Back with Winnie Wednesday and Hemlock Falls and, after the events of The Luminaries, Winnie and her family are back in the good graces of the Luminaries but Winnie has her own plans!

This book certainly does not suffer from 2nd book syndrome, I really enjoyed it, more than book 1 in fact!

I do love a bad boy and Jay is my utter fave in this book but Winnie's growth is amazing!

I don't want to say anything about the plot but you can expect the same darkness, mystery and gothic forest from book 1 along with more action, drama and maybe a bit of romance!

There's a jaw dropping reveal (which I did guess and then dismissed!) and an ending that made me aaaaw and say no way! Book 3 please!

'You either trust the forest or you don't.'

I received both and e-arc and audioarc through Netgalley all opinions are my own.

These are just some of my first fast thoughts. I will write a more thorough review later.

I enjoyed The Luminaries, and was excited to start reading the sequel!
I liked this book, and finished it fairly quickly.
This time I actually really got annoyed by all the characters last names, especially when I had to hear their weekday names all the damn time. It got really tiring really fast.

I liked the plot and the pace of the book.

I did like the narrator, but she would sometimes sound like Jennifer Collidge, and it did throw me off fairly often.

I loved this sequel to The Luminaries - I didn't think you could get more jaw dropping than the first book but this one totally did! Total autumnal vibes throughout.

It picks up right where book 1 ends and I love that! We get some questions answered and then some more questions arise! That last chapter??? Floored.

Enter a world you’ll want to get lost in. This novel will draw you in and leave you wanting more. Filled with rich tension, atmosphere and incredible world building, you’ll get lost in this world. This book is as deadly as the forest you’ll find within it’s pages: as vicious as it is escapably alluring. Follow along as Winnie continues her fight against the monstrous nightmares in Hemlock Falls.

She’s finally achieved everything she’s ever wanted: she passed the deadly hunter trials and her family have been welcomes back into the fold of the Luminaries. But for her, it just feels wrong. For one, nobody will believe her about the new nightmare called the Whisperer that been killing hunters every night. Everyone blames the werewolf even though she’s certain that this one in innocent.

As if that wasn’t already enough, she been following her father’s somewhat convoluted clues about the Dianas, their magic, and what happened in Hemlock Fall four years ago which leaves her with more questions than answers. Then to complicate it all, there is only one person who can help her and only one person she can tentatively trust. Jay Friday. Someone who already has enough problem son his own.

Bodies and secrets continue to pile up around town, Winnie finds herself questioning what is means to be a true Luminary, and where her fierce-hearted loyalties might ultimately have to lie. The Hunting Moon lures you into the misty darkness which is rife with thrills and a sense of romance. A fierce main character, who you can only hope to win against all odd, and a delectable world that you won’t want to read. Living nightmares may stalk across the pages but this book can only be considered a dream for fantasy lovers.

Thank you to Daphne Press for an advanced reader copy of The Hunting Moon by Susan Dennard on NetGalley

The Hunting Moon was a pleasing continuation of the Luminaries series which launched us almost immediately back into the action as Winnie tried to come to terms with the events of the first book while also continuing her hunt for the Whisperer and the truth about her father. There were a few subtle twists along the way and the story was well paced throughout, although there was perhaps a little less mystery and tension than in book one. Nonetheless, this second volume ended leaving me wanting to know how things would eventually come to a head for all the characters, so I am definitely keen to read on to volume three. I am giving it four stars.

*chefs kiss* p e r f e c t i o n.

I devoured The Luminaries last year and I have now devoured The Hunting Moon and now I will be sad about waiting a year or so for the next one because I need it now.

The Hunting Moon continues where the first book left off and I was not disappointed at all. I adore Winnie Wednesday, she's such a fantastic character and I love Jay too, I definitely saw his outcome coming though I won't lie but that doesn't bother me.

The way this world has been written, I honestly have no complaints whatsoever, I thought the story flowed perfectly and I never wanted to put this book down. Can't wait to have my illumicrate edition to go with The Luminaries one and I'm on the edge of my seat wondering just what will happen in book three because the final ending with The Crow had me internally screaming!

A really strong sequel! I loved the first book and this one really held its own.

I wasn't sure where exactly it was going and a lot of the action definitely happens closer to the end of the book, but I enjoyed the journey to get there all the same. My only wish was that it was a little longer.

Just so much goodness wrapped up in this fantasy novel. It was everything I never knew I needed from this book. The plot twists, the slow burn, the friendships. Ahh. I need more right now.

We are back with Winnie, and you might think that she finally has everything sorted out after the trials. Nope. Well, passing the trials was not enough. Surprise! We have a deadly nightmare and a mystery to solve, while Winnie is trying to navigate through her newfound fame. Don’t forget about the werewolf! I was curious about how Susan is going to portray trauma. (Because, honestly, the third trial was terrifying, and Winnie almost lost her life.) Winnie struggled and I felt that. There is something utterly wrong with this society and our heroine can see it. This is something that I missed during the first book and is very prominent even in the beginning of The Hunting Moon.

The pacing of this book was perfect. This book did not disappoint. I couldn’t put it down. As I predicted, while reading the first 100 pages, I like it more that the Luminaries. As time passes, I started to struggle with books, where the main protagonist is a teenager, but I love Winnie. Don’t get me started with #UghJay. We finally have some answers in this instalment, but I have more questions now. I feel like I could have predicted one of the plot twists, so I definitely need to read again the Luminaries, so I can look for the clues.

Some random things that I enjoyed:
- Winnie’s relationship with her mother.
- The map.
- The Assassin's Creed reference.

Thank you to NetGalley and Daphne Press for providing a digital ARC.

Thank you Daphne Press and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.

I really liked the first book The Luminaries, the atmosphere, the mysteries, the vibes and of course the nightmares. It was something that I really enjoyed. So, I was very exited to read this second book.

And while I really enjoyed the first book, I just couldn’t feel involved with this second book. It’s not that this book is bad, because it’s not and it has the suspensions and the pacing is good but I just didn’t really care anymore. Which is a disappointment because I really was looking forward to read this book. I think I just couldn’t care much about the characters anymore and it made me feel a disconnection with them and the story.

I absolutely loved diving back into this world and following Winnie in the aftermath of the trials and her induction back into the hunter fold. We pick right up where the first book left off and the secrets introduced in The Luminaries are slowly unravelled throughout this story. While some of the reveals were entirely predictable, there were other twists that I hadn’t seen coming and they definitely set us up for more intrigue in the third book. I maybe wanted to see a bit more of Winnie and Jay together but when they did end up in each other’s spheres it was just as frustrating as in the first book and not in a bad way because I can’t get enough of these two dancing around each other.

Winnie proves her bravery again in this book but we also see how conflicted she is over her new status and how everyone is treating her differently now she’s no longer an outcast, and whilst they act as though it never happened, for Winnie that’s understandably impossible. Her reactions to the overwhelming situations she finds herself in make it impossible not to empathise with her situation and I was so happy to see this explored more, and so well.

This isn’t the end of Winnie’s bumpy ride and no doubt she’ll find herself in more dangerous situations in the next book but I can’t wait to see where the road takes her and her friends (and how much Jay features!).

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

Can the second book be better than the first? Oh yes!
Fast paced, adrenaline pumping, twists and turns…I couldn’t put this down. Winnie and Jay are a dynamic duo and I just cannot wait for the- what I assume- will be the final one in the series!

You are thrown back into the world of the Luminaries with the Hunting Moon. I enjoyed it in the first book and continued to delight in the world that Susan Dennard has created.
The atmosphere of the forest, teeming with its creepy and murderous nightmares is spooky and scary - just what I wanted to read in the run up to Halloween.
The pacing of the book is fast and exciting; it kept me locked in and eager to see where it headed. I did find the twists and turns a bit predictable, which made the reveals quite underwhelming. I also felt that the characterisation was a bit rushed. It was stressed that only a few weeks had passed since the events of the first book, yet Winnie had become a much better hunter, especially in the climax of the book. Besides these small niggles, the story is fun and well-written.
I am eager to see what happens in the last book, as there are still mysteries left to wrap up.

If the TV shows Vampire Diaries and Grimm had a baby, it would be this.

🌲 YA spooky fantasy
🍁 Monster hunting teenagers
🍂 M/F romance
🍄 second in a series

It was really enjoyable and I couldn't put it down!
I read this in one sitting - it was very quick and easy to read and is a great book for autumn with good spooky vibes.
I liked Winnie's character development over the course of the book and how she slowly lets people in. Her slow burn friends to lovers romance with Jay, her old best friend, was really good too.

The book is written in third person in present tense, which through me off a bit, but once I got used to it, it was fine.

I do feel like book 1 is part 1 and book 2 is part 2 of a single book as not much got wrapped up at the end of book 1 except Winnie's arc to becoming a hunter (think if Fourth Wing finished after the dragon claiming) but book 2 did solve some of the main mysteries and moved the plot forward, so in some ways I liked it better than book 1 (the Jay and Winnie romance was so so good in this one!) but Winnie did have a few 'not like other girls' moments that annoyed me in book 2 so I think book 1 is my favourite of the series so far.

Thank you to Daphne Press and NetGalley for this eARC!

Oh my goodness once again she has captured me I want more so badly I love this series honestly could not put it down

3.5 (rounded up) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to Daphne Press and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.

I knew as soon as I got approved for this e-arc I had to move it to the top of my (out of control) TBR. I couldn’t find a recap (I annoyed Susan Dennard and Daphne Press on Twitter and Susan said it’s something she will look at for a future newsletter) so I quickly reread The Luminaries to make sure I was all caught up on what I needed to know.

I’m glad that this book had some answers, no spoilers but I thought one of twists was quite obvious, but what will be another twist is something I’m still not sure about, I have ideas but I couldn’t say with confidence I know what will happen.

I do hope the next book explains more about the world of the Luminaires, how they function as an international society within countries etc, but with international visitors I feel like that’s something we will see more of.

I really like the way the author writes, I find their characters interesting and engaging and their ideas super interesting. I really like the MC in this series, I find them realistic whilst still being capable and strong.