I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! It was such a fun and quick read, I loved the concept of the monster hunting and the world that Dennard created. Can't wait for the rest of the series!

“She imagines what tonight’s trial will be like. How it will feel to hunt a nightmare instead of just read about it.”

The Luminaries has a story concept that I feel is very fresh, and not one I’ve personally read before. The modern world mixed with fantasy elements is something I love, and nightmares being real and alive quickly caught my interest and held it.

There were parts that I struggled with, knowing there is a whole section of this world that we have not covered in any detail, including all mentions of Winnie’s father. But I know that as the first book of a series, these questions may be answered at a later period. However, I had a hard time focusing because my mind kept wandering to the unanswered questions.

All of the characters seem to have layers to them, that I really want to find more about. And while we focused mostly on Winnie, who is extremely impulsive and made decisions that stressed me out, I enjoyed her character, and want to see more of her.

I enjoyed this book for what it was. I thought the atmosphere was good and the plot was intriguing although a bit predictable. I was really invested in the main character and her fight to redeem her family name. I enjoyed all the different monsters as well.

I felt that in part of the book that the pacing was off and certain things were repeated a bit too often for me. The ending was abrupt and I know there will be a second book, but I just didn’t feel like I got enough answers. I hope to see more world building in the next book.

A fantastic fantasy story that is honestly not like anything I've read before, Dennard transports you into a world of monsters and darkness so effortlessly. Her style is quite simple, but I think that lends itself to this story, it doesn't need a lot of flourish as it stands on its own very well. Winnie makes stupid decisions at times, but overall she's a fun protagonist to read. She struggles, both with trying to become a hunter and with being a literal outcast from the society that she knows. If you like monsters, dark foggy nights, swoon-worthy guys and strong girls who take back their destiny, please give this book a go!

Winnie Wednesday lives in a town that is unique. It’s not found on maps but it plays a role in keeping the evil creatures at bay. Winnie wants to become a hunter, one who hunts the monsters during the night. But to do so, she must pass a series of tests or trials to prove she is capable. Her attempts are not welcome because her father has been ostracized, after being deemed a traitor, and now her family shares in his shame.

An old friend from childhood may be the one person who could help her succeed in the trials. Jay Friday is a gifted hunter and he might advise her on strategies to success. But Jay had turned his back on her and she is now reluctant to ask for any favor. In the meantime, there is a growing threat from a new kind of monster whose existence only Winnie seems to be aware of. Even with some help, Winnie may not succeed, or even survive, the trials.

Dennard has created a magical world within our world. It’s much like Harry Potter living in a world of Muggles who are oblivious to the monstrous creatures. The families, all named after days of the week, are intriguing and Winnie’s own family is especially fascinating. Her family has been shunned because of the father, but things change after she enters the trials. Winnie herself is brave and determined, yet her status is a complicated. Her relationship with Jay offers potential but she has enough problems just surviving. The monsters are continual threats but it is the mysterious elusive one that only Winnie has encountered, that leaves plenty of room for conflict in the next book of the series. There is a fascinating hint at the end to whet the readers’ interest for what’s coming and leave them wanting more. A great start to another fascinating series from Dennard.
3.5*

Susan Dennard knocks it out of the park with The Luminaries. This is probably my favorite thing Susan has ever written! Excellent. Easily five stars.

Can't wait for the next books in the series!

Thanks to NetGalley & Tor Teen for the copy in exchange for an honest review. Sadly, I was unable to finish it and left it at 20% of the way through.

I really wasn't a fan of the writing, it felt like it kept telling us stuff rather than showing us and it was very fast paced. Wasn't a fan of the world building either. I usually like urban fantasy but something about this wasn't clicking for me.

I loved it!

It was amazing to read and really kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters were fun and the story was great.

I think this is my first book by this author, and I’m definitely going to read more now.
This is a ode to the old urban fantasy novels of the early 2000s. Winnie is an outcast in a clan of hunters after an event that happened four years ago. When she plans to go to one of the trials, to reinstate her into the clan, she encounters beasts she has barely any training to go up against.

The twists are predictable, I do wish we had more romance between her and Jay, but I’ll be reading the second book when it comes out to see if that continues.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the early ARC!

The Luminaries follows Winnie Wednesday as she works to earn back her family's place in The Luminaries, a secret society of monster hunters who protect Hemlock Falls. It's a fun and fast paced story and quite enjoyable.

Winnie may not always make the best choices but it's understandable why she does what she does. When she faces her first hunter trial things don't go quite as expected and things sort of go off the rails from there.

Thankfully Winnie has the help of former friend Jay (#UghJay) to help her survive. Their relationship was probably one of my favorite parts of the books and honestly I wish there had been more of it in the book. I'm excited to hopefully see more of it in the next 2 books. It's obvious there's more to Jay than meets the eye.

This story is spooky without being horror and it's exciting enough to keep you on your toes. But the most interesting part isn't the monsters in the forest, it's the human relationships that unfold. Can't wait to see where everything goes!

The one thing I might change is the mention of clicking teeth because it happened one too many times for my liking haha.

Also if you don't know the how the idea of this story started, go look it up cause it's quite unique and fun!

I adore Sooz, participated in the first few months of the Twitter polls, and was beside myself with excitement when it was finally in my greedy hands.

I am heartbroken that I didn't love this book.

I think I liked Winnie. She's driven and inquisitive and loyal. She also obsessively clicks her teeth and pushes up her glasses, both which are mentioned eleventy billion times. There are a lot of characters here and I could have done with about a million more pages of Winnie's brother and his boyfriend. Ugh Jay is present in an offhand, almost forgotten way and I'm most interested in his storyline.

Plot wise, it was a bit boring. There's a lot a lot a lot of long passages without dialogue (seriously, no one talks) and that was a struggle. It felt like I had been dropped into the middle of story and should have already known everything about this super secret society, the families, and the baddies. I did love the nightmares, the imagery of the forest, and the possible set up at the end.

Overall, I'm definitely going to be reading book 2 because there are a lot more questions than answers (and a lot of shit that doesn't make any sense); however, I'm not sure I'll be clamoring for it.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

This made me question everything that I thought I knew about how I felt about Susan Dennard's writing in the best way. The kind of way that has me wanting to go back and retry out older works and see if past-me was the issue.

An absolute dream! This was dark and atmospheric and I just couldn't get enough! Winnie Wednesday is my spirit animal.

Amazing new fantasy series with perfectly spooky and atmospheric world. Great characters and storyline that will keep you following to see what happens next

The Luminaries is a fun throwback to the 2010 YA era of the supernatural hunter genre, with dark magical creatures lurking in a spooky forest. It's set in Hemlock Falls, where the secretive Luminary clans are tasked with protecting the world from monsters created by the nightmares of spirits. I liked the opening chapters on the various monster-hunting duties, the politics of the Wednesday family and Winnie's attempt at redemption in taking on the brutal steps of the coming of age hunter trials.

The descriptions of the paranormal creatures were very detailed and creepy in the best way! There was just enough suspense and mystery in Hemlock Falls to keep me furiously turning the page until the end. I found myself hoping Winnie would encounter more scary beasts in the forest just to see how different they were compared to her drawings and her internal monologue of Codex information. Despite being an outcast and her lack of formal training, her self-doubt was at odds with her strong will and great accomplishments during the hunter trials. I also enjoyed Winnie and Jay's past history and their new, tense dynamic. Their training sessions were such a joy to read! However, I found that the side characters were not fleshed-out enough compared to these two main characters. I also wished there was more descriptions of why the Dianas are the "bad witches" and antagonists to the Luminaries.

While a few plot points and reveals were quite obvious, they are foreshadowed adequately and nevertheless quite satisfying to unravel. The ending was very quick and lacking so I am looking forward to the next installment in the series to resolve many of the unanswered questions. The Luminaries is a solid rehashing of the campy supernatural genre that I would recommend to YA readers!

Thank you to HarperCollins Canada and HCC Frenzy for sharing a digital review copy with me in exchange for an honest review.

I knew this was going to end on a cliffhanger! I'm going to have to write down my thoughts somewhere before I forget what I think is going to happen. I have a theory, and I'm usually right. The story was intriguing and fast paced, but left me wanting so much more so here's hoping book two fleshes out the worldbuilding more. I will say I didn't love the writing style, writing out pop-pop-pop and clack-clack-clack feels juvenile and I genuinely am irritated by it but I can't put my finger on why. I will be reading the second book but I hope the writing is better and that they actually solve some of the questions they had! Overall, a good, quick read. Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for this ARC, this title is available now.

Actual rating: 2.5/5 stars

Luminaries by Susan Dennard had some good moments and intriguing characters but ultimately failed to fully capture my attention. Where the first trial dragged out, the pace of the second and third came off as sped up, making the second half of the book feel rushed.
Plot-wise, the main plot was too fragmented, with the big bad being unresolved and the lesser bad being only marginally resolved. I did think the cliffhanger was a good one, though.
I doubt I'll be picking up further books in the series, this one was a miss for me.

The Luminaries (The Luminaries #1) by Susan Dennard is a solid YA fantasy, but I think my expectations were just too high going in based on how much I've enjoyed her other works. This series opener is much different from her other works. Winnie is a fine main character, but the story is very predictable and some of the decision making didn't make much sense to me. So much so that that factor could pull me out of the story from time to time. I probably won't be continuing this series.

Oh the twists and the conspiracy theories this book caused! I have so many of my own theories and had so many chats with my fellow readers with what we really think is going on, this is a great book for discussion. I can't wait for the next book so all the loose threads can be pulled and hopefully reveal more of the twists this book started. I enjoyed how detailed the world was, with levels of hunters and politics within the Luminary system. And the monsters! They were so cool (in a scary deadly way, of course), completely unique and well detailed, I felt like I experienced them all right along with Winnie.

I will say I got super frustrated with Winnie and her self doubt that she belonged to be in this world. Without being too spoilery, she kicked ass multiple times on her own and totally deserves what she has currently received. I need her to understand her own worth in the next book. Overall this was a great start to a series with some great world building that I am excited to get more of in the next book.

Winnie, along with her mother and brother, is an outcast - not for anything they did or who they are, but because, in the closed society of the Luminaries, they are paying for the sins of her father, who committed treachery, convicted of being a member of the Dianas, the ancient enemy of the Luminaries. For four long years, the family has been shunned from all activities particular to the Luminaries, all monster-hunting duties - except for the nasty one, collecting corpses, from both monsters and normal, non-Luminary humans, which Winnie does every week. Not allowed to train, with her mother forbidden her cherished career as a hunter and her brother shunted into a dead-end job, the family is limping along as best they can. But Winnie is determined to do more - to become a hunter like her mother, and the rules allow it. Winnie shows up for the first of the hunter trials, unexpected and unsupported, hoping to change her family's luck - and she will. But is the change for the better or the worse?

The Luminaries is a great read, interesting and well-paced, full of action interspersed with plot points. Winnie is a typical 16 year-old, full of concern for her family, focused on the members of the community who seem to go out of their way to rub Winnie's nose in her father's actions, not really seeing the others who treat her normally. Teens who feel ostracized for any reason, or just left out of the cool kids' club, will recognize themselves in Winnie, and can learn from her determination to not let circumstances beyond her control dictate her entire life. Recommended for middle school to adult readers who enjoy fantasy and monster hunters.