4.5 stars

A great fantasy book filled with nightmarish creature and a clever, brave heroine.

The story is dark but permeated with a light feeling, which is a nice contrast I didn't experience before... it definitely works though.

The characters are well-rounded and lovable, and I've been really invested in the story since the start. The ending is satisfying and the message she decodes at the end... a complete surprise, I can't wait for book 2!!

A big shout out to the narrator Caitlin Davies who did a brilliant job bringing everyone to life with a unique personality, and delivered the descriptive parts in a very engaging way!

Definitely a book I recommend!

If you’re looking for a new fantasy novel to get stuck into that’s lots of fun and a great easy read, then I definitely recommend picking this one up - I was hooked!

Whilst there are myths and monsters going on, I’d still say this could be a great entry level fantasy because the themes aren’t overly complex and there’s no crazy world building to try and get your head around - it’s a bit more like a Buffy but with way more than vampires and a whole society to protect people from the monsters that live outside Hemlock Falls. I loved our lead character Winnie, although I did wish she was a bit less passive in the action scenes - I wanted her to bust out some serious moves but she’s more about the bravery and brains than muscle 🤣 Obviously there’s some slow burn friends to lovers going on with her and Jay which I’m hoping will get steamy in book two, but I really enjoyed their dynamic even without that! And I’m excited to unravel the mystery of the whisperers (not to be confused with TWD ones!) which was super creepy and intriguing.

Basically I really loved this one and am seriously looking forward to how it all unfolds in book two!

“All around the world, the Luminaries live near fourteen sleeping spirits. Each night, when the spirits dream, their nightmares come to life. And each night, the Luminary hunters guard the world against those nightmares, one clan for every day of the week.”

My thanks to Bolinda Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘The Luminaries’ by Susan Dennard. The audiobook is narrated by Caitlin Davies.

Hemlock Falls is different to other towns. It isn’t found on any map and there’s no phone signal. Worse though is that at night the forest outside town might just kill you….Creepy!

The protagonist of this novel is Winifred (Winnie) Wednesday, who is approaching her 16th birthday. She wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, an ancient order that protects Hemlock Falls from the monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night. There are groups of Luminaries throughout the world protecting humanity.

However, four years ago Winnie’s father was exposed as a witch and a spy for the Dianas, the Luminaries’ ancient enemy. He ran off but Winnie and her family were left behind and have been shunned ever since. In order to prove herself loyal and restore her family’s good name, Winnie is planning to take the deadly Luminary hunter trials starting on her 16th birthday.

She enlists the aid of the town’s resident bad boy and her former best friend, Jay Friday, to help her train. Together they discover a different kind of danger lurking in the woods, one that no one in Hemlock Falls is prepared for. No further details to avoid spoilers.

I was drawn initially by the striking cover of this YA paranormal fantasy and its premise sounded quite promising. However, I did feel that it read quite young. Perfect for teens in the age range of Winnie and her friends though less appealing to readers who have left sighing wistfully over whether a cute boy will ever notice them long in the past.

I found the story itself engaging with some intriguing aspects. I was eager for more information about these pockets of nightmare creatures and how the Dianas came to be considered the enemy. Perhaps the latter is because I tend to be more on the side of the witches. However, as ‘The Luminaries’ is the first in a series it could be that the author will reveal more in due course.

With respect to its audiobook edition, Caitlin Davies has served as a narrator on close to 200 titles winning a number of awards. Her voice is quite light in tone, which worked well given the ages of Winnie and her friends. When adult characters, such as Winnie’s mum, had dialogue she slipped easily into a more mature sounding voice.

Aside from that stunning cover by Micaela Alcaino, the book has a few illustrations by Kirby Rosanes depicting creatures from the Luminary compendium.

Overall, I quite enjoyed ‘The Luminaries’ and was amused to read in the Acknowledgements that Susan Dennard had drawn on the hive mind of her fans (LumiNerds) using Twitter polls to determine aspects of the plot. It’s certainly an unusual technique.

The novel ended fairly abruptly, though this paves the way for Book 2, ‘The Hunting Moon’, due to be published in November. I plan to read it.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Winnie Wednesday lives in Hemlock Falls but her and her family are disgraced as her father was found to be a Diana aka a witch, but all she wants is to be a Hunter so she tries out with the help from her ex-friend, Jay Friday.

There's drama, action, vampires, werewolves, a heroine with strong determination, a creepy forest and the resident bad boy love interest!

There was an overused term in this book and I couldn't unhear it. Winnies teeth 'clicked' a lot. Like too much. Please no more teeth clicking!

But I did enjoy this and defo want to read the next book! I'd love to know more about the Luminary Society and even the Dianas and, obvs, romance please!

A new world filled with the wildest dreams and wildest creatures!

The book had mixed reviews when it was out in December, but the Audiobook is perfect. The book has a gorgeous cover and the narrator's voice makes it so engaging that I like Jake's character more.

The storyline was beautiful and the relief with this Fantasy book was that it did not end on a major cliffhanger. There are still unresolved topics, but I was content with how things were handled in book 1 and excited for the next part. Also, the blurb of the book gives you perfect insight so need nothing else to jump in.

Genre: #scifi #fantasy #teens #ya
Rating: 4/5 ⭐

Thankyou @netgalley @stdennard @torbooks @bolindaaudio @macmillankidsuk

#TheLuminaries #NetGalley

I really enjoyed listening to the audio book, the narrator did a great job
The actual story was a fast paced and exciting read. The characters were likeable and had great growth throughout the book.
Looking forward to the next book, can't wait to see what's in store

I received audioarc from Netgalley all opinions are my own.
3,5 stars.

I liked the audiobook. I think the narrator did a really good job, and I was never bothered by any of the character voices.

At times the suspense really got to me and my heart would pound so fast! So I will say that's pretty good story telling.

I liked this book, and the characters were likeable. I wasn't ever particularly annoyed by anything in this book except for Winnies self doubt all the time. I give it a pass though since she's 16.

This book is very much YA, which I didn't mind.
It's a short book, and I wouldn't mind listening to it again.
I'm looking forward to continuing with this series in the future.

This was a fun, fast-paced read that hooked me from the first page!

Winnie is such a lovable main character that you can't help but root for her. The development her character went through was amazing especially knowing her sad backstory. The monsters in the forest are introduced to the reader mostly through Winnie reciting the Compendium, which is a detail I absolutely love.

The overall mystery aspect of the book is really well done and especially after that ending, I need to find out how Winnie's and Hemlock Fall's story continues!

The audiobook is narrated by Caitlin Davies, who did an awesome job of bringing this book to life. Her voice was such a pleasure to listen to and she made sure to make every character clearly distinguishable to the reader.

Enchanting. I dived head first into this book and I was completely immersed in the story. Ah I loved it. It’s the sort of book that you start reading and immediately want to line up the next one because you know you’re going to love it so much and know you’re going to be left wanting more. Which I was!

The story was great. I loved the concept of the luminaries. The training to fight the nightmares, the overcoming obstacles and misfortunes, the sense of working towards something.

Winnie is a great character and she’s so easy to get to love. It was ace seeing her tackle the three trials to become a hunter and I was behind her the whole way. The audiobook helped with the sense of immersiveness for me as it was narrated so effortless, it took me nothing at all to slip into it.

Next one needed stat! I can’t wait to get back to Hemlock Falls.

Thank you to the author and publisher for this book on NetGalley in return for my honest thoughts and review.

Hemlock Falls is the urban fantasy setting city which had everything similar in to city we have except it have supernatural fog inside forests area. The fog come and go each day to manifest and dissolve Nightmares monsters. It's the hunter's job to keep them in the forest and clean up the dead so they don't realive as blood-sucking remnants.
Winnie Wednesday's family being ostracized for years by the Luminaries, a global secretive hunter community because of her father's issue. She is fed up with all treatment and wished to change her destiny.That's why she was determined to pass the hunter exam which can only be taken once in a lifetime.

The theme of monster hunters and exams with deadly content are the oldest theme of YA books have brought up since Buffy the Vampire Slayers. But I found out The Luminaries was a really fun to listen. The fast paced plot with straight foward storyline isnt complicated and easy to devoured at one sitting. Winnie wasnt unique as MC, we can found her type at other books. But I enjoyed saw how she growing better and stronger. The potential romance is light and barely there.
I adore the worldbuilding but this story leave me with so many following questions. I want to know more about Winnie's father and nightmares origins. I want know more about their enemy. I curious about clans of Luminaries, why uses names of the days in the week, why they own different specialties and skills, even different motto.
The author dropping infos bit by bits, just enough to know what happened at story. But some feel repetitive as well. Are all these are plotholes or a teaser for second book?

The narrator audiobook doing okay. She give different distinctions and pitch for each characters. She also doing good impressions for flesh out Winnie unique behaviours.

Thank you Netgalley and Bolinda Audio for provided my copy. My thoughts and opinions are my own.