I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Luminaries by Susan Dennard Series: The Luminaries #1
Published by Tor Teen on November 1 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Young adult
Pages: 304
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Imaginative world-building and an intriguing premise make The Luminaries a solid series opener.
The Luminaries was a fun opening book in Susan Dennard’s new fantasy series, and although it didn’t fully work for me, I’m definitely curious enough to continue with the series. This is Young Adult through and through, with plenty of recognizable tropes and character types. It reads more on the younger side of YA, so if you’re an adult reader who’s hesitant about cracking open a YA book (like me), you may also struggle with some of the elements. But I loved Dennard’s ideas, and I can tell she’s barely scratched the surface of her world in this first book, which is one reason I’m eager to see what happens next.
The story revolves around a secret group of individuals known as luminaries, hunters who protect the world from nightmares. As the story goes, the world has been infiltrated by spirits, and when these spirits dream, their dreams come to life in the form of nightmares, otherworldly creatures like vampira and werewolves who must be stopped before they can hunt and kill unsuspecting humans. Winnie Wednesday and her family are part of the Wednesday clan of luminaries, or at least they were until Winnie’s father was caught spying for a group of witches called the Dianas. Because of this, Winnie, her mother, and her brother Darian became outcasts, forced to dwell on the fringes of the luminary society for ten years as punishment.
But Winnie is about to turn sixteen, and during her birthday month, she’s eligible to take the hunter trials, three grueling tests in the forest that could make her dreams of becoming a hunter come true. With the help of her friend Jay Friday, Winnie begins training for the trials. And when she finally gets to prove her worth to the rest of the luminaries, Winnie sees something in the forest that could change everything. She sees a new nightmare, a nightmare that is hunting other nightmares—and no matter how hard she tries to convince the adults in charge, no one believes her. But Winnie is determined to figure out a way to stop the threat—before someone close to her dies.
I loved the idea of nightmares and the hunters who try to keep them in check. There isn’t a whole lot of background information about how the nightmares came to be, and there’s really nothing about the spirits who create them. Rather, this is a focused story that follows a small group of luminaries and the immediate threats they face. And I was OK with that. I do hope in future books we learn more about the lore of the spirits (who are never described, so I don’t even have a visual to work with). In this first book, we’re introduced to various types of nightmares, like vampira, who walk on stilt-like legs and eat their prey, or banshees, who attract their prey by evoking a sadness within anyone who hears their cry, drawing them closer. A lot of the information about nightmares is conveyed through passages from The Nightmare Compendium, the “bible” of all things nightmares which Winnie has practically memorized. This was a pretty good way for the reader to learn more about the specific types of nightmares and how they function.
And because this is YA, there’s a strong romance storyline between Winnie and Jay. There’s the typical “awakening” as Winnie begins to notice things about Jay, like how muscular he’s become (they’ve been friends since childhood so this is a new thing for her). I thought the romance elements were sweet, with just enough slow-burn to keep me interested.
I enjoyed the characters for the most part. Winnie is a fiercely determined girl who is desperate to gain back the friendship of the other luminaries, and she has a lot to overcome, trying to prove she can pass the hunter trials despite her family’s status. She is a bit overly dramatic at times, but that’s not unexpected for a sixteen-year-old. I also liked her friends Emma and Bretta, who don’t seem to care that Winnie is an outcast, and Jay was definitely an interesting character. I just wish the author had delved deeper into his personality, because he came across as one dimensional at times. The entire story is told from Winnie’s perspective, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Jay’s point of view in the next book.
I did struggle with some of the elements, however. First, many of the plot points felt farfetched and ridiculous to me. Why would Winnie and her family be cast out of the luminary society and yet be allowed to continue going to school and interacting with everyone? Winnie’s friends abandon her, whisper mean things behind her back and generally give her the cold shoulder, and yet she seems to easily accept this weird treatment. Winnie even has a job called “corpse duty,” part of the group who picks up the dead nightmares the morning after a hunt and takes them to the morgue. And if she’s an outcast, why would she be allowed to participate in the hunter trials? Once she passes the first test, it’s like a switch is flipped and everyone is friendly again.
There’s also something going on with Jay—something I guessed very early on—and the author doesn’t hide the clues very well. Even by the end of the book we don’t know the truth about Jay, so I believe it was the author’s intention to drag this mystery out, waiting for the sequel to finally reveal her twist. Yes, this element makes me eager to read the next book, but I also found it annoying to be strung along.
And this is just a picky observation, but it’s something that grated on me. Winnie “clicks her teeth” throughout the story. I don’t even know what that means, but I think it’s a nervous habit. But each time that phrase popped up—and it occurs dozens of times—I had to stop and imagine what Winnie would look like clicking her teeth. I did read an ARC of the book, so perhaps an editor went back and took these teeth clicking descriptions out. But from glancing through other Goodreads reviews, I know I’m not the only reader to notice this weird affectation of Winnie’s.
The ending was fantastic, though, with plenty of exciting action, high stakes and lots of heartwarming emotional beats. Dennard leaves several mysteries for the next book, including an interesting development with Winnie’s traitor father. Despite my quibbles, I’m definitely on board to see what happens next.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
Great review, Tammy! I like the overall idea of this book with a world of nightmares and the hunters protecting others from them but in the end I don’t think this would be one for me. I do love YA fantasy, depending on the author, and I feel like I’d be annoyed by main character and her clicking teeth lol! Also the plot points you mentioned that felt farfetched… I feel like those things would bother me as well. I also don’t think it’s logical why Winnie woud even be allowed to participate in the hunter trials. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Thanks for sharing!
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There were a lot of things that didn’t make sense to me. Maybe to younger readers, though:-)
A fantastic review, Tammy:)). I read your thoughts on this one with particular interest as I’ve just been approved for a copy of the arc and I look forward to tucking into it in due course. As for clicking teeth… hm – any editor worth her salt should have got rid of that character tell. Grinding teeth, yes. But clicking teeth?? My grandmother’s friend used to do that with her dentures – but I’m sure that isn’t the vibe the author is going for.
LOL I’m very interested to hear your thoughts:-)
Great review! I’m hoping I can get to this one (be in the mood for it) by the end of the year.
I hope you enjoy it:-)
Sounds really interesting! I haven’t been that interested in YA fiction lately, but a good fantasy series is always something to look out for. I don’t know if I’ll read this any time soon — but I will be interested to see how the series progresses. Great review!
I’m curious about the next book, got to admit it:-)
Great review! I keep going back and forth on whether I want to pick this one up or not. I just haven’t been in the mood for a lot of YA fantasy lately! I think I’ll wait and make this one a library loan. How odd about the teeth clicking, though
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Yep, maybe when the mood strikes you it will be just the right read:-)
YA is often not for me. You are Robin are review twins today
Anne – Books of My Heart recently posted…The Luminaries by Susan Dennard
We gave it the same rating too.
Interesting review, Tammy. I’m not sure this book would appeal to my middle-aged self, but in my teens I would have gobbled it up!
Ha ha right there with you! I would have loved this as a kid/teen.
While YA tends not to be my proverbial cup of tea, I appreciated your enthusiasm in underscoring the positives of this story, and I have to admit that your description of the nightmares is quite intriguing, so I will not discount this one straight away… 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
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The nightmares were a lot of fun, and I’m hoping for even more in the next book.
Sounds like the author really nailed the YA style in this one and still made it refreshing and fun. Glad you had a blast with it, Tammy! 🙂
Thanks Lashaan, yes it was fun:-)
Oh cool. I didn’t know Dennard had come out with another book.
Yes and a new series. The world building was fun:-)
Hmm, I wasn’t sure if I was going to read this, and was hoping to use your review as a guide! If you’d loved it, I definitely would have bumped it up…now I’m kinda waffling. It’s the “YA through and through” that scares me, lol!
Yeah, so many tropes you see over and over. It was good but I’m pretty pick when it comes to YA.
Sounds like a book that might really appeal to the target audience. Like you, YA can be hit or miss with me. I’m finding I mostly enjoy the younger middle grade or what’s labeled as YA only because the protagonists are younger. But there’s a wide middle ground that sometimes works for me and sometimes doesn’t. Glad you found enough enjoyment to want to continue the series.
The right age group will really enjoy this:-)
Your review was really interesting to read! Thanks for sharing it! I think this book wouldn’t be a good match for me, but it sounds interesting all the same. The idea behind it is original and intriguing!
The ideas were really good:-)
Excellent review! I’ve been struggling with YA more and more lately so I doubt I’ll pick this one up, although it does sound really interesting. The teeth clicking cracks me up because now I’m trying to envision what it would sound like too, haha.
Thanks! Yeah, the teeth clicking was so weird, lol.
I can’t wait to read that book now Tammy!
Yeah, this one doesn’t really appeal to me but your review is excellent and I hope you enjoy the next one a little more.
Lynn 😀
I really enjoyed this one! It was my first by the author. But yeah, I agree with a few of the issues you had. Like the teeth clicking thing, what even is that? And obviously Jay’s secret being kept a secret, even if we kind of know what it is I think. Great review!
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