Luminiferous has such great world-building you can easily get lost. The characters are great as well, especially Lilly and the gargoyle. One of the great things about Lilly is she is actually likable, something that seems to be lacking in a lot of the books I have read lately. It is much more fun to read a story with a main character you root for. I am a huge fan of parallel worlds and such so this was right up my alley. Lastly, I have to say that the cover is stunning. This is an all-around enjoyable book and I look forward to reading more by this author.

DNF at 12%

Maybe, if I'd read this a couple of years ago, I'd have liked it more. But today, it sadly doesn't match my taste.
The synopsis promises adventure, the clash between different worlds, and the fusion of different genres. So far, it did show a glimpse of that, but it also have me a YA protagonist who says one thing but does the other and who feels like she could end up being a slightly awkward-ish Mary Sue. The plot so far felt very ... random, as did the writing style.
Overall, the book just didn't click with me so far, which is why I am dnf'ing it.

Thank you, NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the ARC. As always, my opinion hasn't been influenced by this in any way.

My favourite thing about this book was the authors world building. I could picture everything described and became fully immersed in this new world. I connected with the characters a lot, especially Lilly as I could relate a lot to her fears and emotions. The reason I’m only giving four stars is some sections felt a little young and wattpad-like to me, however this may just be my personal experience. If you are interested in fantasy novels full of adventures and twists I would definitely recommend this book for you. I never expected the ending, and can’t wait for the next book!

This follows Lilly, who has always believed she is from a parallel world from ours, but has never been able to find it, she only has dreams about it and her family where her mother is and who speaks to her. She doesn’t think she’ll ever return home until a little gargoyle appears one day with a message.

What I appreciated the most about this book is that it is unique. It has a unique world, a unique idea and story and reminded me of Alice in Wonderland at times, especially with the world that seemed a bit out there, and yet worked for this book.

At times, I was definitely confused and the plot seemed a bit disjointed at times, especially at the beginning, but once you get past that and the fact that this I think is supposed to be a bit like Alice in Wonderland where you’re wondering whether the main character is actually crazy and everything we’re reading is essentially made up in her mind, it’s really actually a good book, just could have had some points of it written a little more clearly.

The romance I really liked and thought it was very sweet and quite adorable. It’s a bit insta-love, however, I still really liked it. It might be because I liked the characters a lot, and Lilly actually thought before she acted. She never created unnecessary drama, especially when some big secrets spilled out. She starts to react emotionally and then stops and thinks and realizes despite the secret, she can work with it and thinks logically rather than emotionally. I really appreciated that about her character and is one of the reasons I gave this book a higher rating. A character who didn’t cause me to rip my hair out 😂

Overall, I think it’s a very interesting read and I get the impression there should be a sequel, so I look forward to seeing how it continues!

I received a free digital copy to read. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I do not know what to say about this book. I finished it a week ago, and I really fell in love with the world. The idea that there is an evil presence behind human nature is just so creative. Lilly's quest to find the Luminiferos was such a fun adventure. Also, I am a sucker for a "our last hope," heroine trope.

I personally would have liked more development with all the characters, and their relationships with each other. The instant love trope is not my favourite, so this is likely a personal bias. But all the characters seemed to lack some sort of development. Their connection to Lilly was so fast, I was very confused as to why Lilly considered them all her family. That being said, I love the found family trope and this book definitely has potential to develop this in the later books. Again, I would love to develop Lilly's relationship with Will. I love the forbidden love trope, I love the "touch her and you die" trope. It just seemed to come out of nowhere. I know this author plans on writing more books, so I am excited to see this story progress.


Overall, I am so happy I had the opportunity to ARC read this book. Cannot wait for the next book!

3,5 ⭐️ favorite quote of the book: “Emotion and thoughts… they just come and go. Be aware of them, watch them as if from a distance. But don’t let them to determine who you are.”
Enemy to lover, a fantastic world-building and a story filled with big plot twist.
The world-building of this book is incredible, the entire plot was so entertaining right from the start. It was filled with suspense and so many details. Sometimes I even thought they were too many of them for my liking. This book was very nice but I would have loved it even more if it had been divided into two books, a lot of things seemed to happen at once and I was a bit overwhelmed by it.
The characters written by Yana Metro are amazing, and each of them is super interesting. In fantasy novels, you usually meet these dreamy very perfect characters and even if Will does fit in this category, he is the only one. The others could have been actual real-life humans facing problems we could all come across in our day-to-day life. For example, burning out or losing all joy in life and needing a hand up for help.
One of the very reasons this book got three and a half stars and not four is because of three things. One, the chapters were too long and it was sometimes a bit much for me (because I can’t stop in between two chapters but I guess that’s a me problem haha). Two, everything felt a bit too magical in the way that the characters most certainly always found a way to resolve their problems. And the last one, THE MAIN CHARACTER IS BORN IN 2005!!! And now you might be asking, ‘But emi, why would this be a problem right?’ Well, my little sister is an 05 and it simply made me realize that I am growing older and I am no longer the same age as most main characters in ya fantasy and this is depressive…
Hahahah joke aside, this book was very good and super fun to read. The characters were so funny (Vesta and Darius are the best), and some made my heart skip a beat (Will I am talking about you darling). The end was completely mind-blowing and Metro managed to shock me throughout the entire book.
Last but not least, the cover is absolutely stunning. I love it so much and I want to get the final real version (and obviously the next book).

I loved the cover on this book, and was intrigued to see what the book was about. Not sure what it is, but it was hard to buy the romance, I think the characters need a bit more fleshing out.

As a huge fan of parallel worlds and fantasy, I knew I had to read Luminferos. The premise of the book sounded very interesting. Unfortunately, I decided to drop this book for now at about 40% and rate it 2.5 stars.

I usually enjoy reading YA books, but this one feels more fitting to lower end of YA, even maybe a children's book. From what I read I find it would be more interesting and a fun read for someone new to fantasy and/or young.

The world is uninspired to me, writing to simple and often repetitive. Main character not fitting to her age. Behaves much younger.

I am a bit curious about some elements of the plot, so I may give it another try in the future, but for now, it's not my cup of tea. I always feel bad to DNF books, because I believe work put into them should at least get a proper chance, but unfortunately there are too many books.

I will keep this book on my radar, especially since I see it's a series. Maybe at another time, I will like it more.

I'd like to thank the author and NetGalley for providing me this ARC. I really enjoy being an advanced reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Both the synopsis and the cover intrigued me--I couldn't wait to read this book. Parallel worlds are such a fun sandbox to explore in. Unfortunately, I DNF'd this one about 20% of the way through.

I tried so hard to like this story, but every time I picked it up, nothing grabbed me. The writing style was my biggest issue. Up to the point I read, almost everything that happens on the page is through dialogue. We're told Big Important Things are starting to take place, yet there is little evidence of this shown through character actions or descriptions. This is also a personal pet peeve of mine; I find it so difficult to read when there's an overuse of ellipses. There's at least one use of it on every single page--it slows the pacing down and ruins the experience of the book for me.

I've seen a few other reviewers mention this story reads like a middle-grade novel, and I have to agree. If I had discovered this as a young teen, I probably would have loved it!

Overall, the premise is promising, but the execution fell flat.

A fusion of fantasy, romance and philosophy, this is a story of a girl who goes to a parallel world in search of meaning. At just eighteen, Lilly White has lived multiple lives.

Luminiferos is a beautifully, well written book. @yanametro.com has a way with words that makes you think about life while entertaining you with an engaging story.

I absolutely loved all of the characters. I especially loved main character Lilly and her journey to find herself. Through courage and perseverance she struggles to overcome self-doubt and sometimes self-pity. With the help of her found family, Lilly begins to know herself and even begins an epic quest. Did I mention there might be romance as well?

Thank you @netgalley and Yana Metro for allowing me to read this amazing book! Everyone please go read!

I was initially drawn to this book by its incredibly stunning cover art and intriguing description. I had high hopes for it, and while it wasn’t bad for a debut, it wasn’t what I had expected from the description of the book.

It had a fairly good start, but the pace slowed down quite significantly and I found it very hard to continue reading. In fact I put it down for a while between reading to see if it was more of a me thing.

Unfortunately I think it was that fact that I was struggling to connect with the characters, pacing, and writing style. I feel like there was a lot of info-dump and didn't really pick up again until about 70% in. I did start to enjoy it more once the pace had picked back up again, but it’s definitely something I could have easily put down half way through and never picked up again.

Wildly inventive with lush and interesting worldbuilding. Luminiferos kept me up reading all night. I will be seeking out more from the author for sure.

This is definitely one of those "Don't judge a book by its cover" situations. I was drawn in by how beautiful the cover was, but ultimately, the story ended up being extremely lackluster. To sum it up, it felt as if the author took all of the popular YA tropes (found family, the chosen one, tall dark-haired love interest with a tortured soul, etc.) and stirred them in a pot. The result is... Not that great. There's so much info dumping that it doesn't read like a novel sometimes. It's also very Eurocentric.

Like others have said, the pacing is really strange. The beginning hooked me in, but when Lilly, the MC, goes to Faivendei and pretty much goes along with what she's told to do (without even questioning or second-guessing anything), two months have passed and we're led to believe that she's been training with the warriors the entire time. I was hoping for a The Cruel Prince style scenario where we see her train and build up resilience, but it never happens.

The sudden time jump glosses over the fact that in this time frame, Lilly has fallen in love with Will, the aforementioned tall, dark-haired tortured soul immortal (with wings!), when their first meeting was him being a huge jerk to her. Granted, I do love this trope, but in this instance, there was no buildup to their relationship. Two months pass and suddenly she says that she's in love with him. Huh?

Oh, and the love interest, Will, is as dry as cardboard. But I guess the fact that he's immortal and attractive and loving him is forbidden makes it a-okay. Also he's much, much older than her.

I also didn't like the writing style. The author overuses analogies like there's no tomorrow. And some of them are strange comparisons: "like oil floating on the surface of milk." It feels like an attempt to transform the prose and storyline from YA to adult, but it doesn't really work for me. Speaking of that, while Lilly is 18, she acts like she's much younger.

Another reviewer mentioned that the storyline feels preachy (light vs. dark, good vs. evil) and I have to agree. Lilly feels like a stand-in for a Messianic figure. I'm not sure if this was intentional, but it feels like it.

A review on NetGalley mentioned that every woman who's one of the good guys is slim and slender and pretty, while the one antagonistic woman Lilly has to deal with is called "the Bull" and is described as "a broad-shouldered woman with hyena's eyes, big disproportional face and thin lips." So there's that for representation, I guess.

Needless to say, this was such a disappointing read.

Thank you to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for this arc.

I requested this book based on the stunning cover and blurb. Unfortunately, I DNF'd after the first three chapters. The writing wasn't for me and I did return and reread the blurb in case I'd been mistaken in my expectations. The main character felt more like a preteen than an eighteen year old and the writing was all telling. Perhaps it might have worked better in third person, I don't know. I usually enjoy a first person POV but this book felt flat and it became very repetitive. I didn't get a sense of the main character, Lilly, or feel any emotional connection to her. The writing was choppy and I definitely felt I was reading a story aimed at a much younger audience.

eARC from Netgalley - All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Yana Metro for the opportunity to read and review this beautiful book!

I requested this ARC from netgalley as the cover caught my eye, and it looked so beautiful. However, the writing, the plot, and the characters made me fall absolutely in love.

I have always found the thought of parallel universes so interesting, and seeing it brought to life through the eyes of Lilly White was amazing, and the story gripped me from the first page.

The world building was just enough for you to be able to picture the world and not too much where it becomes a drag.

This book had such an amazing plot line with a few twists that you wouldn't have seen coming. With a dash, a romance added (as who doesn't love a bit of a love story).

A great, strong female protagonist realises she doesn't have to go through life alone. With a found family trope.

A well thought out Villian - Noxohit and his army of Noxes.

I can't wait to see what future books hold for Lilly, Will, and the rest of the guardians looking for the Emanations in order to get the Luminiferos.

Definitely recommend this book to any fantasy lovers

An excellent start to what I assume will be a great series. The world building was delightful and the characters interesting (although I do think there is much scope to add to their character backgrounds still to be added.) Looking forward to more.

I want to start by thanking NetGalley for sending me this ARC, and while I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to read this, I had to DNF about 20% in because I genuinely could not get into the story. The premise of this sounded so amazing and the author does do a pretty good job with descriptions but to the point where it was too much and I simply could not get into it.

🙏🏼Thank you to the author and the publisher for the chance to read this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I definitely requested this book based on the beautiful cover, but also the tag line that included fantasy, romance, and philosophy!

📚The things I enjoyed: 

 • The biggest thing I loved was the philosophical/ spiritual undertones. The whole time, I was taking little notes and just thinking about the things that tied to my personal spirituality. I thought a lot about Eckhart Tolle's teachings with some of what was portrayed in this book. 
• I really loved the psychological/philosophical blend of wisdom weaved through out. Powerful lessons about awareness, emotional regulation, mindfulness, ego, life and death, etc. There was some very thought provoking moments since these are things I'm already familiar with and are core parts of my beliefs and interests.
•The first few pages had me hooked in this story and I love when books can do that! 
• There are relatable elements in some characters. 
• The world building wasn't too overpowering. It seemed to dance well with the characters and storyline. 

📚Some things I didn't enjoy: 

• The romance in this book was timed too weird. I think the intention was an enemies to lovers trope but the pacing of the story and then the romance left out so much of that emotional journey that it didn't feel like an organic progression of a relationship. And I say this about the romantic relationship and the found family relationship. 
• The pacing of the book was very odd at times. It felt rushed in several ways.
• The dialogue was also written confusing in some parts and left me having to reread passages a couple times to figure out who was saying what. 

Overall I enjoyed it as much as I did because of the spiritual/philosophical elements. The romance and pacing was a bit uncomfy but I would still read the second book. ❤️

The story was great, a magical adventure full of weird and wonderful creatures, beautiful scene setting and interesting characters. I love the idea that it plays on how humans treat the earth and is definitely an encouraging story telling us to do our best for the planet (and not in a lecturing way)
.
I did have a few down points for the book but it didn’t overall impact the story too much I just couldn’t give it the full 5 stars and I did find parts a little frustrating, the character relationships all felt rushed (we miss 2 months of the story in which I feel we just have to assume the relationships progress and the characters adapt and grow)
.
It feels like there were too many ideas rushed. The book is almost like two different stories (before and after the two months) and all of the changes in that time are matter of fact.
.
Overall a brilliant story but it just didn’t hit the 5 stars for me I will definitely be reading more when she releases the next one!

Review in progress and to come.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review