After surviving the Trials, WInnie is elevated to a strange new status. There's even a coffee named after her! But while she battles through the trauma she has gone through, she continues searching for the clues her father left for her. With a hand-drawn map, familiar conspiracies, and objects hidden in the woods, Winnie's family's past fights with her present. Because, in the end, is she truly meant to be a Hunter or something else...?

Full of Dennard's strong prose and quick pacing, this is a sequel fans will devour in a day, demanding the last installment of the trilogy.

(I am a Macmillan employee. The author provided a copy pre-employment. All opinions are my own.)

The Hunting Moon is a fantastic follow up to The Luminaries. It's part mystery, part thriller, with a slow burn romance. The Hunting Moon continues Winnie's story as she searches for answers about her dad, the Diana's, the Whispered, and the werewolf. All while trying to sort out her feelings for Jay and put their friendship back together. This book has strong world building, characters, and keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting more.

**3.5 STARS**

Content Warning: violence


I loved the first book of The Luminaries because Winnie’s test to become a luminary made this book exciting. This sequel felt slower and a little more like a filler.

I did love that Jay and Winnie’s relationship gets somewhat resolved, but it’s slow to get there. There is some complicated feelings between them and some things that has to be said out loud but I was happy that there was progress between them because I just want them together.

Winnie is trying to figure out clues maybe her dad has left her but it’s a challenge for her. And the community is still looking for the werewolf, while Winnie still is insisting there is a Whisperer creature on the loose. Her family has now earned their right to come back into the fold and she doesn’t want to jeopardize anything but when she finds out something about Jay, she puts everything on the line.

The first half is slow, but the second half picks up and just as I was invested in the story it ends abruptly. I was actually shocked that it was over. But I did enjoy the second half of the book more than the first.

I probably went in with high expectations because I loved book one. I did enjoy some parts of it but it does slow down and becomes more of a mystery with Winnie trying to put all the clues together.

Tropes: slow burn romance, friends to lovers

Why you should read it:
*you enjoyed book one, but this one is more of a mystery and slower
*Winnie and Jay’s angsty romance
*a few things happen, but at the end

Why you might not want to read it:
*abrupt ending and shorter than I expected, wanted more

My Thoughts:

I had high expectations which this sequel didn’t quite meet mostly because mysteries are too slow for me and this becomes a mystery that Winnie is trying to solve. It’s definitely not a high stakes challenge anymore for her. I did love that FINALLY she and Jay make some headway into their slow burn romance, because it was frustrating seeing these two not being able to communicate. I’ll definitely read book three after that ending – but I do wish the ending wasn’t so abrupt and the book was longer.

Susan Dennard has done it again! The worldbuilding of the Luminaries is so richly imagined, from the nightmares to the forest itself. All of it is reminiscent of my favorite YA books when I was younger. The Hunting Moon is a perfect continuation of The Luminaries, full of intrigue about the world, where Winnie belongs, and who the HECK is this werewolf???? I tend to be good at guessing plot twists (and this book is no exception), so I tend to look at the build up to a big reveal. The reveals were always well-deserved and completely made sense. Winnie Wednesday is full of righteous angst, and I love seeing her internal battle with the choices she makes. Also, she's just SO much cooler than I was when I was a teenager lmao

I cannot wait for the final book in this series!

This second installment of The Luminaries trilogy did not disappoint. Dennard is a master of putting in little tidbits and easter eggs that have you screaming as you make connections. I love how we got to explore more of the dynamics between Winnie and Jay, as well as see more of Winnie and Erica. In The Hunting Moon we see more of the mystery element as Winnie tries to decipher the clues her dad left for her. Once I started, I couldn't stop, and the reveals at the end had me screaming. This book as all the vibes of a book perfect for fall weather, and I cannot wait to see where the conclusion takes us.

A fantastic follow-up to THE LUMINARIES! Now that Winnie has restored her family back into the fold of the Luminaries, a monster-hunting society, Winnie struggles with the lies and events that landed her back in the community's good graces. Jay is being #UghJay, having assumed the role of Lead Hunter and has been fairly distant, not that Winnie cares... Delightfully expanding on the world of monsters, hunters, and the witches who are plotting the Luminaries demise, Dennard brings readers deeper into the forest and gives us a glimpse of what truly lies in the mist.

I enjoyed reading The Luminaries last year. So reading the sequel was utterly delightful.

The Hunting Moon by Susan Dennard is a gripping contemporary fantasy.
This sequel was everything I’ve been anticipating!
The world building Dennard has created is absolutely fantastic. She crafts a dire and beautiful world, and the story she takes you on is one you're likely not going to want to leave.
An interesting and well-paced, full of action read that kept me turning the pages quickly I couldn’t get enough of it. This author has a great writing style that had everything I was looking for.
Honestly this whole book was just really good.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Tor Teen for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

So glad I went back to reread The Luminaries because this one dives right in where that one left off.

This book was so well balanced. You get the perfect mix of mystery, adventure and romance. Winnie is thrust back into the world she was abandoned by and she is struggling to trust anyone. As more and more questions arise about Whispers and the Dianas, and the fear that a werewolf is among them, Winnie begins to find her way.

I absolutely love this world. The scenes that play out, the atmosphere, the intrigue… everything all melts seamlessly in this dark, ya sequel. I love that Winnie begins to test herself in this book. She learns to trust others and herself as she faces challenges I couldn’t imagine.

I liked how strongly she leaned on the injustice of how she was treated in The Luminaries, and here, we get to see make strong friendships and alliances. Plus, there is this whole eerie Nightmare presence that she continues to stumble upon in the forest. All she wants is for people to understand the danger it poses. And when she struggles to get people’s attention, she has to find her own ways of tracking and analyzing… with quite a bit of help from Jay, which was a whole thing! I loved Jay. The two of them together? FIRE

I've stared at my cursor for so long trying to think about how to start...

Susan Dennard is the best YA writer. From the moment I had the word doc of The Hunting Moon on my Kindle, I only stopped reading when I had to; every second away from this book I was thinking about it and wanted to return to it.

The Hunting Moon is the perfect sequel to The Luminaries. Sooz had everything I wanted in this sequel, everything I didn't know I wanted, and things I didn't expect AT ALL and was blown away by. Jaw dropped. Heart racing. Sooz took my brain, heart, body, and soul into Winnie Wednesday's world and didn't let me go until there was nothing left. The Hunting Moon is the Empire Strikes Back of this trilogy.

It is dark and haunting and funny. Its romance is perfect. The lore deepens. The characters are changed and change even more and so many secrets are revealed (some I guessed, most I didn't).

I'm not allowed to say much about the book (yet), but I will say that with The Hunting Moon, Susan Dennard has cemented Winnie Wednesday as one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. I think I have said before that she is up there with Ahsoka Tano when it comes to characters that are important to me. I see so much of myself in Winnie. I will never ever get tired of reading these books, I will never ever get tired of following Winnie as she figures stuff out.
In many ways, Winnie is most at home when she is in the forest that surrounds Hemlock Falls. In many ways, I feel at home when I am there with her. I wish I had a better way to express how much these books mean to me, how much I love them, how desperately sad I am going to be when this trilogy comes to an end.

You either trust the forest or you don't.

This book is brilliant. The world is so real and the characters are so true to life and the plot twist at the end was amazing. Susan has outdone herself with this book and it is her best one to date

While I personally prefer her other series, I will always find a way to support Susan Dennard. She knows her craft and this is a great example of it!

The Hunting Moon is the sequel to The Luminaries. The second book takes place about 10 days after the first book, where Winnie completed her trials and some crazy things happened. The Hunting Moon deepens the stories of the characters we were previously introduced to: Jay, the other Wednesday friends, and more.

While I did enjoy this book, basically a whole lot of nothing happens. It takes place over 3 days in total. You do learn about two or three interesting things which I will not spoil, but otherwise it seems to be a lot of wheel spinning. The “teeth clacking” detail constantly with Winnie is incredibly annoying. It seems like this series would be better if everyone was aged up - make Winnie and Jay college aged, not 16.

This is setting up for another book which honestly I probably will read, but this is not the type of series I would re-read.

This was the long awaited sequel to The Luminaries and I head over heels loved it just as much as the first one. While quite a different book, I think it did a very good job with what it brought to the table.Even though I was pretty busy, I read this book fairly quickly. I loved it so much, that I just couldn't put it down!

After reading the first book in this series, I knew where I wanted this sequel to go, and I am ecstatic to say that it met my every expectation. This book was just as much of an adrenaline rush as the first novel. It is brimming with mystery, romance, action, and things that go bump in the night. In fact, while this novel is definitely a bridge book, I think I may have enjoyed it more then its predecessor. It was a wild ride that I never wanted to end. If, I am being honest, I really wish it hadn't. But alas, I have to wait until the last book to see how Winnie will resolve the mysteries woven around her. This book was a blast! Cannot wait the last installment.

A perfect follow-up to "The Luminaries." This book picks up almost immediately after the first book ends, and jumps right back into the mysteries of Hemlock Falls. Winnie is still attempting to solve her father's clues, and she is trying to figure out her relationship with Jay.

I was so excited to go back to the world of the forest and the nightmares, and I loved experiencing even more new creatures. The characters have even more depth than they did in the first book, and the banter is one of my favorite parts to read.

I can't wait for more!

The Hunting Moon is the one of those books that stays with you long after you finish the story. I’ve been waiting to read this sequel and I was not disappointed. Susan Dennard is a genius when she tells a story you are drawn into it and can’t stop reading. If you were a fan of The Luminaries you have to read this.

This is a wonderful second installment from Susan Dennard! I was very engaged with it, right from the beginning. It brings a tense but fun ride to the series, and who doesn’t love Winnie? She is a main character that grows with each of her adventures. My patrons loved The Luminaries and will be eagerly anticipating this next book. I will be highly recommending it to them.

The Hunting Moon is everything a middle trilogy book should be and then some! The action keeps moving, secrets are revealed, more secrets are created, Winnie continues to be a fabulous narrator. there's a lot of this that I guessed but quite a bit I didn't. A++ of a read!

I thoroughly enjoyed this follow up to Luminaries. I really liked the first book, but this was amazing. Normally I don't enjoy a second installment as much as the first, but this is better. With second books in a series, often there is a feeling of things left hanging, but I feel like this part of the story came to a satisfying close while leaving us in suspense for how the full storyline will wrap up. The build up in this story was amazing. As a reader, we can see some of Winnie's big epiphanies coming. Dennard could have written these in as twists for us to discover with Winnie, but I think the anticipation of Winnie finding out was more compelling. I am already excited for the third installment.