Closing up The Luminaries series, this final book was truly a masterpiece.
We were gifted with an abundance of new information, character development, and finally received answers to questions from the first book!
This conclusion was everything I expected and a lot more!
The growth we see in Winnie is great, making us proud to have followed her journey throughout all the series.
“The Whispering Night” was an incredible finale that left me satisfied and eagerly wanting to read future works by the author!


Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the great opportunity to read this book!

I have lapped up the books in this series. This is the perfect third/end book of the series. If like me you’ve read the other books you are in for a treat and I’m sure you will love this book as much as I did. Easy read, fun, story twisting, teenage/YA and up urban fantasy. Winnie Wednesday has saved the day and gotten most of things she’s longed for. But when there are monsters around things never go smoothly, and some of the monsters are very much human. Thank you to Susan Dennard for the ending which allowed me to remember what it was like being a teenager. Thank you to Daphne Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

The whispering night did not let me down. Back to the luminaries with scheming, uncovering the truth for these teenagers. Absolutely loved it.

I'm not ready to leave the world of Hemlock Falls, or Winnie and her friends behind!

This was a fantastic conclusion to The Luminaries trilogy, that had me gripped from the very beginning. If I hadn't had work the next day I probably would've stayed up all night reading!

The book picks up shortly after the events and revelations of book 2. This series has really taken place over a short space of time, which works in its favour as you really get an understanding of the urgency of what's happening in Hemlock Falls. This is heightened in The Whispering Night as it's a fast paced book (faster then book 1 and 2) - there's very little down time or relaxed scenes for Winnie, something is usually happening. You really get a feeling that you're hurtling towards to the big reveals and the end of the story. This makes the book very difficult to put down! At the same time, you don't feel like you're being rushed.

Going into this book I had so many questions, and you actually get answers to them. Plus, when the reveals lead to more questions you get answers to those too. It's quite the feat to cram in so much into a final book and it feel well executed. I never once felt like I was being short-changed.

While the lack of page time Jay had was criminal (I did love every scene they had together, they are my favourite) it did offer the opportunity for Winnie to figure things out herself - Jay wasn't always there to rescue her - and it meant we could explore her friendship with Erica. The prior two books focused on Winnie making new friends and re-exploring her friendship with Jay. Erica was the missing puzzle piece in the tapestry that is Winnie. We also had a continued realisation

It's been an absolute delight to see Winnie grow as a character over the trilogy, and I've already reread the ending.

If you're looking for a YA series with mystery this spooky season, then this is series for you!

The Whispering Night was an emotional and intense ending to The Luminaries trilogy. Filled with twists and turns, romance and deception, I polished it off in one sitting, desperate for Winnie to win out in the end.

I feel like Winnie has grown so much through this series. In book one she starts off so desperate to get back into the world of the Luminaries, wanting to right the wrong that was done to their family years ago, and as the series progresses she does that and so much more. She still has her anxieties and insecurities, but she's also incredibly stubborn, and once she has a plan in motion, nothing and no one will be able to get in her way. While the previous two books have largely focused on her relationship with Jay, one of her old friends, he plays a significantly smaller part in this book, which was sad and I found myself missing both him and their interactions. However, Winnie spends the majority of this book with Erica, the T in their old WTF group, and I did enjoy getting to see them start to build bridges and re-build their relationship back from the ruin it was left in when Winnie was kicked out of the Luminaries.

The story picks up from the ending of the second book and never really lets up at all. All the revelations from the previous book, Jay being a Werewolf, Erica a Diana, have made Winnie's life that much more stressful, but she is still determined to look for the truth, whilst keeping her friends safe. Something that is made harder by a Diana leader showing up in Hemlock Falls and setting Winnie an impossible task, claiming she will kill everyone she loves if she fails. The stakes are higher, especially once Winnie learns the truth about her father through her investigation, and everything she thinks she knows, about him, about the forest and about the Whisperer and other nightmares come into question.

If anything, this book actually moves faster than the previous two, which is a feat in itself. Dennard really picks up the pace, allowing us hardly any slower scenes, instead everything, every interaction and event becomes almost pivotal to the story and the mystery that Winnie has to solve. Dennard's foreshadowing really is insane and she uses it, not only to add to the tension and pace of the plot, but as an emotional device as well, and I loved when all the pieces started clicking together. I will admit, there were a few twists that I guessed early on, but that never took away from the emotional hit at all, and there were plenty of WTF moments in there for me as well which kept me on my toes.

Ugh Jay got an upgrade to ah Jay, which was enjoyable, and even though he kind of disappeared as a character for a large part of the book I still really enjoyed their scenes together. The history these two share make them perfect for one another, and I've really enjoyed following their romance throughout the series. But the thing I enjoyed about his lack of page time was how it allowed Dennard to show Winnie starting to depending on herself, learning to trust herself, her intuition and insights. Jay had almost been Winnie's safety blanket in the first two books, showing up when she was in danger, so I enjoyed Dennard's decision to remove him from the equation and make Winnie look to herself, as well as others, friends and family, for help.

Considering how many questions I had, how many open plot points there were going into this book, I think Dennard did a truly brilliant job in trying everything together. What happened to Winnie's dad? What the Whisperer is? All of these were answered, as well as some questions that popped up solely in this book. Which is amazing when you consider the pace of this book and just how much information had to be packed in. If you're looking for a YA trilogy to dive into I couldn't recommend this enough. Twisty, intriguing, filled with magical creatures and plenty of romance. I already loved Dennard from her Witchlands series, but this just cemented her as an all time favourite author.

The Whispering Night is everything you could want from the finale of a trilogy and more! My heart rate litterally sped up at the intensity of this fast-paced, action packed, return the Hemlock Falls that was immensely satisfying!

I am so sad this trilogy has ended! I loved being in Hemlock Falls with Winne and co.
I think this was a perfect ending, we got answers from questions raised in books 1 & 2 and everything tied up nicely. Winne remained true to character and was a loyal Wednesday Bear through and through.
I do think there were a couple of later chapters that ended 'better' than the actual ending final chapter and at times I think things could of been cut down but it didn't impact my reading experience too much.
I would definitely recommend this series, I am so knowledgeable about the Nightmares now, thanks Winnie!
The little bits at the very end were nice to read too.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC!

The Whispering Night is the finale of the Luminaries trilogy, and I have to applaud Susan Dennard. I didn't enjoy the first book—I've said that before, and I stand by it—I found it boring and lacklustre. The second book surprised me with how much I actually enjoyed it, and the third capitalised on that and stuck the landing.

I didn't finish this trilogy wishing for something more but was instead satisfied with everything that happened. Winnie grew as a person, which is exactly what I wanted, and the side characters were given plenty of time to grow and have their own stories told as well. Winnie and Jay are adorable together, and I do wish we'd seen more of them. Instead, we spend a lot more time with Erica - a character we've interacted with only slightly in previous books. This also means that it comes at the expense of Bretta, Emma and Fatima, as we don't get to see them nearly as much.

Winnie knows what she's battling now; she knows who her enemies are and what the Whisperer is. Knowledge is power, and it really showcases itself in the Luminaries trilogy. Winnie's a hunter, sure, but she's not the best hunter. What she is is knowledgeable. She puts things together quickly and comes to conclusions that others don't. I loved Winnie's mind and how smart she could be, even when she missed things at first. She eventually puts it together.

There are plenty of surprises in this book, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying it all. I'd actually love to see another book in the series set in the future, and I'd be pretty happy to have it focused on Winnie and Jay again. The world needs to be fleshed out more, as there are plenty of tantalising details that I'd love to see explored!

I’ve been so anticipating this finale for ages now, and it really didn’t disappoint.

Talking about waiting to the end to pack all that tension in and then let it all out in one big explosive huff! I raced through this book always on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what was coming next.

Again we follow Winnie in her search for her dad and the source of the Whisperer, but Jay and Erica’s reveals at the end of book two add so many complications to the simple equation of Winnie and her quest to return to the Luminaries.

Expect a couple of massive reveals, and a couple that were sort of sitting there in the background but were satisfying all the same.

As Winnie pushes on through the Nightmare Masquerade she peels back more and more secrets that she can’t reveal to anyone, her father’s machinations and planning are all around her, she discovers some truths all the while being manipulated by Dianas and hunted by the Tuesdays (again).

I really didn’t want this to end but was so desperate to find out how it ended, such an exciting read and a world that is ripe to revisit, as Hemlock Falls is not the only site of a sleeping spirit.

I received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this book. The Whispering Night by Susan Dennard is the type of book you don't want to put down for a bit. I recommend everyone to read this book.