The Luminaries by Susan Dennard

Book Blurb
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

Susan Dennard is best known for her bestselling Witchlands series and The Luminaries is the first book in a new series from her. This book prays on everyones worst fears of monsters, spooky woods and nightmares all thrown in together. Set in the town of Hemlock Grove, one of the places in the world where Luminaries keep the town and the world safe from ‘Nightmares’, and monsters that come to life at night and will kill any who enter the forest at night. The eponymous Luminaries are an elite group who go into the forest at night to kill the monsters, a group that sixteen year old Winnie Wednesday has dreamed of joining, and the book follows her journey, putting herself in danger and putting her life on the line for her dreams.

Winnie is a great heroine, and one that many can relate to in some form. She and her family are outcasts after her father was proven to be a traitor leaving her very isolated,so many are surprised when she decides to take the three tests. I loved Winnie’s strength of character, she hasn’t been able to train with other prospective hunters due to being shunned, but she doesn’t let that stop her. She turns to Jay Friday, who was her friend before she was ostracised, to help train her. He is the strong quiet type, with a ‘je ne sais quoi’ about him, an air of secrecy that I’m sure will be developed in future books. I would have liked Winnie’s character to be more developed, especially her families background and detail of her father’s demise, but having found out there is to be a sequel I’m hoping there will be more of this in the next book.

Susna Dennard’s world building is fantastic. She plays on the human fear of misty woods, the creatures that live in them and nightmares. Her imagination runs wild with these creatures, Banshees with green skin who play on people’s emotions and whose tears are poisonous, Vampira’s, that look like a praying mantis and move in hoards, and the Basilisk, a silent snake like creature that turns your eyes to stone, to name a few. The writing is wonderfully, descriptive, drawing you in and a plot that flowes seamlessly making this an easy book to get lost in both for younger and older readers.

I really enjoyed The Luminaries with it’s likeable heroine in Winnie who I empathised with and I became invested in her story. Susan Dennard’s prose is wonderfully descriptive and imaginative, and she builds a wonderful fantasy world that plays on everyones fears. A brilliant read for any age, and I can’t wait for the next instalment.

I’d like to thank Daphne Press for my copy of this book in return for my honest review.