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rogerdoger13's review against another edition
5.0
Susan Dennard’s The Luminaries is absolutely a five-star read. This book hit the ground running and never looked back. Enter the world of The Luminaries and you will never want to leave!
Winnie Wednesday and her family are outcasts from The Luminaries because of her father’s betrayal. She will do almost anything she can to get back into the fold, including going into the Hunter Trials despite not having trained in four years. Luminaries protect the world from nightmares dreamed up by magical spirits that inhabit certain areas in the world. Winnie comes from a long line of strong Luminaries and it pains her greatly to be shunned and ridiculed by everyone, including her own aunt.
Dennard explains the magical system for the book in such a fabulous way. The book starts with Winnie and some other teenagers on nightmare corpse duty, cleaning up after the hunters that have been killing nightmares in the forest. It was a perfect introduction to the world of the Luminaries and really set up for the rest of the story well. The pacing and introduction of characters flowed perfectly through the book. The character relationships felt genuine, especially the pain Winnie feels between herself and her former best friends. There are a few storylines woven throughout the book. This is the first in a series, so even though most of them weren’t wrapped up by the end, it didn’t end in a cliff-hanger, for which I’m thankful. I really look forward to the sequel(s) and being wrapped back up in the world of the Luminaries.
Winnie Wednesday and her family are outcasts from The Luminaries because of her father’s betrayal. She will do almost anything she can to get back into the fold, including going into the Hunter Trials despite not having trained in four years. Luminaries protect the world from nightmares dreamed up by magical spirits that inhabit certain areas in the world. Winnie comes from a long line of strong Luminaries and it pains her greatly to be shunned and ridiculed by everyone, including her own aunt.
Dennard explains the magical system for the book in such a fabulous way. The book starts with Winnie and some other teenagers on nightmare corpse duty, cleaning up after the hunters that have been killing nightmares in the forest. It was a perfect introduction to the world of the Luminaries and really set up for the rest of the story well. The pacing and introduction of characters flowed perfectly through the book. The character relationships felt genuine, especially the pain Winnie feels between herself and her former best friends. There are a few storylines woven throughout the book. This is the first in a series, so even though most of them weren’t wrapped up by the end, it didn’t end in a cliff-hanger, for which I’m thankful. I really look forward to the sequel(s) and being wrapped back up in the world of the Luminaries.
ktread07's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. Basic writing. Very repetitive. How many times can this girl teeth "click" and why are they clicking?
Very little build up and a plot that only leaves you guessing where the rest of it is. The world building is so weak that I had a hard time following anything other than "there are houses" and "there is a forest" and monsters somehow come into play. And maybe there are witches? But we don't get any backstory on that, even though it's a pretty big plot point.
It was an interesting premise for a YA book that I found flat and disappointing.
Very little build up and a plot that only leaves you guessing where the rest of it is. The world building is so weak that I had a hard time following anything other than "there are houses" and "there is a forest" and monsters somehow come into play. And maybe there are witches? But we don't get any backstory on that, even though it's a pretty big plot point.
It was an interesting premise for a YA book that I found flat and disappointing.
lamparmi's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
bookanalogies's review against another edition
5.0
*Netgalley provided me with this egalley in exchange for an honest review*
This book was such an amazing read. I absolutely adored this one. It's world, it's atmosphere, the characters and the plot everything felt so unique and well thought out. Oh my god, waiting for the second book will be torture!
The book had a spooky kind of element which I loved. The forest and its 'nightmares' were so interesting. The characters were so mysterious and intriguing. All of this made this an unputdownable read.
This book was such an amazing read. I absolutely adored this one. It's world, it's atmosphere, the characters and the plot everything felt so unique and well thought out. Oh my god, waiting for the second book will be torture!
The book had a spooky kind of element which I loved. The forest and its 'nightmares' were so interesting. The characters were so mysterious and intriguing. All of this made this an unputdownable read.
afrp's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It's been a while since I read any YA, and I absolutely devoured this. I love Winnie! This is like putting on a comfy jumper, a dark one with pictures of monsters all over it ie. Exactly what I like. There are so many questions left to the end, I can't wait to read the next one!
daniwantsalibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
chelseajlouie's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
whatyoutolkienabout's review against another edition
4.0
My reviews are always 100% honest and my own opinions. I will try to never fully spoil a plot. This particular copy I was given access to a copy to review via netgalley. #NetGalley #TheLuminaries #SusanDennard #TorTeen
The Luminaries is a good horror fantasy by Susan Dennard but it just missed the mark with me, partly due to our heroine, Winnie Wednesday. I personally just could not gel with her. I think part of this was her driving force was to bring her family back from being shunned due to her father helping a Dianas (a witch of sorts) but we never really learn much about them and why they are enemies to the Luminaries which makes it difficult to understand just why everyone has decided to shun Winnie and her family. I appreciate this is the start of a series but a little more information of just why it was such a terrible thing for Winnie’s father to do would have perhaps aided me in understanding her drive.
The story itself is complete and stands alone but we are left with a lot of questions that I really hope are answered in the next book because it all did end rather suddenly. Having read the Witchland books I am sure that Dennard has this all planned out and I understand that if it is a series we cannot expect to know all the answers in the first book but I felt the reader is left with a lot more questions than answers.
That said it is an easy, fast paced and quick read and I did enjoy the horror elements. I just hope that we get more world building and lore in the future books so we can better understand the world Winnie lives in and how it all works.
The Luminaries is a good horror fantasy by Susan Dennard but it just missed the mark with me, partly due to our heroine, Winnie Wednesday. I personally just could not gel with her. I think part of this was her driving force was to bring her family back from being shunned due to her father helping a Dianas (a witch of sorts) but we never really learn much about them and why they are enemies to the Luminaries which makes it difficult to understand just why everyone has decided to shun Winnie and her family. I appreciate this is the start of a series but a little more information of just why it was such a terrible thing for Winnie’s father to do would have perhaps aided me in understanding her drive.
The story itself is complete and stands alone but we are left with a lot of questions that I really hope are answered in the next book because it all did end rather suddenly. Having read the Witchland books I am sure that Dennard has this all planned out and I understand that if it is a series we cannot expect to know all the answers in the first book but I felt the reader is left with a lot more questions than answers.
That said it is an easy, fast paced and quick read and I did enjoy the horror elements. I just hope that we get more world building and lore in the future books so we can better understand the world Winnie lives in and how it all works.