The third and final installment of The Luminaries series finds our heroine, Winnie Wednesday, getting ready for the Nightmare Masquerade.

Winnie is still playing referee between Jay and Erica who are still at odds with each other on whether or not they are trustworthy. One being a werewolf and the other a witch (Diana), Winnie needs them to play nicely and work together so they can figure out what happened to Erica's sister and Winnie's dad.

As the Nightmare Masquerade week begins, Winnie is approached by a masked Diana and faced with an impossible task. If she fails this it could mean the end for all three of the young friends. How do all of the clues add up? How can they all make it out of this alive?

A wonderful conclusion to this three book series!

DNF at 44%.

I thought I was strong enough to finish this trilogy, but I was wrong. The first was fine, the second felt like filler, and this third feels pointless. The writing choices have actually made me question if I ever want to read this author again. So many words used are just odd, and she seems to pick a theme that threads through that just ... is so awkward. Last one was tectonic plates, this seemed to be "hope is the thing with feathers." Said repeatedly for reasons I don't get. I also simply hate Winnie's voice. Being in her head actually hurt mine.

Every book in this series just got better! I completely devoured this book, and while I am sad it’s over and I’ll miss Winnie Wednesday, Jay Friday and the rest of the gang, I thought it all came to a beautiful conclusion and all my questions were answered!

The writing voice in this series took me a bit of time to get into and adjust to, but by The Whispering Night I didn’t even notice in anymore.

Nothing but good things to say about this ya fantasy book and I hope everyone else enjoys it as much as I did!!

Thanks NetGalley and Tor Teen for the arc, all thoughts are mine!

The whole series was so good! Loved every minute of the story throughout the entire series. The book seems be different enough from other romantsy books and held my attention the entire time. Would highly recommend

Honestly this was a good ending, the plot was really interesting and surprising but I kind of lost interest in the story. I read The Luminaries when it came out and I used to live YA fantasy but as I grew older I feel like now I’m not the right target for these kind of stories. I do still feel like this is a very good YA fantasy series and would recommend it to anyone loving this genre but it’s not me anymore.

The Whispering Night by Susan Dennard is a YA fantasy with horror elements and the final book in The Luminaries trilogy.

Each book in this trilogy got better and better for me. The pacing really worked for me here, and I also really enjoyed the stakes. The worldbuilding is excellent, especially the various creatures we are introduced to throughout the three books.

I really liked Winnie as a main character, especially how she leaned into her book smarts even if she wasn't the strongest, physically. Her growth arc across the trilogy was pretty well done.

I thought this installment was a great final entry for the series, but it still left enough of a window open for other books in this universe. I really appreciated how many questions got answered for us.

I'm so happy I got the opportunity to read and review this book! I knew how popular The Luminaries series was, but receiving this book kicked me into gear to finally start the series and get on the hype train.

I've learned that Susan Dennard cannot write atmospheric prose like no other. She writes so vividly that it feels like you're running the forest, deke-ing in and out and battling the Nightmares alongside Winnie. I enjoyed seeing the culmination of the story and the character arcs. I love when you've got a fantastic set of characters and dynamic relationships amongst them. It was great to revisit that in a really exciting conclusion! I want to go back to the start again and read through - I need to experience that spooky forest thrill again!

Thank you to TorDotCom and Tor Publishing Group for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. 4/5 stars.

One, not enough Winnie and Jay and that made me sad. Two, I feel like the plot went 60000 more directions and I kind of was....over it at some points? BUT I still love this series that beautifully makes a fantasy space in the middle of a town with a mysterious forest. I also liked how this brought more Luminaries from around the world, and how we find out there are MORE forests like the ones in Winnie's town. I think there is a lot of possible expansions that could happen with this series, especially since there are SO many loose ends left at the end of this book.

(4.25/5 stars)

The Whispering Night by Susan Dennard is a YA fantasy with horror elements and the final book in The Luminaries trilogy.

Each book in this trilogy got better and better for me. The pacing really worked for me here, and I also really enjoyed the stakes. The worldbuilding is cool, especially the various creatures. Due to reasons, Winnie often spouts quotes from The Compendium of

I really liked Winnie as a main character, especially how she leaned into her book smarts even if she wasn't the strongest, physically. Her growth arc across the trilogy was pretty well done.

I thought this installment was a great final entry for the series, but it still left enough of a window open for other books in this universe. I really appreciated how many questions got answered for us.

CW: body horror, death, abandonment, anxiety

In this third book of the Luminaries series, The Whispering Night, Susan Dennard has created an emotional and intense conclusion to Winnie’s story, with fast paced action and tons of intrigue and secrets revealed.
From the very beginning, the narrative jumps directly from the previous book into the search for answers and clues as to where the missing source is. Jay, Erica and Winnie are working together but new challenges arise for them all including the Diana’s. What makes this so exciting is the action and all three working together to resolve the impossible. I love how surprising the ending is and how joyful.
If you like young adult urban fantasy, this is well written with complex solutions and interesting outcomes. The characters are layered, the story is emotional and intense and the ending is one of the best I’ve seen, wrapping up things in Winnie’s world but leaving a dangling thread for the overall world. I certainly hope to see more from the world of the Luminaries.

In the conclusion to the “Luminaries” series, Winnie Wednesday’s life seems to be getting better. She’s moving forward in relationships with friends and her boyfriend, Jay. But there is a foe who is coming to town, a powerful member of the Dianas, rogue witches, who are feared by the group that is just coming to accept Winnie as one of their own, the Luminaries. Winnie must expose secrets from the past that involve her lost father, her family legacy, and cast doubt on whom she can trust.

The Whispering Night has intriguing worldbuilding, with different groups that include human monster hunters and witches and sorcerers, as well as a bestiary of creatures. Winnie’s internal narrative about the different species is a point of interest as the story goes along.The creatures were really intriguing and fun to learn about. Winnie is a likable main character–endearingly awkward, but determined to grow in her hunting skills, and very intelligent. Her commitment and caring for others is a strong point of this book. However, Jay, her emotionally tortured boyfriend is underutilized and isn’t in the story enough to be such an important character. Some secondary characters stand out, but others feel less developed. The forest is so well personified, it is a character in itself. On the other hand, the main villain exudes menace and a dark allure that makes readers want to learn more about them. It feels as though some plot points get introduced but don't seem to go anywhere, giving a feeling of lost potential. The narrative does not advance much at all until close to the climax, which is disappointing for a conclusion to a series. The pacing is unbalanced and requires commitment and trust from readers that something exciting will happen in the end. Fortunately, the climax is very compelling and features some beautiful, description writing that significantly improved the overall rating for this book. The author has a way with words when writing magic. Readers who are willing to invest in a story for a prolonged payoff will enjoy this modern fantasy full of fantastic creatures, dark magic, and strong relationship bonds.

I enjoyed this and thought it was a fitting conclusion to the series! I especially like how it was so obvious how Winnie changed and grew in confidence through the series, and it feels natural at the same time. I enjoyed confident Winnie and her take-no-shit attitude! And I also enjoyed how the outstanding mysteries were resolved (especially where Winnie was so convinced her dad was framed as a Diana but turns out he actually WAS a Diana). I did struggle at times with the writing style - it was repetitious on purpose, obviously, but I didn't always vibe with when and what things were repeated and it grated on me.

This was such a fantastic ending to a story. I'm so sad to see these characters go, but I know this will definitely be a reread for me. I loved the nonstop adventure, the character growth, and wit among the characters. I can definitely see this branching off into another series, and will be crossing my fingers and toes for this to come true!

This was an absolutely outstanding conclusion to this series. There's one thing about Sooz' books that I've come to understand. In the beginning, I'm always going to think it's predictable. There's always going to be some plot twist that I give a little side eye to and be like "yeah, we all clocked that several chapters ago." but that's never actually the plot twist for us. For the characters, yes. But there's always something buried much deeper in the plot that is the real mystery we're all trying to solve. This trilogy was no exception. There's something going on in the first book that we all guessed at that Winnie didn't learn until the second book. But when it comes down to it, this last book had so many mysteries being wrapped up from previous books and it was just done so well.

There's a chapter in this book, well a sub-part to a chapter (I believe it's 41 but I'm writing this review at work and don't have my book on me) and it was so heartbreaking and painful and yet somehow hopeful at the same time? We get a flashback and learn about something that we've been wondering about since book 1 and when I tell you I was in literal racking sobs... it was one of the hardest things I've read this year.

I loved seeing how everything in the Luminaries world wrapped up in this book. I love how friendship and trust played such an important role in the finale. So much good about this book. So much to love about the way Sooz writes. She continues to be the queen.

I’ve followed this series from the beginning, and wow, has it been a wild ride. I love Winnie Wednesday so much. She’s smart and artistic and deeply loves her family. The tension between her and Jay– so fun.

I wasn’t really sure at the end of the second book how the author was going to pull all the loose threads of the series together in this last book, but I think everything came together nicely. Through the whole series, there has been this fear of and undercurrent of a Diana plot, but I don’t think we really get to see that explode across the page until this final installment.

I was so ready. Or, at least, I thought I was. I had ideas about where the story would go, and I was right about a few things. But there were a lot of elements that surprised me, too. I like the way that Winnie’s community connections, even those she has felt distanced from, matter in the way that things play out. Her town feels like a small, close-knit community with rivalries, agendas, and politics. Those tensions feel very real. The loyalty beneath those tensions feels real, too.

I’m glad I stuck with this series all the way to the end. It was a lot of fun. Though the story is pretty high-stakes and serious, there’s a lot of humor between the lines or in the ways the characters relate to one another. I love that.

This is a great series for people who like a fantasy story that’s anchored in the real world with the addition of magic and monsters. Think, The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare (but minus the are-they-or-arent-they-related component).

I feel so productive lately thanks to a few series I’ve either made progress on or finished up and The Luminaries trilogy has now come to an end. I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with how thoroughly engaging the plot remained throughout the trilogy and how consistent the tone and character voices felt. I feel like that’s so rare in any series, so I especially love that it’s a YA fantasy series that has me in such a chokehold.
The Whispering Night picks up right after the events of The Hunting Moon and Winnie Wednesday is kind of freaking out. She encounters a group of enemy witches (called Dianas) in the woods, someone might know her boyfriend is a werewolf, and she finally becomes a Luminary Hunter! It’s such a weird mixture of everything she’s ever wanted and everything she’s ever feared - such a conundrum! Either way, Winnie still needs to follow the rest of her father’s clues to prove that he wasn’t a Diana himself and was in fact framed and then she needs to find him. To top things off, it’s time for a huge gathering of Luminaries and this year the gathering is being hosted right in her hometown. There are so many new people and any of them could secretly be a Diana and the weird humming monster that might actually be a spell is still on the lam, so things are definitely NOT going to go wrong.
Winnie is a delightful character and I love her general optimism, her artistry, and her passion about the work the Luminaries do. I also love that this book does such a great job of balancing Winnie’s family, friend, and love interest connections with one another and Susan Dennard makes each feel equally important. I think the emphasis of strong friendships and family bonds in a story is wonderful, especially with the prevalence of romantasy where the love interest is the be all, end all. The little bits we get to see of Winnie’s training and classroom time are also quite fun, though so much of this installment focuses on her trying to get through a bunch of unwanted duties thanks to her new celebrity status for being bitten by a werewolf.
Overall, I thought this wrapped up all the plot lines in a really satisfying manner and answered all those burning questions I’ve had building up over the previous two books. With this being a series conclusion, I really don’t want to give a lot away (takes all the fun out of things!), but let me reassure you that the ending is quite action packed and has some really cool visuals! I would definitely recommend this series, especially for those of us millennials who really loved YA fantasy during the renaissance era, post-Twilight.

The Whispering Night is the third and final installment in author Susan Denard's Luminaries series. Bad stuff is happening in Hemlock Falls. There are Diana's in the forest, two of them are dead, and one of them may have the answers as to what really happened to her father a few years ago that destroyed Winona Wednesday's family after he was accused of being one a Diana. Winnie, Erica Thursday, and Jay Friday have formed a tentative alliance to solve the mystery of what happened to Winnie's father and what led to the death of Erica's sister.

Things are still tense between them since Erica is training to be a Diana and trust is hard to come by, but Winnie is willing to give it a go despite Jay's reluctance, especially now that we know Jay's secret that could cost him everything. Meanwhile, the annual Nightmare Masquerade is on the horizon where all the clans from Hemlock and around the world get together for a big celebration. This year because of her recent actions after passing her hunter's tests, they have named Winnie their queen with the Midnight Crown.

So now her time becomes consumed with events leading up to the big celebration and trying to solve the mysteries currently haunting her and Erica. When a masked Diana makes her appearance known, she basically gives Winnie an ultimatum. It's pretty much the "or else" kind, so the danger factor really amps up at that point. Diana's mission is the overrun the world with nightmares, and claim spirit magic. The tension runs thick throughout this one as Winnie is low on options and time and not sure who she can trust, especially after Jay disappears after an encounter with a nightmare.

As Winnie fights to stop new enemies before time runs out, old mysteries won't stop intruding. Her missing father is somehow entangled with her search for hidden witches, and as Winnie digs deeper into the long-standing war between the Luminaries and the Dianas, she discovers rifts within her own family she never could have imagined and maybe once Winnie does find out the truth about her father, others will have to put their hatreds behind in order to save Hemlock from falling.

If you are able, please get the finished copy of this book and enjoy the illustrations that the author has provided. It's freaking amazing. So, I am happy with the ending. I am happy that the author doesn't leave any questions for readers to ponder like a previously read and reviewed book which left an ending that didn't make any sense. Although I would have liked to see more of Jay, you have to understand that he is under as much pressure as Winnie was. More so. I also liked the fact that after 4 years of being hated by Erica, they seem to have become close friends again. That's a good thing.

I loved this series' conclusion! The story is pretty fast-paced with a lot going on as Winnie is attempting to finally put all the clues together, which includes working with her ex-best friend Erica. The building for the whole series is excellent, and I loved every new bit of information.

I love the characters, Winnie's relationship with Jay is completely adorable, and I love her friends who always have her back.
Everything important was answered with a few things left unresolved, but the ending made it seem like we could be getting more from this world in the future. Which I will definitely be reading if that happens.

I really loved the first book. The second book was just ok. This book was just not for me.

It was boring and the plot was slow. Winnie was so annoying she’s always on the point of figuring something out and we get a monologue about it and then she loses it. All the time! Also we don’t get a lot of answers in this book like why Jenna was doing the spell. We learn she made some deal but we don’t know why or how or when. And the reasoning for why it had to be her to set the spell still isn’t believable.

Also the wrap up with her dad was annoying. This book could have been condensed along with book two for a full fledged duology for sure.

I do like Erica’s redemption arc although her deal with the bad Diana was never fully explained either.

Her dad was a crow and in his crow form which I called in book one. They are able to return him to his human self. No clue if Winnie and her mom’s no talking spells were ever undone. Also her grandmother Harriet apparently protected the locket and Winnie all along and is somehow tied to the bad Diana.

The spell needed to be completed by a nightmare/human (Jay) Erica and Winnie. A Diana and a luminary to restore balance to the forest. At its heart I guess the spell isn’t evil but for some reason the bad Diana still believes it is so confused about that. Also the nightmares that helped Winnie in the end were the spirits of the dead loved ones? I don’t remember that being explained. Like how? Why! Why do they choose certain forms?

How did the bad Diana even get in apparently it wasn’t the Tuesdays in cahoots. One of the turned Diana’s say that there was a practicing powerful Diana here that wasn’t Winnie’s dad so who is it? The doctor? Erica’s mom?

So many more questions. Seems like this series is continuing in some way and I don’t know if I’ll be continuing with it.

So behind on my reviews!

This book completes the Luminaries trilogy, and I think it is a strong finish. The Whispering Night just cemented how awesome Jay and Winnie are as characters for me, and I really enjoyed their story. All the loose ends, in my opinion, get tied together and answer many of my questions from the first two books. I also liked there is redemption for characters who needed a way.