This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022, so I was thrilled to receive a copy. It really didn’t disappoint!!

Firstly, I’m obsessed with the cover. It drew me in and piqued my interest of what the book was about, just like a fab cover should do. The Luminaries was full of interesting and relatable characters, intoxicating writing, absolutely stunning world building, and an exciting plot that had me turning the pages from start to finish.

The world building, oh my! I’ve always loved Susan Dennard’s way of building rich and realistic worlds, even down to the tiny details that you don’t think about. I loved the idea of the compendium and the way Winnie was always referring to it and going over it in her head. There were so many fascinating creatures (known as nightmares in the book) that I loved to learn more about, even if most of them were terrifying!

The characters were so quirky and I loved them from page one. The conversations between the various characters were so realistic and like I was sitting with them across the table. I loved the relationships between characters, especially Winnie and Jay. They were such genuine interactions, and the dialogue read so naturally. I’m so excited to see where their relationship will go.

I loved our protagonist, Winnie. She was someone I could get behind and it didn’t take long for me to root for her to complete the trials and achieve her goals. I felt connected to her and found my heart hurting when she was hurting.

However, one thing that frustrated me was how everyone had the same variations of the seven days of the week as a surname. It got quite repetitive and confusing after a while. I kept mixing people up and couldn’t remember which family they belonged to.

The concept of the Luminaries was fascinating. I loved the rich history, and the author did a grand job of crafting a organisation to remember. The ending was a twist!! And it’s made me even more excited to read book 2. It just sucks that I have to wait!! Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author, for a chance to read and review this book.

This book was fun and fast paced but other than that it was just okay. I enjoyed the premise and it has good potential but this book just didn’t really do it for me. The main character Winnie was very reminiscent of the 2010 female main character mould and I felt that this made her come across as flat and not very likeable. There were also points where it felt like plot twists that might arise in future books were being very obviously hinted at. I think the series does have potential to be enjoyable as Winnie grows up to be a hunter and possibly grows up a bit.

Witchy, weird and so much fun!

I really liked this book from the moment I heard the synopsis. It was something I had heard of regarding witches, which isn't something i usually enjoy, but this was fun! I liked our main lead and her relationships with the other characters. I didn't like the ending, but overall it was such a fast-paced and edge-of-your-seat read, that i read it in 2 sittings!

A wonderfully written dark tale, full of monsters and intrigue.
Hemlock Falls isn’t like other towns. Home to a secret order of monster hunters, they keep the town and the world safe from the monsters that dwell in the surrounding forest. Well worth a read!

Way more complex a novel than what I would usually read but it drew me in and I couldn’t stop.

The characters are so well developed and I look forward to hearing more about them in the future.

I adore the Witchland series and Something Strange and Deadly trilogy, so I was pretty sure The Luminaries was definitely going to be my kind of read and I'm so happy to be able to say that I love it, I was obsessed, I’m still obsessed, the characters are amazing, the story just grabbed me and I need the next book , like now or at least tomorrow, please 🙏🏻

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

One of the things that first caught my attention about this book is the protagonist's name! A family member has a cat called Wednesday who they nicknamed Winnie, so it felt like a cute coincidence and every time I saw mention of this book I remembered the connection. I was already curious about monster hunting, though, so in all likelihood I'd have picked this book up anyway!

Winnie was born into a monster hunting family, but she's been shunned all her life because of her father's traitorous actions. Passing the trials to officially make her a monster hunter is a way back into society, so I understood the stakes for her and thought this was a nice hook. Winnie's obsession with the monsters is also a fun way to learn about the different creatures who inhabit this world, and really helped flesh out the worldbuilding.

While I love the forest and Hemlock Falls, overall the book felt like it could have been more than it was. I've been struggling to find good YA fantasy lately - the old stuff still stands up to scrutiny, but there feels like there's been a bit of a blip in quality with the newer stuff so I'd recommend this for teenagers and not new adults or adults. However, I'm rounding this up to four stars because I think for younger readers this would be perfect.

This is a major shift from the Witchlands series that Dennard has been working on, though I recognised many of the same strengths in the writing. Firstly, Winnie is a gutsy, appealing character. Having spent the last four years being officially shunned by everyone in Hemlock Falls, she has the courage and resilience to still come back fighting. That said, such a hammering from erstwhile friends and relations leaves it mark – and when public attitudes suddenly shift, I was pleased that Winnie is still struggling with her anger at the betrayal. I quickly found myself entirely in her corner and willing for her to prevail as I liked and sympathised with her.

That said, I was a bit flummoxed at her particular habit of clicking her front teeth – the only people I’ve ever come across who did such a thing wore dentures. And on several occasions I was pulled out of the story by wondering exactly how much noise they made and how exactly she did it. I was a bit surprised that such a mannerism survived the editing stage, to be honest, as it’s sufficiently rare to be distracting and rather an off-putting habit.

The other strength of this story is the forest and the monsters that reside there. This terrifying place constantly creates unpleasant creatures who are highly dangerous and the Luminaries are designated families whose task it is to keep them sufficiently culled so they don’t leave the forest and spread out to attack everyone else. I enjoyed the range of monsters, who Winnie obsessively studies and draws, so we also get to discover them and their methods of killing. Winnie wants to become a hunter and has to pass three trials in order to succeed at this demanding role, but is very much hampered because while her family were shunned, she wasn’t able to train using the excellent facilities and equipment to make her sufficiently formidable. I think Dennard gets away with her workaround – I was pleased that Winnie didn’t end up being some kickass heroine who was able to march into the forest and take down a dangerous beast with hardly any problem.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and while the slow-burn romance wasn’t an aspect of the book that particularly drew me in – it was well handled. However, I do have a major grizzle that has knocked a point off my original score – and that was the very abrupt ending. Reading a digital copy meant I wasn’t completely aware of how far through the book I was. And when I suddenly swiped the page to be confronted with the back matter, I wasn’t best pleased. Chiefly because not a single one of the major dangling plotpoints are resolved. I am aware that we do have a complete story arc for Winnie, but that didn’t appear to be the narrative engine powering the plot, so I felt both wrong-footed and more than a little dissatisfied with the sudden ending. That said, I did enjoy the world sufficiently that I definitely want to discover what happens next. While I obtained an audiobook arc of The Luminaries from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

I absolutely loved this read. The storyline was fantastic, the magic system was great. I got pulled in and didn’t want to come back out!

There were a lot of aspects of this book that I really enjoyed, but there were definitely others that I could have done without. I thought the world of Hemlock Falls and the Forest were interesting and nicely fleshed out, while still leaving enough to be discovered in later books. I enjoyed Winnie as a protagonist for the most part. She was resourceful and brave and had a dedication to her family that we don't often see in YA books. I also liked that her mother was very much present throughout the story and knew all of the dangerous things Winnie was up to - this was another way in which the world played well into the plot. With all of that being said, I do think that the book relied too heavily on tropes at times that bogged down the pacing and there were too many plot threads left untied for the ending to feel satisfying for me.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

3*
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

In The Luminaries we follow Winnie, who was brought up a monster hunter but is an outcast because of her father, who was a traitor to the cause, as she is trying to pass the Luminary trials and become a monster hunter, and also a part of society. There is also a mysterious new monster in the forest, and a werewolf who, in the daytime, is someone in the community. The premise is interesting, a bit of a fantasy mystery vibe, but with a more contemporary setting and style, but unfortunately, I didn't quite think the execution did the premise justice.

To begin with, it's just generally very bland. The plot is straight-forward, I don't think anything happens in this book that you didn't already read about in the blurb, and it doesn't reach any particular conclusion. I was expecting at least some aspects of the mysteries to be solved by the end of this, but they were not, unless you count the fact that it's blatantly obvious who the werewolf is from like the second time the character is on page. That, combined with the very rudimentary world building that works as long as you don't ask any questions, makes this kind of read like middle grade, rather than YA. I don't have any issues with the younger kind of YA, obviously, but I feel like considering Winnie is 16 and there is some violence and other, more adult themes, this probably was meant for older teenagers, and it's not quite hitting the mark.

Moving on, Winnie (sorry, Wednesday Winona Wednesday)(her mum is very dedicated to the Wednesday clan) is a bit annoying in the sense that she's so oblivious to most things. I've never liked romances where we're constantly being told about how much the main character is looking at and thinking about the love interest, just to go "huh I wonder why I'm so interested in them" every. single. time. At one point mister love interest says something along the lines of "we should shower before we leave" and Winnie, who has known this man for approximately three days, interprets this as him suggesting they shower together. That's where I lost my patience for people being dumb as a plot device. Further, there is a bit of a not-like-other-girls vibe, with the weird fixation on Winnie's childhood friend now not-friend wearing make up (they're sixteen, by the way) and Winnie being judgy of her friends talking about fashion and boys.

Overall, I would definitely say that even though I definitely have criticism (and I haven't even said anything about the 22 (I counted) mentions of Winnie's clicking teeth), this was a pretty fun, fast paced fantasy story. The ending was my favorite part, so I'd say there is potential for the sequel to be better, and I am mildly intrigued about where all this will lead.

Loved the book so much! Even going to buy it physical now! I LOVED it! The magic, the characters, the world-building. And to br honest, even the cover made me weak to buy it. I just love all of it so much

I'm upset that I don't like this book more than I did. I was really excited about this one and was overjoyed when my request for the ARC was approved.

I love the world Susan has created with Hemlock Falls and the nightmares. The start of the book was confusing; there was a lot of info dumping on the one hand and on the other hand it felt like I started somewhere in the middle and was already supposed to be familiar with the world. I had to re-read a couple of times to fully grasp everything and still realise later on in the book that I had apparently missed some things. The pacing of the book felt slow, dragged out bij long descriptive passages without dialogue breaking it apart. It was difficult to keep my attention focused on the story which unfortunately did mean that I often had to push myself to continue reading.

It definitely has a lot of potential, but I would love to see a more polished version of the story with a faster pacing and without the passages that seemed to break the flow of the story.

The Luminaries by Susan Dennard Narrated by Caitlin Davies ...........I wasn't sure if I would like this book but the cover caught my eye I am so glad it did and it did not disappoint - It was beautifully written from start to finish and I Loved it. especially as it was fast paced and full of mystery, with lots of action and scary monsters.

Hemlock Falls isn't like other towns. You can not find it on a map, your up to date phone won't work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you.

So be aware before you venture in!!!!

Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join The Luminaries, the ancient order that protects Winnie's town and the rest of humanity. This protects from the all monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night of the year.

Do you still want to venture in?

Ever since her father was exposed as a witch and traitor, Winnie and her family have been shunned. But on her 16th birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyal and restore her family's good name – or die trying. But in order to survive, Winnie enlists the help of the one person who can help her train. He is called Jay Friday and known as the resident bad boy and Winnie’s ex-best friend. However, together, he and Winnie will discover a danger that is lurking in the forest no one in Hemlock Falls is safe and prepared for it .

WoW.............So strap your self in and open your kindle or turn this audiobook on. It will not disappoint it was brilliant and I loved all the characters especially Winnie Wednesday She was excellent. But I wouldn't like to meet her in a dark alley, But I know she would have my back!!!!

The narrator Caitlin Davies was excellent and bought this book to life.

I highly recommend this book

This time I’m going to talk about a new collaboration about the book “The Luminaries” written by Susan Dennard. I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read it.

The story is set in Hemlock Falls, a town you won’t find anywhere but where the future of people is protected by the so-called Luminaries. They are a group of families instructed t hunt Nightmares In the forest near the town. Monsters that lurk in darkness.
Winnie belongs to Wednesday family but she, her brother and her mother have been shunned after the discover of her dad’s betrayal.
Her only hope is surviving the trial to become a real hunter and restore her family name.
I had been seeing this book on the net for a while taking my interest. Starting from the very beautiful cover!
The author has a good writing style. It is fluid, it stimulates the readers to keep on reading. I also found the plot very original. Besides I liked particularly the idea of calling the different hunter families as week days.
The ending was a punch in the eye, I can’t wait to know what will happen!
Last but not least I appreciated the illustrations about the different species of nightmares during the narration. It was more vivid. About the characters, my favourite were Winnie and Jay (her unfunny friend that helps her training). Winnie develops during the story and through the challenges she faces. A sixteen-year-old girl with a great purpose but still a girl. Jay is practically me, he hates everyone, he’s smart, he likes very few people and he cares about Winnie.

The Luminaries is a great suggestion to fantasy readers.

No, just no, I don't even know what to write, how to review this, I do not know a single character's name even though I finished it 2 minutes ago, I have no idea what happened except there's some weird ass forest.

Thank you NetGalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

I just reviewed The Luminaries by Susan Dennard as an advanced reader copy thanks to @DaphnePress and @NetGalley.

From the minute I opened this book I was lost in it!

Winne Wednesday wants nothing more than to join The Luminaries; the ancient order that protects her town, Hemlock Falls and the rest of the world from that nightmares that spawn in the forest just outside town.

The trials involved in joining this order will be especially difficult, as Winne and her family have been outcast thanks to the betrayal of her father, and she is without the specialist training of her peers.

She turns to an ex-best friend to help her as she uncovers horrors and secrets in the forest, competes in the trials and tries to re-instate her family in their society.

A fast-paced story that gripped me from the outset. I did not put this down once I’d started it.

Dennard pulls you into this perfectly constructed world, the characters are well developed and relatable. She paints the conflicted emotions of Winnie, her mother and brother particularly well. Desperate as they are to be called back into the fold, they are angered by the double betrayal of a father and spouse – then a society who shunned and punished them.

I felt I were tumbling from one adventure to another with Winnie, feeling (almost) as breathless as she is. Facing injustice and ridicule as she attempts to highlight a danger that is coming.

I cannot wait for more (there’d better be a next instalment).

#TheLuminaries #SusanDennard #NetGalley #DaphnePress

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for approving me for an ARC of this book. A special thank you should also go to Bex for being my buddy reader on this one too.

Told entirely from Winnie Wednesday’s POV we are introduced to the world of Hemlock Falls and all the creatures it inhabits. Winnie and her family have been outcasted by their group and Winnie are determined to see their status restored. With the hunter trials looming, this is her opportunity to gain back the respect her family have lost.

This interesting read had me turning the pages from the start. If you took all the best bits of The Hunger Games, Twilight and Divergent then The Luminaries is what you get. There are creatures, families, monsters, action, a hint of romance, and mystery. Plenty of storylines to keep any reader interested without drowning us in information.

I felt the fear when Winnie was taking part in the trials and found myself squinting for fear of seeing these creatures come to life, it’s a wonder I didn’t have nightmares! Aside from the trials you also have our complicated protagonist who has found herself caught up in a lie or two. When you add in all the usual teenage dramas you can’t help but feel that Winnie is swamped with everything and her family doesn’t really help matters.

The community of Hemlock Falls and the different ‘houses’ were fascinating. I liked that each family had its own responsibilities and played an integral part in keeping the community going. I do have my suspicions about a few of the higher-ranked members and wonder why they are so fixated on one creature instead of another. No spoilers from me though!

I am desperate to see what happens next in the series. I wouldn’t say it was a cliff-hanger ending, as such, but there were a few loose threads that tell me the next book is going to be amazing!

Going in, I didn’t know much about how the The Luminaries came to be, but the blurb sounded appealing and I've enjoyed Susan Dennard's other series.

One of my favourite aspects of this book was the pages of the illustrated compendium; I really enjoyed seeing the drawn version of some of the nightmares.

There were several interesting plot threads set up, including the mystery of the werewolf, the new nightmare, and Winnie’s family’s ostracization because of her father’s betrayal, which I found to be an intriguing source of conflict and motivation. However, none of these wrapped up, and I was hoping at least one would have been. Even though this a series, it seemed as if there were too many open endings and more questions introduced.

As an organisation, the Luminaries were fascinating, as were the Dianas, but the development around them felt sparse; although I did enjoy what we got to learn.

Although The Luminaries overall was enjoyable, it felt like a long setup for the next book, and I was waiting to really be immersed in the world, the characters and the story. However, it does provide a good foundation for the rest of the series.

Despite not quite connecting with the first book, I’ll be continuing with the series, and I’m curious as to whether any of my theories are correct and where the story will go.

Thanks to Netgalley and Daphne Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

An entertaining, captivating and perfect fantasy read. It has all my favorite tropes and everything that I want (and need) to see in a fantasy book!