This was overall a pretty interesting read. I loved the concept of the world and the nightmares they had to fight. I felt like the world building could have gone a little bit more complex. I want to know more about the nightmares and why they attack.
I thought the characters were developed well enough for a first book. We got hints at their backstories and how they all connect with each other. I can’t wait to learn more about them in future books. I also was very intrigued by the dynamics of the hunters.
I’ll say this definitely felt on the younger end of YA. It’s pretty easy to get into the world and the book is well paced. I was drawn into the story. I also liked that main story in this one is wrapped up but there is enough hints of what’s to come and things left unanswered that I’m definitely interested in continuing the series.

It doesn’t matter that I’ve never dreamed of hunting monsters or risked my life to kill one: Winnie Wednesday is a very relatable character. She’s an outcast in her community of Luminaries, and as such, she’s either treated like she’s invisible or bullied and teased.

Her family’s status is a big part of Winnie’s motivation, although she likely would have aspired to the role of hunter even if they weren’t outcasts. She comes from a long line of renowned hunters, including her mother (before they became outcasts) and her grandmother. Her aunt is currently lead hunter.

Anyone who’s ever felt on the outside, who’s been bullied, can connect with Winnie through that. And when Winnie takes the first trial, she ends up in a desperate situation, living a lie.

Plenty of readers will relate to letting people believe a lie or embellishing a story if it makes them more popular.

What Winnie doesn’t count on is the guilt, and how this impacts her growth. This is one of the strongest elements of this book. Winnie is as complex as any person you know. She longs for acceptance, and she wanted status. When she passes the first trial, she gets it, and more. Her anger boils to the surface. She starts questioning the way her world works, and whether it’s right. Winnie’s world becomes more complex as she wrestles with her feelings and struggles to chart a course for her future.

While this book does a great job of delving into Winnie’s growth, it definitely doesn’t skimp on the action. There’s plenty, through the trials and the training.

For those that love monsters, there are plenty here, as well as some interesting spins on mythical creatures.

Even things that don’t seem like major plot points come into play later in the story, and the author expertly crafts this tale, trusting readers to pick up on the details.

Yes, this is a YA coming of age story. However, there are plenty of adult themes, such as wrestling with the structure of your society, with politics and policies, and with conspiracies.

The Luminaries sets up one clear focal point for Winnie: to pass the trials and become a hunter. However, it leaves breadcrumbs trailing through. It’s clear the question of how Winnie’s family became outcasts and who framed her dad will be central to book 2. We also still don’t know who the werewolf is, or what the Whisperer is, exactly. This doesn’t feel like a cheat because The Luminaries completes the focal arc for book 1, and like reality, everything doesn’t wrap up neatly at the end. But this is a good thing for readers because we can anticipate spending more time in Winnie’s world, exploring these and other mysteries.

Don’t miss this one. It’s a gripping story, from start to finish. 5/5 stars.

Thank you so much Macmillan-Tor/Forge for sending me an eARC!

This book was definitely my favorite read of October! Even though I was a little underwhelmed by it, it was still a good read!

First of all, The Luminaries tells the tale of Winnie Wednesday's path to earning her family redemption after her father betrays the Luminaries. The Luminaries are a global secret society of monster hunters who are responsible for nightly purgings of regions affected by "spirits" that manifest Nightmares. She participates in the three trials to become a Luminary in the book. The reason why I was a little underwhelmed by the story was that it follows the synopsis to a tee; there was nothing extra or surprising in the story. Except for the ending. But I even had a hunch about that, though that didn't make me need the sequel to this story any less.

The main issue I had with this story was that everything, from the worldbuilding to the characters, was undeveloped. While the worldbuilding was much more developed than the 2-dimensional characters, it was still lacking in detail. However, it was still a perfect read for spooky season! I also appreciated Winnie's character in the fact she was very much flawed and ignorant, as well as the number of supernatural creatures Dennard incorporated into the story.

Overall, a good spooky read but a tad underdeveloped!

I really enjoyed this book and it definitely made me want to start Suzanne’s Witchland series! Winnie is a very brave girl who wants to help her family regain the respect of their fellow citizens after her father ended up being a traitor. While doing that, she needs to face a dangerous creature no one seems to be aware of. Her tribe has the duty of killing nightmares, which are monsters that lurk into the forest during night. Apart from the action that is very thrilling, I was especially impressed by the way the author describes Winnie’s family situation. They have been cast aside without further glances only to be greeted again when it becomes convenient. I loved how Winnie remains firm with her old friends, she doesn’t forget but she is also ready to start anew. And I’m super ready to see what happens next!

This was a fun read and perfect for the younger side of young adult. The setting has this beautiful almost surreal vibes that edged a little towards a gothic feel. The lore, history, and characters in this book felt fleshed out, especially Winnie who is awkward as all get out. I truly appreciate how authentic Winnie felt. So many times I’ve read books the MC being a perfect “killer” from the start and it was refreshing to see Winnie as a awkward teen who is still on the road to being that perfect hunter.

There is a subtle complexity to this book in the dynamics between the Nightmare and Hunters, the Hunters hierarchy, and the relationship between Winnie’s family and the community at large. This helped add a depth to the story that submersed me deeper in this world and made me feel a part of it.

It’s a perfect quick read and gave me a little bit of all the elements I look for in a book. I highly recommend this!

Excellent story!

This book was good! I enjoyed the idea, and I thought that the writing was good, and the characters were interesting. However, And I know this agrees with quite a lot of other reviews, I feel like there wasn't much of a plot, and there were A LOT of loose ends at the end of that. The whisperer, and the werewolf, Jay, Erica, all of this felt very open ended. The only answers we got were the trials, but even then Winnie didnt get her outcast status removed, it was "almost removed". I will be reading the next book just to find out where it goes, but I certainly hope things are actually tied up, and that we find out what happened with her dad, which felt like the most miniscule of side quests but was actually important. Very confusing, but good premise, fast read and enjoyable

This was so good! So much different than Dennards previous books but still so engaging and interesting.

I loved the themes of forgiveness and found family that are present in this. I love the characters and their dynamics with each other. I loved the lore and the "magical" creatures and forest.

I cannot wait to read more from this series and see if any of my theories are correct because that ending left many questions! Also, I cannot wait to hear about these creatures more and hopefully in book 2 we get some Diana rep because that would be interesting to see.

One of my pleasant memories of the pandemic was participating in the “Sooz Your Own Adventure” aka the book whose plot was determined by a daily Twitter poll. So when I heard the author would be releasing a novel version of it, I had some hesitation. After all, Twitter hive mind led to some occasional, uh, interesting choices, as well as lots of #ughJay hilarity. But this book is mostly completely rewritten, not to mention it’s only part of the story.

After her dad was revealed as a traitor to the Luminaries, Winnie and her family were banished from the order. The Luminaries are responsible for dealing with the creatures, called nightmares, that appear in the forest every night. Considering that nearly everyone in Hemlock Falls was involved in the secretive group, that made for a lonely past four years. Her only hope is to take the first of the Hunter Trials on her sixteenth birthday and convince them to take her back. But the forest is nothing like she remembers it and neither are the Luminaries. When Winnie sees evidence of strange things happening in the forest, no one believes her, except for Jay, the town bad boy and her former best friend. With a new nightmare lurking in the forest and little help, can Winnie survive the Trials?

Some of the world building as definite promise. The hunters are divided into families, each taking the name (and corresponding hunting night) of a day of the week. Each family specializes in certain things, whether that’s training the next generation of hunters, developing new gear, or managing the bureaucracy. While the Luminaries are focused on containing the spirit in the forest by ridding it of nightmares every night, another group, the Dianas, seek to use its power for their own ends. The Dianas were the weakest part of the world-building for me, as it’s never quite explained why they’re so evil. The “never quite explained” bit is unfortunately true of the rest of the world-building, though. How do they manage to keep their towns so secret? How do they manage family trees when literally everyone has one of seven last names? Why is the position of Lead Hunter so important?

“She belongs in the forest. She belongs as a Luminary. She belongs as a hunter.”


Part of that could be explained by Winnie’s character. At times, Winnie read a lot younger to me than sixteen. Of course, she’s suffered without any friends for the past four years, watching her family fall further into poverty while her mother works herself to exhaustion. But the Wednesday line prides itself on loyalty and Winnie never seems to question her family’s banishment, instead rebuking herself for not realizing her dad was a Diana. She trains by herself in secret and refuses to accept any future for herself that doesn’t involve her being a hunter. Of course she accepts the Luminaries’ worldview without any questions as she’s never known anything else!

“So what if last night didn’t go according to plan? So what if everyone was right and she hadn’t been ready for the forest? She still got what she wanted and what her family needed. There’s no reason not to keep going.”


It’s only when she passes the first trial that her thinking starts to change. After four years of shunning, the rest of the Luminaries suddenly act like the intervening four years never happened. She’s welcomed back into hunter training, the kids who were bullying her a few days ago now act like her best friends and her mom and brother get job promotions. It’s exactly what she wanted to happen, but the whiplash is too much for Winnie. Why does she have to risk her life – because Winnie does nearly die, several times – before they decide her dad’s actions don’t matter anymore? How could her supposed best friends have turned their backs on her four years ago? Why is she so unhappy even though she everything she thought she wanted?

“It is disconcerting that he can be so extremely well-proportioned while also being, ugh, Jay.”


After she’s welcomed back, Winnie also starts connecting (or reconnecting) with some of the Luminaries. Some of the other prospective hunters reach out to her, but there’s still a distinct chilliness between her and one of her former best friends, Erica, that leaves Winnie hurt and confused. But the biggest chunk of time is spent with her other former best friend, Jay – who’s also her former crush. There’s the barest start of a romantic relationship, along with a lot of anger and confusion, because he falls somewhere on the enemy to friend spectrum but she still trusts him, even though it’s obvious Jay’s keeping secrets of his own.

The plot was fine as well. What it says in the blurb? That’s exactly what you get, Winnie trying to make it through the three hunter trials. It felt like there was a lot of choreographing of future plot points. I’m not sure whether that’s because I knew the original plot (so I have a general idea of where this version might be headed) or if it really was that predictable. Some things were so blatantly obvious that I was banging my head against the wall going “ugh, Winnie”. All that – and the fact that it’s told in third-person present tense – could be forgiven because I honestly enjoyed the majority of the story, except for this last point. The ending was ridiculously abrupt, like I kept trying to turn the page on my ereader in confusion. In a way, it makes logical sense where the book ends, but the structure of the book and the pacing left me hanging. Most (almost all) of the subplots are unresolved, including one introduced near the end of the book. It felt unfinished in a way that really rubbed me wrong.

“You either trust the forest or you don’t, Winnie.”


Overall, 3.5 nostalgic stars. Without that nostalgia, this would be more solidly a three thanks to that ending. Either way, I know I’ll read the next book just because I want some resolution to, uh, any of the plot points.

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

2,5/5
At first, I was intrigued by the concept of living nightmares roaming the forest of a small town and there being an ancient order that protects the town and the rest of the world from these monsters. The premise is interesting, but the execution of it was very reminiscent of paranormal fantasy YA books back in the early 2010s. The Luminaries follows quite the typical fantasy plot, which didn't diverge much from what the book description says, of the main character being an outcast and then needing to go through 3 trials in order to prove her worth. There's nothing wrong with this, but I didn't find anything brand-new that kept my attention within the predictable plot.

The writing is fantastic though, however, the 3rd person present tense threw me off - it was hard for me to read, but I'm putting that down to personal preference. There is a lot of fun supernatural lore that we learn of the different monsters, but lacked in the overall world building of the history of the Luminaries order. Winnie Wednesday was a delight to read about, being that outcast, awkward, and intelligent. She works hard to redeem her family's name after her father is shunned for supposedly practicing witchcraft.

With hints of a romance for Winnie, that didn't take centre stage, which isn't required in this book. But the way I could predict exactly what would happen wasn't a fun reading experience compared to other "predictable" books I've recently read. I felt there was a special spark that was missing from this book that would've made The Luminaries shine brighter for me, but unfortunately, it fell flat.

"He charges. Winnie moves. And the forest looks on with knowing eyes."

Wow, this was some of the best YA fiction I've ever read, and I am NOT YA myself, not even close. I've recently attempted a different, very popular YA series, and had a breakdown because I was sure that was it for me, that I can't read YA anymore. I'm so, so glad I received this early copy because not only I enjoyed it SO MUCH, but it made me believe there must be more YA that I can still fall in love with! *dark romance reader struggles, if you know - you know*

I won't be going into explaining the story here, the blurb pretty much covers everything you need to know, and once I read it myself, I instantly knew I'll like it. Well, technically I was wrong because I didn't like it, I LOVED IT. The secret society vibe with a very spooky, creepy plot that was just perfect for late October evenings, lovable characters with such a wise and mature perspective of the world and duty (well, most of the time at least *wink*), so many mysteries, and such a perfectly constructed world - Susan Dennard is my new hero!

And UGH - Jay. Let me tell you something about Jay. This book might be YA but Jay in my imagination is definitely NOT. Susan's writing is descriptive like that and works wonders apparently because I'm obsessed and I need more. Like right now.

So, if you ever feel like YA is not for you anymore, read The Luminaries. Well, I'd tell you to read it anyway.

Read if you like:
- secret society
- hunters of monsters
- spooky forest
- initiation rituals
- loyalty and treason
- "we are just friends"

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy!

***Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book to review.***

With creepy monsters, painful family dynamics, and a determined protagonist, The Luminaries feels like a love letter to Dennard's faithful fans. With a richly built world that's intricately intwined with the magic system, The Luminaries is perfect for fans of the TV show Grimm.

I didn't expect to love this book quite as much as I did. Susan Dennard created a vivid, fascinating world, full of mythical creatures, monster hunters, and espionage. It's always a good sign when one finishes a book and either wants to re-read it or read the sequel immediately afterward, and that's how this particular ARC made me feel.

Thank you to NetGalley for supplying me with a free copy in exchange for an honest and fair review. I'm giving this book 4.5 stars out of 5

The opening of The Luminaries is masterfully written and pulled me in from the first few sentences. The idea of our nightmares taking form in the forest, requiring a special group of hunters to protect us from the monsters is quite fascinating. That, along with Winnie as a character who is shunned and bullied by everyone she knows because her family has been outcast for years due to something her father didl--all of this convinced me I would love this book. I could not put it down through the first 100 pages.

Unfortunately, as the book goes on, my interest waned. The pace slows as Winnie finds herself caught in a lie that restores her family's respectability, and even a few of her past friendships,, but isn't sustainable. By the third act, I really didn't feel like much had happened, and by the ending, I began to feel the whole novel was just a set up for the another book.

In short, while there are good and entertaining parts of The Luminaries, the characters don't really develop and the plot doesn't move towards any real answers, which for me was disappointing.

Thanks to NetGalley and Torteen for providing me access to this eARC in exchange for a fair review.

I was enthralled by this book and found myself not wanting to put it down during the day. I really loved the setting of a small town/secret society on the outskirts of an enchanted forest that hosts some truly horrific monsters (and even some oddly beautiful ones). There’s also multiple mysteries at play in this town that I can’t wait to read more about in the next book! I really sympathize with Winnie and her struggles with being a literal outcast in this small tight knit community but it was great to see her slowly start to come out of her shell and I hope that gets expanded on more in the next book.

Overall, it reminded me of books from the golden age of YA books circa 2010 and if you liked those, I think you’ll enjoy this too.

Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to return her family to their former glory and take her place as a Hunter in the Wednesday clan, because in Hemlock Falls, Nightmares aren't only contained to dreams. Monsters walk the forest after nightfall, and the Hunters are tasked with killing them to keep the town safe. Exiled from the clan, Winnie has to sneak into the forest to perform the first task that will see her become a Clan Hunter, but what she see's there terrifies her more than she could ever imagine. Working with her ex-bestfriend, Jay Friday, Winnie is determined to investigate the Nightmare she saw in the Forest that night, sure that Hemlock Falls is in more danger than anyone will want to admit. But she quickly comes to realise that not all monsters can be slain, and not all nightmares are confined to the dark.

Ok, so flashback to twitter 2019 and Susan Dennard decided to do a 'choose your own adventure' style post focused on a girl called Winnie Wednesday that absolutely took off, shoot to now and we get to follow her again and I, for one, couldn't wait to get my hands on the book and dive straight into Hemlock Falls. Winnie is the perfect POV to follow this story from. For the last 4 years she and her family have been ostracised from the Clans, with only a select few people deigning to acknowledge their existence. But when Winnie sneaks into the first Hunter trial and succeeds, all of a sudden she gets thrust into the limelight, her family are no longer outcasts but slowly working their way back into the life of the Luminaries. At first Winnie is delighted, this is all she's wanted, to see the spark back in her mothers eyes, to see her and her brother welcomed back to the Wednesday estate with open arms, but the longer it goes on, the more annoyed she gets, the more she see's the hippocracy of it all, how easily the Luminaries went from outright ignoring them, to engaging with them all again as if nothing had happened. It's incredibly easy to empathise with Winnie, she's feisty, not afraid to get he hands first, but she's also someone who just wants to make her family happy, wants so much to belong again, but once let back into that world, starts to see the the true darkness to it.

The setting for this story was wondrously dark and creepy. Hemlock Falls is one of several places throughout the world where 'Nightmares' creatures such as manticores, kelpies and werewolves appear at dark through a magical fog that encases the forest. The seven clans of the Luminaries, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, all play their part in hunting the Nightmares, researching into them, protecting the non's, people who aren't Luminaries but live in the world, and mundanes, regular humans who have no knowledge of the Luminaries, from the dangers that lurk in the forest. The world was incredibly well built, and thanks to Winnie's near eidetic memory for the Compendium, we get to learn plenty about all the different kind of Nightmares that prowl the forest, as well as all the Clans responsibilities within the luminaries.

Dennard has a knack for writing incredibly well paced stories, filled with tension, drama and emotions, and The Luminaries was no different. During Winnie's trials to become a Hunter, her time in the forest, the tension bleeds off the pages. She's the MC, so we have a good idea no real harm will come to her, but Dennard still manages to put that niggle of uncertainty into our heads every time she gets into some sort of trouble. Her writing style brings Hemlock Falls, the people and Nightmares that inhabit it to life and some of my favourite scenes were the ones where we see our characters in some kind of battle, something Dennard is extremely skilled in writing. But I also loved how much time we spend in Winnie's head. Seeing her internal warring and indecision over how easily the Luminaries have let her back into their ranks, their absolute lack of acknowledgement of the past 4 years, but also her desperate need to become a Hunter, give her family back their lives, live up to all the Wednesday's that have come before her.

Ugh Jay was exactly the kind of brooding, swoon worthy, heartthrob my teenage self would have adored... and my adult self adored him just as much. After Winnie begrudgingly asks him for help to catch up on the four years of training she missed out on, they end up spending a significant amount of time together, fighting, sweaty, and it doesn't take long for Winnie to start to realise just how much Jay has grown into a man in the last four years. But, like with the other Luminaries, Winnie finds it hard to trust him fully after he dropped her so easily when her family became outcasts. Something that adds tension to their scenes, as well as making their relationship wondrously slow burn. Their scenes together were hilarious, but also a little steamy in parts, and I cannot wait to get more of them in the next book.

Dennard did a wonderful job of winding this story line up, whilst leaving lots of little plot points open for the next book and I have so many theories, about things I can't talk about because... spoilers. I loved the 'choose your own adventure', which Susan is running on her twitter again if you're interested, but I adored the book so much more and suffice to say I am desperately eager to get my hands on the next book.

This is one of my favorite things that Sooz has written! It is this perfect blend of her previous two series. All of the worldbuilding and magic of the Witchlands with the fun and readability of Something Strange and Deadly.

The monsters that exist in this world (which seem to mostly be based off of our own myths) are so well written on the page they come alive while you're reading them. They are definitely nightmare inducing and yet reading about the Luminaries taking them down fills you with adrenaline like you're fighting alongside Winnie and the others.

I love the mystery aspect that we're given of trying to figure out who the werewolf is (thought I'm sure we alllll know who it is) and also what happened with Winnie's dad. And what is the Whisperer? There are plenty of mysteries for us to try to solve.

I always love Sooz' books, they fill me with joy reading her books, but I've been on a YA spooky kick for the past year or so and this one really fit the bill!

I really enjoyed this. It was very creative and unique. There is a lot of mystery that keep the reader entertained from start to finish. I will definitely continue this series. There were so many things that come to light and I am dying to get all of the answers.

My biggest complaint was that this almost felt like a prequel book. I have so many questions and so little answers. I understand wanting a cliff hanger.. but I felt like I still knew nothing at the end of this book.

Overall, I am invested because I think it has a lot of potential but just with I had a few more answers at the end of this book!

I'm giving The Luminaries a very hopeful four-star rating. In truth, the setup is a little shaky at times, a little caught up in the details, but by the end, it looks like this series is heading in a very interesting direction.

"All around the world, the Luminaries live near fourteen sleeping spirits. Each night, when the spirits dream, their nightmares come to life. And each night, the Luminary hunters guard the world against those nightmares, one clan for every day of the week."

I tend to be more lenient when rating the first book in a fantasy series. When you're creating a new world, even if it's based on a recognisable setting, there's still a lot of groundwork to lay. And The Luminaries certainly does not skimp on the details. The nightmares in the forest are based in legend and folklore, and the family hierarchies protecting the world from these nightmares have their work cut out for them.

I do think too much time was wasted on things that didn't seem necessary to the plot, but it's hard to know for sure until this series is completed. At this point, anything could end up being important, but it sometimes felt a little clunky and a little slow. Of course, that could also be because I just wanted more and more information about these delightfully creepy nightmares.

As long as my hopeful four stars don't turn out to be a premature four stars, I think this will be a series to look out for.

Personally, I didn’t care for the writing. It was kinda clunky and didn’t have great flow. The main character also gives off major "I’m not like other girls" energy, and she lacks some depth.

A second book is set up in the end, but I can’t say this one grabbed me enough to anticipate its release.

The trials and action were pretty good along with the observations of taboo/social outcast.

Childhood friends —> something more?
Coming of age
Friendship