Adventure, secrets, action! This book was another amazing adventure. Written well, character driven, descriptive and immersive. What an amazing story.

This author is one of my buy without question, I found her through the truth witch series which I love and got a friend even hooked on to it. So when I saw she was writing a second series I had to get it

The Luminaries is a YA coming of age story following Winnie as she restore her family name after her father’s betrayal resulted in them being kicked out of they community.

Sadly there is romance which is okay if you like that (my heart is too black for that). The plot has a lot of twist and turns which I can’t wait to see develop as the series goes on. The story flow is great and as someone who has read her books you can see how. She has a grown as an author as well as a story teller.

Easy to read with short chapters and great monster guides. Just need book 2 to see if I am right about a few things

Unable to review at this time. Will review at a later date. I'm cleaning up my netgalley in order to review 2023 books. This book sounds delightful and will read once fully caught up on my account. Thank you for this opportunity! I look forward to reading this book!

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.