of the 'Nightmares'.  It gave great insight and enhanced the visual aspect of what the hunters were facing in the forest. I really appreciated the way Winnie didn't just accept everyone's sudden return to her life , after ignoring and ridiculing her for the prior four years, too.  It was much more realistic than the 'oh well we're all happy families, water under the bridge' type story that often happens in these situations.  I loved that she stayed determined to achieve her own goal, despite the treatment she received from the town.

I understand this is to be a series, but there were just so many plot lines left unfinished by the end.  I found that a bit off putting.  It felt like nothing at all was wrapped up - even the very obvious 'twist' that I'm sure is coming.  I just wish more of the important aspects had been explained.  Winnie's dad being a 'Diana' is a major plot point, however, what is a Diana?  It's hinted they're some type of spellcasters but don't recall a proper explanation at all - we're just told that her dad is one,  and that he's a traitor, therefore Winnie's family have been outcasted.

The book is very YA and felt like a 'not too complicated' read, but it was exactly what I needed to enjoy a bit of a fantasy again.  I am absolutely looking forward to the next book though - where I hope a little more will be revealed and explained.