i really enjoyed this! i liked the world building and the story kept my attention throughout the whole book. i do feel like there’s a lot of answers we didn’t get (mainly about the werewolf and the whisperer) but since this is a series i guess we’ll get to know more later on. however i don’t think this is a book i’ll find myself rereading so i hope i remember enough by the time the sequel gets published!

I’ve never read any works by this author before so requested the book on the basis of its stunning cover and its description.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me, it read like the characters and world were already set up instead of introducing me to them so it instantly put me off as the first few chapters were really confusing.

I checked to make sure this wasn’t a secondary book in a series etc…

Maybe it’s just me but I couldn’t get into it as I need the world built for me and not instantly placed within it.

I always enjoy books more when there’s background information and character development.

4.5 stars

Winnie Wednesday is determined to fix things but is unprepared when she actually gets what she wants. Acceptance and a role in society where she fights badass monsters.

Overall, I’m not sure what to write because while I really loved the story and cannot wait for the next book…this one did have some flaws.

The main issue is that this book doesn’t seem to resolve some questions we may have. Why does she feel sadness from monsters? Why were the twins nice when everyone wasn’t? Why did nothing come back to the hints in the prologue? (I assume it was about Jay anyway).

I suppose all these answers are meant to be found in the second book but it leaves this one feeling unfinished. Also, as another reviewer mentions, there is a lot of telling but no showing. We are told about the monsters before we see them which takes away from the tension and mystery of “oh no! What is it?!”

I did like how Winnie’s anxiety spoke through her actions. In literal contrast to what I said previously, we weren’t “told” about it but we could sense it. The constant teeth clacking and zipping of her jacket was clearly a coping mechanism. Plus reciting the Compendium.

Now……Jay 😍 bad boy extraordinaire but shy personality. You can’t help but fall for him despite his strangeness. I hope his story is more fleshed out in the next book because there is so much more we need to know. I also liked how his relationship with Winnie is slow paced. They are tentatively friends at the end with a hint of more. It’s perfect suspense for the next book.

So yeah, I feel like this will be a hit or miss with some people but for me, I enjoyed the story and look forward to reading more.

Spellbinding read.
Gripping teen novel that will leave you wanting more.
If like me you've read a few books about vampires and werewolves, then the subplot was easy to solve the moment it was mentioned. But it doesn't make it less fun.
There are plenty of other little twists and turns that have the promise of seeing the Hemlock falls that people know come crashing down their ears in later novels.
This makes it more interesting, and a fun, intelligent read for curious minds.
Looking forward to the next one!

Winnie, my lovely, brave, idiotic, badass.. please stop clicking your teeth! A unique system of hunters all work together to fight “nightmares” that form in the mist in the forest, separated into clans named after each day - Winnie, her mother and brother are exiled as the father is found to be an enemy of the luminaries - this is the part that I find largely odd as the family is punished and exiled for something they had no control over, after being betrayed by the father himself. Winnie, against all advice and objections fights her way into the first of three Hunter trials, and changes the lives of herself and her family and throws them back into the luminaries life after years of being ignored and bullied. The further Winnie goes the more questions we find, I very much look forward to reading more about this story and impatiently await the next book, I desperately need answers and I’m invested!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'The Luminaries' by Susan Dennard.

'The Luminaries' by Susan Dennard felt like it'd be dubbed a marmite book to me. This YA Contemporary fantasy featured a mixture of writing types - from mass description on minor details to blunt sharp sentences - woven into a beautiful novel. I did enjoy Winnie and the story as a whole and certain bits did make me smile and amaze me to a degree. However, the ending just fell flat a smidge. I know that this book is not a standalone but I felt like the ending could have had a bit more pizzazz or even a shock ending instead of just a starter line to a new book. It felt empty? And some side plots weren't resolved - I feel like that will happen in the sequel though, so I'm not holding any grudges for that.

Will I read book 2? Of course I will, but I was a smidge disappointed in that end. Would I read again? Yes. Yes I would.

Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, the ancient order of hunters that protect humans from the monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night. On her sixteenth birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyal, but in order to survive, Winnie seeks help from her ex-best friend Jay Friday. Together, he and Winnie will discover a danger lurking in the forest no one in Hemlock Falls is prepared for.

This book was a fun ride, taking back to pre 2010 YA days. The action starts pretty early on, shaping a really fun read. Winnie is well written, well rounded and mostly as enjoyable as a sixteen-year-old can be. Her ability to recite their local bestiary to keep herself focused, certainly helped us as readers understand deeply exactly what was going on and what we should be seeing in terms of the nightmares. Local bad boy Jay is dark and mysterious, which was a major check for the YA theme. Heavily descriptive in the sounds kept me well on the edge of my seat while reading of Winnie and her trials. This is the kind of book that you get exactly what you are offered in the description, and tiny little tidbits more fed to keep you interested in the next novel.

The way Dennard has created and described a whole new world and community, even with its fast pace, was strong enough to not get lost during any speech or thought. Fairly early on the hierarchy is explained enough in a way, that you always know who is who and where they belong, which can often be a struggle when entire new worlds are created. This read would be perfect for younger readers just dipping their toes in to the YA genre, and for older readers, especially those who enjoy other authors like Veronica Roth, Cassandra Clare and Richelle Mead.

This has less pages than the average novel, yet somehow for me dragged for longer.
I suppose my problem with this lies in how the plot was *very literally* a paint-by-number of the synopsis, and nothing more.

3.0/5

I have never been so drawn in and thoroughly gripped by a book before. I binged this book in a day.
A.
DAY.

My emotions have been thrown through the proverbial wringer and I am now left hanging waiting for the next book (WHEN THIS ONE HASN’T EVEN BEEN RELEASED YET) and I have to know what happens next!! I have so many questions! Do we get a full romance sub-plot? Where does Winnie go from here? What does that note mean?!! My brain is going 100 miles a minute trying to guess the answers to these questions. I’m hooked. I want more. I NEED more.

From the gripping, fast-paced plot, to the wonderfully vivid world building, and the beautifully written, flawed, but relatable characters, Dennard has managed to create a world that I have quickly fallen in love with, but also frightens me just a little bit.

A masterpiece. 10 out of 10. Utter perfection.

Winnie clicked her teeth.
Winnie shoved her glasses up her nose.
Winnie wiped her glasses; they were still smudged.
Emma and her twin skipped. Not walked. They never walk.

And repeat over and over until you tear your hair out. Honestly, if I have to read about Winnie’s clicking teeth one more time this year, I’m going to cry.

Now, with that out of the way…

The Luminaries sounds phenomenal on paper. The town of Hemlock Falls is secluded from regular life, and everyone is divided into clans based on the days of the week (although it’s never explained why they’re named so). These clans hold trials on the month of a person’s 16th birthday to determine whether they will become Nightmare Hunters—that is, they send teenagers into a deadly forest after dark full of horrific creatures that want to kill them in a range of imaginative ways, and wish them good luck. Winnie, the protagonist, is four years into being an outcast in the Luminary community (along with her mother and brother), because her father turned out to be a traitor and a spy.

This. Sounds. AWESOME. No?

Unfortunately for me, The Luminaries fell a little short of what I had hoped for.

It was too YA for its premise, I think. I know it is a YA book, but there is so much you can do within that demographic, and there was so much that could have been explored here, but instead Dennard gave a little too much focus to the romance and other aspects.

The villains of this story are the monsters, yes, but also this group of people called the Dianas. We’re given almost nothing about them, such as their motives, their history, their whereabouts, their goals, their motivations… nothing. Just that they’re witches, traitors, and bad. Winnie’s dad was apparently a spy for them, but basically no information is given on how he was found out, what happened (other than his exile and his family’s outcast status), or… anything.

The way the whole outcast bit was handled was difficult and clunky, although by and large it is meant to be, and I hope that this is given more attention in the sequel. Basically, the moment Winnie and her remaining family become outcasts, everyone in Hemlock Falls starts being vile to them… and it is supposed to continue for 10 years. The only reason it doesn’t is because Winnie passes her first Hunter trial, and then suddenly everyone is just peachy to them as if nothing ever happened.

Now, this is addressed in the book. The polar opposite reception of the townsfolk is heavily discussed internally by Winnie, and noted by multiple characters. That’s fine. But what didn’t sit well with me was how Jay, Winnie’s close friend before becoming an outcast, was included in the whole ignoring thing, and then suddenly as soon as Winnie is Socially Acceptable again, he’s ok with being around her? And he’s acting like he fancies the pants off her? What?? After ignoring her for four years he suddenly thinks it’s ok to act all chill about it all? And to make matters worse, Winnie obviously fancies him right back. If it were me I would have told him to go do something very rude and never try to worm his way back into my friend circle again. The only people who deserved Winnie’s time were the twins.

I really do love this world that Dennard has created, but I think that more focus should have been given to world building. Just being told “there’s fourteen spirits sleeping around the world. We don’t really know where they come from or what they do (other than dream up creatures into reality in a really precise area at a really precise time only) but we’re going to fight their nightmares and not tell you anything more about them.” It was really frustrating to read! I so hope the next book goes more into everything. Please please please.

All that being said, I did like this. I like the setup very much, and the world is my kind of atmosphere. I just desperately wish we’d had more lore and less clicking teeth.

This book sounded like it would be super interesting, but nothing happened that wasn’t described in the synopsis/blurb. The characters felt flat, there wasn’t enough worldbuilding, and I just didn’t care about anything that was happening.

Wow. Just wow.

I was a bit hesitant with going into The Luminaries, I was so hyped for it but also I couldn't get into Truthwitch though I adored the Something Strange and Deadly trilogy, so I wasn't sure which way The Luminaries would go for me and I'm so happy to be able to say that I just fell in love with it, the plot was interesting and I was grabbed by the characters and I need book two like now please😍 I have so many questions and I need more 😭

The Witchland is one of my fave series, so I was very curious to read something else from Susan Dennard. Alas, The Luminaries is completely different from her previous work, and not in a good way. It's too YA for my liking and lacks the characters and plot's complexity I found in Truthwitch. The worldbuilding isn't fully explained and some things are confusing, especially at the beginning. The characters are okay but nothing special. I really hoped to love this book as much as Truthwitch but, unfortunately, it wasn't my cup of tea.

Thank you to Netgalley and Daphne Press for providing the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is such an atmospheric and immersive world, one that does not shy away from its horrors but perfectly and vividly describes them. I really appreciated the illustrations and descriptions that were depicted as though being from Winnie's own sketchbook - such a creative narrative tool and really helped me, as a reader, to connect with the main character. The characters and their relationships felt authentic in this claustrophobic, close-knit community. I can really empathise with how Winnie would feel after having been ostracised for four years!

A wonderful balance of fantasy and horror.