i love this book. this is a perfect sequel to the first one, we get to see the aftermath of what happened and what our protagonist thinks about this new chapter in her life. also, we got answers! And more questions, obviously, but i really like this serie and i can't wait to read the third one!

So excited to read The Hunting Moon.

This sequel continued the easy to read and enjoyable story.

The characters are written so well you can’t help but invest emotionally in their journey.

This second instalment in Susan Dennard's Luminaries series cemented in my mind my love for this series. It's classic YA, with all the insular small-town vibes I'm looking for over spooky season. The Luminaries provided the perfect autumn backdrop, and The Hunting Moon was no different. The eerie forest atmosphere called to mind the feelings of thick fog and leaves underfoot. This whole series feels like being lost in the woods, feeling like you've already seen the trees in front of you before, breathing in a biting chill as the light starts to fade.

The Hunting Moon, as with book one, feels super easy to read, and addictive - but where I think The Luminaries stands out is Dennard's skilful fantasy writing talents. Yes, this is a fairly simplistic YA series that fits on the lower-YA age range, but it written with all the talent and care of a seasoned adult fantasy writer. This lends itself to a very elegantly plotted story, with fleshed out world building and an interesting magic system that reveals itself more and more with each book.

The key mysteries in this series are adeptly woven throughout, striking a perfect balance of intrigue and pay-off.

Overall, the Hunting Moon give us perfect autumn vibes with a satisfyingly addictive plot and romance, with three-dimensional teen characters.

Thanks to Netgalley, Daphne Press and Susan Dennard for providing me with this ARC!!

This second instalment in Susan Dennard's Luminaries series cemented in my mind my love for this series. It's classic YA, with all the insular small-town vibes I'm looking for over spooky season. The Luminaries provided the perfect autumn backdrop, and The Hunting Moon was no different. The eerie forest atmosphere called to mind the feelings of thick fog and leaves underfoot. This whole series feels like being lost in the woods, feeling like you've already seen the trees in front of you before, breathing in a biting chill as the light starts to fade.

The Hunting Moon, as with book one, feels super easy to read, and addictive - but where I think The Luminaries stands out is Dennard's skilful fantasy writing talents. Yes, this is a fairly simplistic YA series that fits on the lower-YA age range, but it written with all the talent and care of a seasoned adult fantasy writer. This lends itself to a very elegantly plotted story, with fleshed out world building and an interesting magic system that reveals itself more and more with each book.

The key mysteries in this series are adeptly woven throughout, striking a perfect balance of intrigue and pay-off.

Overall, the Hunting Moon give us perfect autumn vibes with a satisfyingly addictive plot and romance, with three-dimensional teen characters.

I was especially delighted to get hold of a copy of The Hunting Moon, as The Luminaries proved to be a memorable read. I found myself thinking a lot about young Wednesday – but even more about the vivid and claustrophobic world Dennard has depicted with her magical forest inhabited by all sorts of lethal monsters. So I was eagerly anticipating this offering.

Has Dennard managed to keep the tension and excellent worldbuilding moving forward in The Hunting Moon? Yes, she has. Once again, I found myself right alongside Wednesday as she deals with the fallout from the night she nearly died. As a YA read, emotions are dialled up high and Wednesday is often ambushed by her conflicted reactions as she is confronted with a series of difficult revelations. While I’m far from being the target audience, overall I think Dennard successfully negotiates the fine line between Wednesday being a thoroughly sympathetic protagonist and becoming too whiny and indecisive to convincingly cope.

I found the world just as intriguing and vivid this second time around. The amazing creatures that inhabit the forest – along with those fabulous drawings – are a constant delight. And I liked that Wednesday is increasingly torn over the Luminaries’ automatic reflex to kill everything they label a monster. Her unfolding relationship with Jay works well, even though that isn’t the part of the story that particularly interests me. I also like that Wednesday hasn’t been somehow transformed into a superb hunter. She’s still struggling with her fitness and forest craft which puts her at risk at crucial moments. Especially as she also wears glasses…

The one grizzle I have, is that the pace dipped midway into the story. And that’s down to the continual repetitions. I’m aware there are a number of plot threads within the storyline. I’m also aware that Wednesday is wrestling with some decisions that will have a huge impact on her future – and probably the future of everyone in their community. But those repetitions did silt up the narrative drive and slow down the momentum at a time in the book when everything needed to keep moving forward.

That said, the pace picked up again in the final act. And while the revelation at the end of this book isn’t as shocking as the doozy at the end of The Luminaries – I was nevertheless glad to have my suspicions confirmed. All in all, this was another cracking read and I’m now waiting for the next slice of the adventure. Highly recommended for fans of YA fantasy full of dangerous monsters, a difficult family dynamic and a vivid landscape. While I obtained an arc of The Hunting Moon from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

i love this book. this is a perfect sequel to the first one, we get to see the aftermath of what happened and what our protagonist thinks about this new chapter in her life. also, we got answers! And more questions, obviously, but i really like this serie and i can't wait to read the third one!

A great return to Hemlock Falls and it's great to see Winnie again. Continuing directly on from the first book it seemed seamless. Winnie has what she has always wanted but still it feels wrong. Read the book to find out. Looking forward to the next one !

The Hunting Moon 🌙
5/5✨

Thank you blackcrow for allowing me to join the blog tour for the hunting moon, this is the second book in the luminaries series.

I loved this second instalment into the luminaries series, I found it to be a quick and easy read. I enjoyed how we went straight from the end of book one into book two, this just made the story more familiar to me and meant I still have that connection I had with the characters in the first book.

Oh Winnie Wednesday! How I loved her story progression in this book, she become more confident and finally started to let people in. Also seeing her relationship grow with Jay was so heartwarming to read, it’s these romances that I live for in YA fantasy.

Thanks again to daphne press and blackcrow pr for organising this blog tour and sending me an arc of the book.

I absolutely love this series and with every book it reignites my love for YA fantasy. I love these characters, I love this world and I just love the whole premise of it all.

Winnie is an amazing character who is dealing with the after effects of The Luminaries and trying to put the pieces together. Winnie is hands down one of my favourite characters. She has her flaws but it just makes her more relatable and I have loved going on this journey with her and watching her grow.

As I said before I love this world that Dennard has created and in this book we learnt more lore and more about the Dianas which I am all here for. I love how this world is growing and the mystery behind it all.

Whilst I had guessed one of the big reveals I didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book and I'm desperate for the next book in the series. I need to know what happens in Winnie and Jay's journey!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Daphne Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Hunting Moon had surprises and expected elements. It maintained that lighter feel than some YA fantasy and I appreciated that. I still maintain it gives something of a vampire academy vibe in terms of atmosphere.

I really liked the houses (days), their different purposes and I understood it more in this second book. The plot centred to some degree on werewolves (guessed who) and nightmares. A bit of party atmosphere ensued alongside the serious stuff that sometimes felt a little out of sync but I went with it.

Winnie is an incredibly likeable character and she spent this book evolving uncomfortably into her new found status while chasing answers from her father. Winnie's mother was hard to work out as were some of the other characters.

Overall, a solid installment that I liked but not as much as book one.

Thank you Daphne Press for the review copy.

— 3.5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 | 352 pages
👤 | author Susan Dennard
🏢 | publisher Daphne Press
📅 | release date 7 November 2023

I really enjoyed this one! The slow start found me initially struggling, however the second half of this book quickly redeemed itself and set the tone for the storyline. The Hunting Moon continues to follow Winnie Wednesday as she attempts to uncover her father's clues in a town that refuse to believe her. The Whisperer is a new nightmare that's killing hunters every night unbeknownst to the residents of Hemlock Falls. Winnie is determined to prove she is right and to prove the innocence of the werewolf that is shouldering the blame. As bodies and secrets pile up around town, Winnie finds herself questioning what it means to be a true Wednesday and a true Luminary—and also where her fierce-hearted loyalties might ultimately have to lie.

Honestly this series has everything you could hope for and expect in a YA Fantasy series. A small-town mystery, romance and adventure. Although the pacing of the first-half let me down, I was glad to see this being redeemed in the second half as the story took a turn. This series offers a moody and gothic atmosphere that's perfect to delve into within the colder months, and I definitely recommend picking this one up if you're in search of a new YA Fantasy series to pick up. I'm definitely looking forward to the next addition to the series!

Thank you to Daphne Press and NetGalley for the DRC in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to Daphne Press for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Hunting Moon’ by Susan Dennard.

In this, Book Two of The Luminaries Trilogy, we return to the creepy town of Hemlock Falls to continue the story of Winona (Winnie) Wednesday as she continues her fight against the monstrous nightmares that arise in the forest outside the town.

As this is part of a trilogy and so a continuous story, the books should be read in order. I won’t say more about the plot in ‘The Hunting Moon’ in order to avoid giving details of events that took place in ‘The Luminaries’ for those who have yet to read it.

As I observed in my review of ‘The Illuminaries’, this trilogy is intended for a Teen/YA readership and does read quite young. Even though I wasn’t particularly invested in the novel’s romantic themes, I didn’t find these overly cloying.

‘The Hunting Moon’ is beautifully presented with striking cover art by Micaela Alcaino, a map of Hemlock Falls, and a scattering of illustrations by Kerby Rosanes that depict more creatures from the Luminary compendium.

Overall, I found ‘The Hunting Moon’ an engaging second volume that progressed the overall plot and character development. I was pleased that Susan Dennard provided more background on the unique society of Hemlock Falls, the Dianas, and the nature of the Nightmares. I look forward to reading Book 3 in due course.

The Hunting Moon was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023, I’ve been craving it since the moment I read the last page of The Luminaries.
But unfortunately, I think my expectations were a little too high and I ended up a bit disappointed.

What bothered me the most, is how slow it was, nothing really happened in the first half of the book, except for Winnie to whine about how no one cares about the death of Grayson Friday or how they make light of what she went through in the forest, and I get her, I too would be pissed if someone went around saying I’m the Girl Who Jumped or The Girl Who Got Bitten, but she whines so much about it that it became a bit annoying.

Fortunately by the second half of the book things started to pick up and I was reminded of why I loved The Luminaries so much, there’s something so compelling about this world that Susan created, not only the vibes of the early 2010 YA books but how she truly knows how to evoque this mystical magical atmosphere.

The end was really surprising and I can’t honestly wait to read the next one, hopefully there’ll be more world building, which was something I felt lacked in this one and something that I really want to know more about.

Thanks Netgalley and Daphne Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review

The Hunting Moon is Susan Dennard’s sequel to The Luminaries and follows Winnie Wednesday, a girl who was shunned from the Luminaries along with the rest of her family for the crimes of her father, or so she believed. After passing the deadly hunter trails, Winnie and her family are welcomed back, and Winnie inadvertently becomes a local celebrity but faces a dangerous new nightmare named The Whisper. The nightmare threatens everyone in Hemlock Falls, and Winnie must save the day and solve her father’s clues about his apparent framing. As bodies and secrets accumulate, Winnie grapples with the challenges of being a true Wednesday and Luminary, in addition to the true cost of fighting the nightmares of the forest.
Similarly to the first book, The Hunting Moon has a decent pace to it, but the story moves a lot faster in the later part of the book. The first half shows Winnie dealing with the struggle of suddenly becoming important to people within Hemlock Falls. No longer ostracized because of her bravery in her hunter trials, Winnie has gotten everything she ever dreamed of. Her mother is welcomed into the Wednesday clan, her brother’s career is back on track, and she now has friends. While it is interesting to see Winnie grapple with the fact that she still feels as if she is missing something, the first half of the book lacked the complexity or adrenaline that the second half offered. The book is stronger when it focuses on the mystery of Winnie’s father, the new complexities of the nightmares within the forest. Winnie will learn that not all nightmares can be dangerous, just like not all hunters need to follow their clan’s code as closely as she once believed.
This book fits perfectly into the young adult category, but having the main character question layered issues such as the cost of being a hunter, how death is entwined in their lives and how Winnie begins to see the complexities of the world. She no longer sees the black-and-white fame and glory of the hunter's lives but rather the cost of the hunt in blood and heartache, something that echoes through Winnie’s ambiguous loss in regard to her father, a man she adored but had come to hate in those four years she was an outcast. Having Winnie question and feel these things elevates it from just a young adult novel to something a mature reader could enjoy.
There are many interesting dynamics in the second book of the series, but the romantic subplot is not one of them. It diverts from the complexity of the world, and while it can be argued that this is a staple of the genre, the emotionally tortured guitar player, who is both aloof outside and popular, feels reductive to an otherwise interesting plot. Other characters grow and develop, but the tortured musician doesn’t show that until roughly 210 pages in. Focusing more on Erica, the protagonist's former best friend, would have been a stronger story that wouldn’t have disrupted the pacing.
The first book had tension when Winnie faced her hunter trials with everything stacked against her, and this book is more of a supernatural detective novel that Dennard transitions to seamlessly while maintaining everything good about the first book. Dennard is brilliant at capturing the tension and anxiety in the forest, especially when the mist and nightmares arise.
The Hunting Moon is a successful follow-up to The Luminaries, adding a new outlook on the world of Hemlock Falls and even the nightmare residences of the forest. The second half of the book grips you that remains even with the sporadic and unnecessary romantic subplot.

The Hunting Moon starts off a bit slow, but trust me, it gets really exciting as you continue reading and I actually find it difficult to put it down.
Although some of the twists might be a tad predictable, I had a great time following Winnie's journey as she uncovers Hemlock Falls' secrets. We finally get some answers to questions that were left unanswered in book 1, but naturally, that leads to even more questions which just makes me even more excited for the next book!
Having said that, I must admit there's still a lot of teeth clicking in this book (again), which can be a bit frustrating (again).
But overall, it's definitely worth a read!

The Hunting Moon is second part in The Luminaries series by Susan Dennard. As you might guess, the first part in this series is called The Luminaries. I really loved the first part and was really looking forward to it's sequel. But what will Susan Dennard bring in this story? Which adventures will Winnie come across?

Susan Dennard has a really nice writing style and a nice pace. However the first half of the book you really have to get into. It does have a thight connection to The Luminaries, so it might be better to read the books in a row (which I did not). In this book there might seem to be less dangers lurking, however there are three big pieces of the puzzle that have yet to be solved. Susan Dennard will take the reader on a quest to find the missing pieces and solve some open questions.

Winnie still is the main character in this book. She has managed to create some friends and really knows who she can trust. Therefore the storyline is giving you a lot of hints in the search for answers, but also forms new questions. I think there is a good balance between plottwists and solving the problems. I really liked to read more about the search for the Dianas, the werewolf and of course the Whispering.

This story is mysterious and compelling, even though I feel like it is not as good as The Luminaries. This series however is really something which all fantasy readers would enjoy reading so far. I enjoyed reading The Hunting Moon and am curious about what else this series will bring. Therefore I give it a 3,5 star rating.

In The Hunting Moon, we return to the small town of Hemlock Falls, where Winnie Wednesday has completed the deadly hunter trials and her disgraced family has been accepted back into the Luminaries. But Winnie has no recollection of some of the events of her last trial, and nobody believes her account of the new nightmare, the Whisperer, which kills hunters every night. Instead, the town holds a werewolf responsible and a hunt for the lycan begins, while Winnie follows her father's clues and slowly unravels the mystery of what happened to him four years ago, when he was framed as a Diana.

I really liked The Luminaries, and with The Hunting Moon, Susan Dennard has accomplished quite the coup: she has delivered an atmospheric read which I enjoyed more than the first book. No middle book syndrome here!
The wolf mystery from the first book is resolved as anticipated, we encounter new nightmare creatures, and Winnie sets herself apart from the Luminaries in that she is willing to trust the forest, and believes that some nightmares deserve to live. There is exploration of the grief: the novel opens with 'This story begins with a funeral in a town where the locals don't bury their dead', and we explore Winnie's struggles with how the town marks Grayson Friday's death. Then there is the hesitant rebuilding of Winnie's old friendships from before her family was outcast, and a focus on the emerging romance between Winnie and Jay.
I enjoyed learning more about the history of the town and about the Dianas and still absolutely love the small town setting and the concept of the family clans of hunters. Thanks to NetGalley and Daphne Press for the eARC. I have added the Illumicrate edition of the novel to my library and can't wait for the final book in the trilogy. 4.5 stars

I’m typically a high fantasy kind of reader, but from time to time a fantasy set in our world just ends up being the best thing ever. The Hunting Moon is one of those books. I highly enjoyed the first book, The Luminaries, and thus went into this read with some high expectations. But the book managed to meet them. I was actually a bit surprised by how much this book managed to capture me. Once I started reading it, I couldn’t keep my mind off it. Lived rent free in my head. Couldn’t wait to get back to it.

First off, Winnie is a bit of a hot mess - but the good kind you root for. I also love seeing a main character with glasses, and a “chosen one” who isn’t naturally talented at everything and is honestly very real in her reaction to the nightmares in the forest.The monsters all feel so creative, and I really appreciate the drawings and notes of them that’s featured in the book. It really helps add to the atmosphere. The romance that’s in this book was sweet, but not revolutionary by any means. It didn’t have me cheering, but I did like both the characters so I was happy for their happiness.

I had a great time with this book, and since I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump for a while now - it was such a wonderful experience to be fully submerged into a book world again. Now all I can do is wait patiently for book 3… If you enjoyed The Luminaries, you won’t be disappointed by this one.

The second book of THE LUMINARIES, THE HUNTING MOON follows Winnie's attempt to uncover her father's clues while her town is obsessed with finding the wrong monster.

This series is such a good, atmospheric autumnal read (for all it's set in the Spring!) We get to spend more time in the forest, this time on sleuthing (that goes wrong) instead of for trials. Old monsters return and there are new ones too as Winnie begins to seriously question the truths she's lived by.

I really enjoyed the exploration of PTSD. Winnie went through a lot in THE LUMMINARIES and is dealing with the consequences of that here. It isn't helped that her town and its culture have jarringly different responses to it than her, pushing her further into rebellion against its way of life. The contrast also helps highlight how much she is struggling and why.

This book delves deeper into the mysteries set up in the first book, which was very satisfying to get answers to theories (and I was smug about getting some of them!) Not all the mysteries are fully solved, but one of the pretty big ones it, culminating in a big action sequence at the end. Plus, there are of course (it's a Susan Dennard book!) new mysteries set up and the unsolved are deepened.

The audiobook is well narrated by Caitlin Davis, altering pitch to distinguish between narration, compendium extracts, and updates from a Luminaries' website. The overall atmospheric tone of the book is captured with ease, with expert use of speeding up and slowing down the narration for tension and pacing.

I am very excited for the final book in this series now!

So I worked out two parts of the plot in the first book and had them confirmed in this book.

If a good YA very predictable and easy to read, I love the mythology and the magic systems.