Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Luminaries

Winnie Wednesday, our main character, is such a strong and independent role model fighting for both herself and her family, eager to redeem their image.
Once an outcast, now welcomed back as though she was never an outcast.

Susan Dennard wonderfully wrote a story that was tense, a story that dealt with feelings of all sorts and a story in which let one know that home can certainly be where the heart is. There's no need to spend time reminiscing on what could have been, instead look at what you have now, what you could have.

For Winnie, it was friendships and also herself. She learned more about herself along the way and it was really beneficial to the story to have been able to get such a deep insight into Winnie's character.

The story itself was so so good! I loved it! The trials to become a Luminary hunter were certainly intriguing, but oh my! That third trial was certainly something. The tension while reading was crazy!

But...I am now left looking for answers and eagerly waiting book 2 after having a curve ball thrown at me (thank you Susan Dennard for that lovely 'what the f**k' moment towards the end!)
All in all, I highly recommend you all to read this book ASAP, you won't regret it!!

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amylynn44's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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takarakei's review

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.25

1st in a duology (second book out in Nov)
Monsters of all kinds (and amazing illustrations!)
Deadly competition/trials
Creepy and mysterious
School setting
Glimmers of a romance (Ex best friends)
- Outcast girl who suddenly becomes popular
- 'Slacker' boy that everyone crushes on but he only cares about working on his motorcycle
- Yes they ride the motorcycle

The audiobook for this was fantastic, really enjoyed the narration! This gave me a bit of Scholomance vibes, even though they are VERY different series (and Scholomance is way better imo). Just similar in terms of the youth being in this insane situation (trials/being a hunter) that they might die in and have to like save everyone (aka the adults). It's a very quick read, but I also wasn't completely in love with the story and felt like things were just starting to get good when it ended. Feels a bit like it was written as one long book that got split into a duology instead of getting a good edit and remaining one longer or standard length fantasy book.

0/5 🌶️, but I think it will get somewhere (it is YA) in book 2.

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faduma's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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huldasif's review

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

It's a fast-paced YA fantasy/horror which was fun to read. Reading it actually felt like watching a teen TV show like Teen Wolf or something, although the athmosphere in the beginning of the book reminded me more of Twilight, because of the eery small town vibe with misty forest and the teenage angst, but otherwise the book has nothing in common with Twilight. Anyway, the book was really easy to read and I quickly flew through it. It was interesting, creepy and a little gory. I was thankful for the lack of romance. It just wouldn't have fit in. The only thing that bothered me was that it felt a little unresolved in the end. I wished we had be able to catch one of those big monsters we spent all of this book talking about in this book and not have to wait for the next book to catch them, hopefully. Thankfully I do want to read the next book, but if I didn't I would have felt cheated and been really mad. (I would have rounded it up to 4* stars if not for the end).
On a side note: I really enjoyed the pictures from the nightmare compendium. I only wish there had been more!

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hailstorm3812's review

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adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

I had fun. It is a very typical YA fantasy but fun enough for what it is. I will say it is quite slow paced and not a lot actually happens in this book, but it does set up a lot of fun things for the future. I also got way too invested in the betrayal of her entire community and best friends.

I'll forgive werewolf boy because he clearly had a lot to deal with but she should just be besties with Fatima and the Twins.

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wordsofclover's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Winnie Wednesday is living the life of an outcast, ever since her father was proclaimed a traitor four years earlier. Now, she's sick and tired of being ignored and bullied by the others in her town, and watching her mother struggle - and decides to enter the Hunter Trials to claim back the respect her family deserve. But when Winnie enters the forest, where every night, Nightmare creatures appear to threaten humans and are killed by Winnie's townspeople called The Luminaries - she finds out that while hunting is in her blood, it's also a terrifying thing to do and maybe she's not as good as he thought.

This was a fun YA urban fantasy and once you can get past every character being named after a day of the week, I quite enjoyed the story that had a nice mystery/threat running through it as well as lots of action scenes and horrific moments with the Nightmares. I think this one falls into the YA category a lot more than Susan Dennard's The Witchland books (which I think straddle that line between YA and adult) but I still enjoyed it even though I was thinking of all the characters as something straight out of Riverdale, haha.

The pacing of the story was good, and I felt swept up in the story, especially the last half or so and I appreciated Winnie's growing friendship with Fatima and the twins, while her crush on Jay grew even bigger. I do think some things are really obvious in the story and was surprised they weren't revealed but I'm looking forward to book two to see where this all goes.

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addi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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