I must say that I didn't read this book but, I listened to it!
Beacause I liked it so much, I decided to buy a special edition of the book!

The Luminaries is such a beautifully written fantasy. The world-building is outstanding. The story is well written with an enchanting storyline and well-developed characters that engage from start to finish. The world is atmospheric and feels real with vivid descriptions and rich imagery. Susan Dennard has earned herself a spot on my auto-buy authors list. I cannot get enough. Highly recommended. Be sure to check out The Luminaries today.

This one was too slow for me, too repetitive, nothing is actually happening. Beautiful cover, but i did not liked the book. Boring and annoying characters, i was not curious about them. Nothing big is happening, no twist, no plot development.

Winnie Wednesday has ben an outcast since her father was outed as one of the Dianas, a group that is effectively the mortal enemy of the Luminaries. She is still required to do corpse duty every week but will never attain the status of ‘Hunter’ within her community, a fact that leaves her friendless and ridiculed despite her mother previous holding the title of head of the family. Despite this fact, Winnie decides she will still undergo the trials, a series of dangerous tasks that would usually determine entry into the prestigious order of defenders of her home town. There’s only one problem, Winnie has trained for years and isn’t suppose to enter the forest unaccompanied.

I thought throughout that I knew where this book was heading and for the most part I was correct. That tiny chunk that I couldn’t predict though – an absolute revelation. Let me scream it from the rooftops that this novel will not serve as a replacement for the next Witchlands novel, it will just make you need yet another sequel from the wide works of Susan Dennard.
I absolutely adored (but also lowkey despised) Jay Friday with his rugged good looks and marshmallowy demeanour towards Winnie. He’s the big brother figure of this one – there’s also the ACTUAL big brother but he has his own thing going on – and while he has his flaws, he’s really just a likeable guy. Winnie on the other hand holds grudges against pretty much everyone because, well, they all decided to be jerks post the ‘dad’ incident. She’s independent and smart but also a little bit sassy so she makes a rather good protagonist for the most part.

If you have read Dennard before, you know she goes hard on the worldbuilding and this one is no different. The forest has its own personality, lurking in the background the whole time with its sinister fog and dastardly creatures after night falls. As a reader I appreciated that it wasn’t just tacked in for the tournament, instead forming the centrepiece of the story.

While on the surface this is a YA fantasy novel, it also delves into current world issues relating to bullying and social isolation. Winnie and her whole family have been shunned from polite society based on something that they had no control over – her mother’s family even vetted her dad prior to accepting him. But as soon as Winnie does something that the town can see as valuable, the change is instantaneous with Winnie suddenly regaining lost friends and being welcomed with open arms. It actually gave me the heebies and I really hope it gets explored in the follow up because can you say society dysfunction?

Overall, The Luminaries is another triumph for Dennard, appealing to the masses as well as long term fans. As previously stated, this one is not like Witchlands and I am definitely here for it. Also, that ending was *chefs kiss*

Had the opportunity to witness this project come to life in Twitter as a create your own ending kind of game, but finally reading it in print transported me back to the world and characters. This is a contemporary fantasy with a unique lore and world-building, and a book that holds promise and adventure and I can't wait to read more in the rest of the series

This BARELY squeaked a 3-star rating for me. Unfortunately, I just found myself mostly bored. The concept is great, but I struggled with the execution.

The world-building was mildly interesting, but seemed to get a little bit convoluted and I started not to care as much when I got confused. Instead of fully explaining the world and how the magic worked (why do the Luminaries exist??) in a way that gripped me, there felt like a lot of textbook entries and quick quips of information. I found the mythological setup for the background really interesting and liked this basis for the world, I just wish it had been delivered a little bit better.

The protagonist and the writing both came off a bit whiny for my liking. Winnie has a strong backstory, but there is a LOT of repetition about how she feels like an outcast and it just makes her feel like a weak character rather than one who is overcoming the crap hand she was dealt. She wound up being a fairly bland character when she really could have been a diamond in the rough. Disappointing. Meanwhile, the writing felt a bit childish for a young adult read and there were several moments where the narrative felt much more like a middle grade novel. I expected more subtlety and more sophistication than I got. This was incredibly sad given that I have heard so much about how great Susan Dennard's books are and now I'm just not certain she's for me.

I nearly DNFd this read, but held out to see if things would pick up and give me something to root for. As the first in a series, I wanted to give a little wiggle room since sometimes world-building can really blight the story to begin with. Unfortunately, I was not rewarded for my patience. The ending is a bit abrupt and things were highly unresolved, which felt more like a ploy to create a series than a naturally progressing story that warrants multiple novels. There is definitely a lot that can be done in this world, but there was not enough resolution present in this book to make it feel like a satisfying read.

Maybe if I had waited and read the whole series back-to-back after it is finished I would feel differently, but right now I walked away just feeling frustrated and likely will not continue with the series unless I hear fantastic things about the remaining books. Either way, I will not be jumping to the next read until the entire series has been released.

I really enjoyed the world-building and I love Dennard's writing staying. However, this is a very YA book and probably not the most enjoyable for older people, but teens will love it. I will definitely recommend this to students.

What unique worldbuilding, compelling characters, and engaging prose and pacing. I can't wait for more in this saga!

The Luminaries is a contemporary fantasy that’s full of action, thrills, and romance! It’s a refreshing take on the “hunter” and secret society tropes. p

A slower set-up, but I AM DESPERATE FOR MORE because I know that the bigger picture with all the magic, cryptic & monsters is setting up an incredible world.

I loved the realistic take on the exiled main character, who is NOT magically fantastic at everything when they try to win back their honour. The number of secrets within this book that are just waiting to e revealed is the strongest alluring factor about this book; secrets & questions about society, her father, her ex-friends, her mother & the monsters.
Also, a shoutout to her mom, that called out those who shunned them after a mistake that wasn't their fault. They are a bunch of asshats!


Highly recommend it, can't wait for book 2!

Susan Dennard wonderfully wrote a story that was tense, a story that dealt with feelings of all sorts and a story in which let one know that home can certainly be where the heart is. There's no need to spend time reminiscing on what could have been, instead look at what you have now, what you could have.

On the surface this book sounds like everything I would love, however I just find myself not being able to get hooked on the story. However, I’m sure others with absolutely love this.

It’s been such a long time since I started a Young Adult fantasy and simply couldn’t put it down. The pacing of the book was perfect. The characters and development of those relationships was so enjoyable to witness. But most of all, the magic system was so cool! I’m totally hooked and I cannot wait to read more from this world.

A secret society and a family trying to redeem themselves set the stage for this trial to the death. The Luminaries has a unique and interesting premise but ultimately it told all its secrets and big moments in the book blurp. It was as if the book was following a very dry check list and did not want to derive from the path. There are info dumps that can bury the reader and would have worked more if evened out through out the book.

The Luminaries has excellent premises but unfortunately it is not suitable for me and more than once I have thought about abandoning it.

The story has a repetitive and easily predictable structure, the characters are boring, annoying and superficially developed.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for providing an e-arc.

4/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

I am very surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I really enjoyed our main character Winnie. I thought the world was interesting and I was totally invested in learning more. I had a great time getting to know the reasons behind the exile. I found this to be very easy to read and it kept me engaged in the story. I am very excited for the next book, I can't wait to see what happens with Winnie's family and her and Jay.

This is a fantastic book that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole way through. Susan Dennard creates a world reminiscent of an M. Knight Shamalan movie, complete with all the feels. It’s a pulse thumping ride full of strong characters, creatures that will give you nightmares, and a storyline that keeps you enthralled the whole way through. I highly recommend this book.

I'm sobbing because this book is SO amazing and I immediately need book two!!

The writing style is so different from what I'm used to seeing from Sooz, but in the best way. It's fun and refreshing, but also meaningful with easy metaphors and emotions that cut so deep. I think people already fans of Sooz's writing will enjoy it, but even better, people that perhaps didn't find her other books to be their cup of tea will find that this one is. It's not as complex as The Witchlands, but there's still plenty to theorize about, even while being easy to follow.

Winnie Wednesday must complete the luminaries trails to put her family back on the map. After her father betrays her family and the luminaries the council makes Winnie and her family outcasts stuck to mundane tasks. But Winnie is determined to become a hunter and will stop at nothing o make that happen.

The book starts off with a situation Winnie lies about to cast herself in a better light and to continue with the trials. Repeatedly through the novel Winnie wishes to come clean and turn herself in. It got to the point of irritation having to read about it. You believe the majority of the book that the plot is set precariously on this lie that Winnie is a qualified person to take the hunter trials but knowing this doesn’t make Winnie a devious protagonist willing to put her life in danger to protect her town. It instead highlights how juvenile Winnie is. This book is marketed for young adults and I’m a believer that everyone can read YA books but as an adult I found this character extremely unrelatable.

There was also this thing with repetitive OCD-like sounds the character would focus on. Like click click click or pop pop pop. There was no reasoning behind writing a character like this. Maybe it was showing Winnie’s attention to detail or to outline coping skills that the trauma her dad brought left on her but it was not elaborated on and was simply just a ~quirk~ of the character. And it grated on me.

I did love the way the monsters and creatures were described in the book though. The parts I enjoyed the most were when Winnie was in the forest coming across harpies and banshees. For a monster hunter type book though this did not happen often enough for me to fully enjoy the book.

The ending also left something to be desired. So many questions as to why Jay is so shifty (I have my theories). Or really who are the Diana’s and why are they hated to much. The whole plot of this book being driven by Winnie’s lie is resolved in 1 line in a conversation. Maybe the intent was to leave the reader wanting more and for their questions to be answered in later books. But it left me unfulfilled and unlikely to pick up the sequel.

I wasn't totally certain I was going to enjoy this one in the beginning. I've read and watched my fair share of YA with themes of inner turmoil, loss, outsider conflicts, and mysterious schools and warrior groups, we all have by now. However, this one was engaging, gothic, and unique in spite of fitting in with some of the well trodden paths of YA- in fact, I think part of the charm here might be the fact it pulls you in with some of that comfortable feeling of the known and then snares you with the whispering you hadn't quite realized was there until it fully came forward and showed itself after you let the woods and the fog get the better of you. It's a bit like walking out into your yard and realizing it had been overtaken by an enchanted forest that starts just beyond your door and finding yourself distracted by the realization just long enough for the vines to overgrow the door and seal you in. What choice do you have, now that you're here, but to make your way through and see where it takes you?