Week 41 Review: The Luminaries

From Goodreads:

From Susan Dennard, the New York Times bestselling author of the Witchlands series, comes a haunting and high-octane contemporary fantasy, about the magic it takes to face your fears in a nightmare-filled forest, and the mettle required to face the secrets hiding in the dark corners of your own family.

Hemlock Falls isn't like other towns. You won't find it on a map, your phone won't work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you.

Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, the ancient order that protects Winnie's town—and the rest of humanity—from the monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night.

Ever since her father was exposed as a witch and a traitor, Winnie and her family have been shunned. But on her sixteenth birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyal—and restore her family's good name. Or die trying.

But in order to survive, Winnie enlists the help of the one person who can help her train: Jay Friday, resident bad boy and Winnie's ex-best friend. While Jay might be the most promising new hunter in Hemlock Falls, he also seems to know more about the nightmares of the forest than he should. Together, he and Winnie will discover a danger lurking in the forest no one in Hemlock Falls is prepared for.

Not all monsters can be slain, and not all nightmares are confined to the dark.

My Review:
I had such a great time reading this book! I love her writing, and I participated when it was a twitter story, and I was so excited when I found out that it was going to be published as a full book! It was a such an entertaining read! 

The main things that I remember from when it was going up on twitter was Ugh, Jay, and hunting monsters. Having it built out in words that we can read was excellent, learning about this world and what the Luminaries do, was just so interesting! Having read the acknowledgments at the end, this is a different story then the twitter tread, which is great for my memory! Though I'm wondering if the Erika plotline that I remember will happen...

Becoming a Luminary is different then Winnie thought. She's been outcast for 4 years, and now that she's taking the Hunter Trials-and passed the first one in a startling manner-it's like everybody is trying to pretend that those years didn't happen. So between the further stress of the trials and the secrets she's keeping, she has to deal with those conflicting emotions that their treatment of her is bringing up.

I'm so excited for the sequel! There was so much set up for it, between the monster that nobody believes exists, the werewolf (I have a theory that's pretty much guaranteed, given the huge hints that were dropped. I can't wait to explore more! 

Another thing I'm hoping to explore in the sequel, are Diana's. Between her dads note, and that one liner that they used to be part of the Luminaries, I want to know more! Because there's a chance that they're not what the Luminaries say they are. I want to know what her dad meant in that message! 

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait for the sequel! 

Author: Susan Dennard
Series: The Luminaries #1
Read: October 10th, 2022
Source: NetGalley 
Reason Why: Love her writing and the online version we got of this book, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2022 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Tor Teen
Expected Publication: November 1st 2022

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars