The Luminaries by Susan Dennard
Title: The Luminaries
Author: Susan Dennard
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publish Date: November 1, 2022
I received an ARC from the publisher for reading/reviewing purposes only. The following review is my opinion and hasn’t been influenced by any other party. Thank you so much Tor Teen for sending this ARC copy!
After mentioning The Luminaries in my Fall TBR post, I devoured the book. It was the perfect read for Halloween or the Fall season overall.
This book made me an anxious mess - I was prepared for the fallout of Winnie throughout when people figured out she was lying about killing the banshee. That didn’t really happen and instead opened a lot of doors for her. It really irritated me how talkative everyone was to her family after that. Like you’ve been ignoring them and treating them like trash for years, only to now want to be in their good graces?
Winnie is a bit too forgiving for my tastes. I don’t have that nature in my body so I was yelling at her choices the entire time I was reading. I think she should stand up for herself more but I like her resolve. She is an incredibly strong main character, and her trials were so interesting. They kept me on edge throughout.
I really enjoyed Jay’s character, but I feel like he’s not as he seems. I wanted more of/with him. He interactions between him and Winnie melted my heart. They are both so awkward but I loved their scenes. It got to a point where I couldn’t wait for Jay to be mentioned next in the book. He was definitely a highlight.
I was hooked from the very beginning and had high hopes. The Luminaries did not disappoint but it left a lot of questions unanswered. I feel like it could have been 100-200 pages longer to talk about all of the open ended plot points. The ending didn’t really feel like an ending and left a lot to be desired. I also felt as if there were some pacing issues, because, like I mentioned, I was surprised and not ready when the ending came. Even rereading the synopsis, I almost feel as if there’s a chunk of the book missing at the end. I need more and cannot wait for the next book.
The forest concept was really cool but it needed expanded a lot more. I loved the monsters and I loved the mystery and intrigue. It just needed a bit more world building and time spent on this concept. That was my main issue with The Luminaries is that it was lacking. I wanted more and felt like it could have really benefited from some more pages. Even with the large danger, nothing really happens with it or gets resolved. It was sort of there.
That’s why I’m excited for book two because there’s a lot of promise moving forward. I want to stick with this series because the characters are great and the plot is almost there. I wanted to like it more but I will definitely give the next book a shot.
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