The Luminaries is an enjoyable if fairly standard urban fantasy YA novel. The concept lends itself easily to multiple books, ad sets up an intrigue that I am incredibly invested in - I am always delighted by a warring factions narrative where it is unclear who is right, even though you are provided at first with only one side of the story. The main character drives the narrative along at a sufficient pace, convinced as she is that she is friendless and without allies. Perfect for fans of The Adventure Zone Amnesty!

The narrator does an incredible job of teenage girl protagonist without falling into the trap of whining tone, and I could honestly listen to her for hours!

This left me gagging for the follow up. I was so invested in the whole story and I didn't want it to.

I have to admit I didn't expect to get hooked as soon as I started this but I was drawn straight into it. I really enjoyed immersive the story was, it felt like I was right there with Winnie. I really liked the premise of the story too, it's definitely unique to what I have read previously and I really appreciated that.

I loved Winnie as a main character. She's fierce and never wavered from who she is as a person. Something that at her age isn't easy. I also enjoyed watching her figure out who she truly is, this is something I think everyone can relate to as a teen (even in adulthood). As a glasses wearer I appreciated the little detail of Winnie constantly fixing her glasses, instead of wearing contact lenses.

I did think some of the plot twists were predictable but enjoyed them all the same. I look forward to seeing how all of this will play out in the next book! If you're looking for something to read during the spooky season and are a Fantasy lover definitely pick this up!

This is my first Dennard book and it did not disappoint. I felt as if I was swept away with this one, the world-building was great. I was not confused by a lack of information, nor was I fed up because information kept being thrown at me, which is very common in a first book of a series. I needed to know what was actually happening in Hemlock and was desperate to finish this. I am super excited for book 2!

Fast paced fantasy with great word building and magical system. Well narrated and really atmospheric.

I really did enjoy this one. I loved the main character Winnie and found her really sweet and relateable. I loved the secrets and monsters within the story. The writing was easy and it suited a wide audience. I am hoping that book 2 builds more on the world and gives us a bit more insight into everything, but this book has definitely got me excited to keep up with Winnie.

To put it simply- this was such a basic book, highly predictable and stale, nothing I haven't read before.

I think the concept was cool but it never reached its full potential, part of it was definitely the plot which lacked a sense of grittiness - I just never truly felt that the stakes were high enough despite we readers being repeatedly told about the dangers of the forest.

But, a huge part why this book didn't work for me was because of the characters or rather the lack of any charismatic characters. Literally, every character comes across as cardboard cut and the MC's whole "woe is me" attitude just annoyed me to no end.

I definitely think I am not an audience for this book so I won't be reading further in the series or any other books by this author as I haven't enjoyed her previous books as well.

The audiobook narration was quite good otherwise, this would have been a dnf for me.

Luminaries Was Dreamily Dark

*Received from Netgalley in exchange for review- but all the bright ideas here are my own!*

Entering into the nightmarish world of Luminaries, I was immediately taken by the moody setting and beastly concept. Inventive and intriguing, the narrative was instantly compelling. The opening drew me in, with atmospheric writing and exciting storytelling.

Voicey and with distinct characters, the audiobook was an excellent choice for this story. A balance of romance and friendship and family kept me invested in the cast. Most importantly, the language and voice acting lent itself really well to the medium.

I became very quickly swept up in the saga. With plenty of mystery and monsters lurking in the plot, I was kept on my toes throughout. Admittedly, there were aspects about the ending that were a little lacklustre- yet still enough intrigue to make me want to continue the series.

Overall, an engaging start to a series, with plenty that has piqued my curiosity for more.

Rating: 3½/5 bananas

Unable to review sadly as it was removed from my netgalley listening shelf before I got around to it but I can assume it is a good read based on what I have heard so far.
I will definitely be grabbing a copy and then I will come back and update this section

Thank you x

Thank you to NetGally and the author for an audiobook ARC of this novel.

Where to start? I totally devoured it, it was the book that took me out of a 4 months reading slump and it honestly leaves you craving for more rest assured. It was a page turner and the only thing that left me a bit disappointed might be the ending.

It wasn't a big cliffhanger, but kind of left it to itself after a lot of action and pages filled with details and creatures. Can't wait to read the next one!

from the very first chapter and prologue this book was so intriguing that i had to preorder immediately! however i found it kind of hard to listen to the audio book because of many fantasy elements and words that i did not understand so i would suggest reading instead (which is what i ended up doing). The story and characters AND romance were perfectly written though and loved every second of it!

A fun, fast-paced supernatural mystery with lots of monsters and a bit of romance! Still a good audiobook, lots of fun and creepy as heck, I recommend it.

The audiobook narrator does a good job with this book, however for some reason the book still did not hit the mark for me, however it has an interesting world and magic system.

I really loved this book! It was fast paced, I was hooked from the beginning, and liked the main character. A great book with action, battles and monsters!

Thank you NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for providing me an audio copy for review!

There were parts of this book that I loved, and parts I just really didn't.

I really liked the whole concept of this book, a forest full of monsters and the Luminaries designed to keep them at bay. However I didn't fully understand the whole world on which this was built? The general world building could have done with being expanded some more.

It was genuinely creepy at times, Dennard did an amazing job of building up the atmosphere and descriptions in those key moments and I thought that was very well written. I did however get kind of sick of the repetition and overuse of the click, click, clicking. I appreciate, I assume, that this was meant to portray as a bit of a nervous habit in our MC, but listening to it so much got really frustrating!

The characters themselves were very typically teenagers, which is fine for the genre, but ground my gears personally, but this is absolutely a preference thing and me showing my age!

There were still some mysteries left for us to discover in the next book — I really am invested in the story surrounding her dad — and some glaringly obvious not-so-mysterious mysteries (I'm looking at you, Jay) that I will probably pick up book 2 to continue the story when it's released!

Hands up who wants to be a Wednesday?! While I can't agree with how Winnie and her family are treated by the Wednesdays following the events at the start of this book that set the scene, I'm thoroughly here for the world that Dennard has created. I could see myself as a hunter and I willed Winnie throughout the book and literally cheered her on!

I read this as a buddy read with a few of my booksta faves, we all had such mixed opinions. I was excited by a new YA adventure and a little miffed when I got to the end and realised I'd have a bit of a wait for the next instalment.

The audio was well done, the narration was good and the pace was just right, it definitely added to my physical experience of the book!

The Luminaries gave me major Shadow Hunters meets Divergent vibes and definitely reads more as YA. I ADORED the world building, the character descriptions and growth and the absolutely intriguing mystery that everything was drenched in. 👏

With themes of family betrayal, friendship betrayal and secrets within the cultural setting, this one was completely action packed. I actually didn’t realise this was the beginning of a series and after that cliffhanger, I NEED book two as soon as possible! 🤯

The audiobook definitely enhanced the reading experience for me.

I received a copy of the audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I had heard good things about this but for some reason I kept forgetting to pick up a copy so when I saw the chance to review the audiobook on netgalley I jumped at the chance as I'm always listening to audiobooks while working.

I love the premise of the Luminary society and all the groups within it with their specific roles. The pacing of the story was really good and I thought it had just the right amount of mystery and romance thrown in.

I've also been a fan of Caitlin Davies as a narrator for a while now so this was definitely a bonus! Can't wait to see what happens in book two!

I really enjoyed reading this book even if at times i did feel it was very YA but I did still like the overall story and plot and i look forward to reading the next book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this title.

I really enjoyed the first in this new series by Susan Dennard (although I would also like more Witchlands please?) about a spooky town in mid-Western America where a spirit slumbers beneath a wood, and manifests their dreams in the form of nightmares and spooky beings. Winnie, our protagonist, is about to take the trials to become a full-fledged Hunter, despite her family being outcasts for the past four years. I thought this was Dennard on top form, even if the book did originally start as a choose-your-own adventure on a twitter thread. It's a nuanced and detailed story, with plenty of nods to the original thread and its inspirations, My one complaint, though, was that the narrative consistently referred to the compound bow as having bolts. This is actually the opposite of my usual complaint, which is that crossbow ammo is often referred to as arrows (it's bolts or quarrels), Still though, this came up so frequently that it really irritated me, particularly because the rest of the detail was spot on with the release aid, etc. I took a whole star off for it.

The narrator in the audiobook version of this was spot on, with a lovely pacing and good distinctions between character voices, really easy to listen to and very enjoyable. I'm just sad that I have to wait so long for the sequel!