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A review by nhnabass
The Luminaries by Susan Dennard
4.0
This was a fun, fast end of the year read! My husband picked it up from Barnes & Noble for me because it "seemed like the dark YA fantasy you usually read" and had a cool cover. I had not heard of this book before, or the Witchlands series, but it was interesting knowing this book started as a D&D - role play - Twitter choose your own adventure - and that got me pretty intrigued!
I will say, this book reads very much as "Y" in the YA. As an adult who enjoys fantasy, it's difficult to allow myself to read stories geared towards younger audiences and still take myself seriously-- a part of me feels childish or silly for reading it. Despite some cringey lines of dialogue, I'm actually really glad this book drew me in. Starting off the book with teenagers hauling away dead bodies like it was a regular old Thursday was pretty intriguing. It gave me the chance to read something fun and magical and honestly hooked me in so quick I didn't really think twice about the "seriousness" of the book. Maybe that's just a me thing.
The magic in the book is wonderfully fun. The author does a great job throwing you into this fantastical nightmarish world and expertly reveals the magic system narratively without coming off as information dumping or being too obvious. Winnie's character is fun and relatable and I loved watching her complex internal dialogue begin to spiral in high-stress situations. The descriptions of the forest's spirit and the resident nightmares felt surreal and vivid. The imagery did a great job putting me in Winnie's shoes, making me feel as though I was the lone adventurer wandering through the forest mist.
The mystery of Winnie's father is interesting and I find myself wanting to know what happens next! All in all, really enjoyable last read of the year.
Only note- she used the word "bergamot" an absurd amount of times. We get it, Jay smells like fresh citrus lime and we should *maybe* *possibly* be paying attention to him and his weird erratic behavior that is *probably* just nothing /s, but there are other words you could use! It's the only annoying thing that stood out to me.
I will say, this book reads very much as "Y" in the YA. As an adult who enjoys fantasy, it's difficult to allow myself to read stories geared towards younger audiences and still take myself seriously-- a part of me feels childish or silly for reading it. Despite some cringey lines of dialogue, I'm actually really glad this book drew me in. Starting off the book with teenagers hauling away dead bodies like it was a regular old Thursday was pretty intriguing. It gave me the chance to read something fun and magical and honestly hooked me in so quick I didn't really think twice about the "seriousness" of the book. Maybe that's just a me thing.
The magic in the book is wonderfully fun. The author does a great job throwing you into this fantastical nightmarish world and expertly reveals the magic system narratively without coming off as information dumping or being too obvious. Winnie's character is fun and relatable and I loved watching her complex internal dialogue begin to spiral in high-stress situations. The descriptions of the forest's spirit and the resident nightmares felt surreal and vivid. The imagery did a great job putting me in Winnie's shoes, making me feel as though I was the lone adventurer wandering through the forest mist.
The mystery of Winnie's father is interesting and I find myself wanting to know what happens next! All in all, really enjoyable last read of the year.
Only note- she used the word "bergamot" an absurd amount of times. We get it, Jay smells like fresh citrus lime and we should *maybe* *possibly* be paying attention to him and his weird erratic behavior that is *probably* just nothing /s, but there are other words you could use! It's the only annoying thing that stood out to me.