I was so excited when I unboxed the November 2022 book box by Illumicrate and discovered The Luminaries by Susan Dennard. While I hadn’t read any of her books before, I was immediately drawn in by the stunning looks of this special edition, and the story sounded very promising. Curious if it lived up to its expectations? Read on!

The Luminaries

The Luminaries tells the tale of Winnie Wednesday, a young woman who has always dreamed of following in her mother’s footsteps and becoming a nightmare hunter. A few years ago, this dream came to an abrupt halt when her father was discovered spying for the witches. Due to this, Winnie and her family have become outcasts. In a desperate attempt to rewin the favour of their Luminary community, Winnie decides to secretly try out for the hunter trials. Unfortunately though, she has not had any training for the last couple of years, so she will be extra vulnerable in the nightmare-infested forest.

A surprising tale

If I am being honest, I wasn’t convinced right away when starting this book. The story and characters were interesting, sure, but something about the writing style seemed a bit…off. It’s hard to point out exactly what was wrong with it, but something kept drawing my attention to the writing itself. However, I soon got used to it and it didn’t bother me anymore after a few chapters. One thing that remained, though, was the use of repetition. On the one hand it bothered me a bit, but on the other hand do I have to admit that it made it easier to remember all the clans, their sayings, values etc. So I’m a bit in dubio about that.

What I definitely appreciated were the short chapters. Especially at the beginning, chapters were only a couple of pages long and it pulled me easy from one chapter to the next and before I knew it, the story had me hooked. I love the dark fantasy aspects of this story so much! That’s quickly becoming one of my favourite genres. And even though this was clearly a Young Adult book, I have to admit that it spooked me out a little bit. Believe me, I have seen and heard many “nightmares” in the period that I was reading this book :p

In general, I would describe this book as the love child of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Mortal Instruments. I especially loved the extracts from the Compendium that were included. These gave the story some dark academia vibes that spoke to my inner cryptozoologist (I would definitely have been Newt Scamander’s assistant if I had been born in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter). Another – maybe unexpected – element I loved was the passion of Winnie’s brother: administration, labeling, ordering…I love that guy!

I was also fascinated by the magic system described in this book. I hadn’t encountered spirits that live in forests and summon nightmares each night before, and I am definitely interested in learning more about them (and the animosity between the Luminaries and the witches) in part two.

Since the spirit that sleeps by Hemlock Falls is so young, it hasn’t had time to evolve its own unique nightmares yet. Mum always used to say it was like a Lego starter kit. When a new spirit is born, it comes with a standard set of monsters – vampira, hellions, harpies, melusine, and so on – but over the centuries, it starts to create its own. As its mind expands with age, its dreams in turn grow more vast.

I have to say, I was surprised at how well this book managed to capture my attention, even days after finishing the book. Not only did I keep looking over my shoulder for nightmares, I was truly invested in the story, which is unusual for me as it has only very limited romance. I am starting to see a bit of a pattern, though. I suspect that Dark Fantasy might be one of the only genres in which I do not require a strong romance storyline to keep me invested. Definitely an interesting theory to explore further!

Without a doubt, four out of five gemstones!

Age Category: Young Adult

Representation: M/M relationship between supporting characters

Do you want to discover more?

If my review inspired you to pick up the book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores.

Amazon.nl: Hardcover edition

Amazon.nl: Paperback edition

Amazon.nl: eBook edition

There are furthermore a couple of special editions available on the market. For example, my personal copy is the Illumicrate special edition that was included in their November 2022 book box (my unboxing). This edition has a redesigned cover, foil embossing on the hardback, digitally printed edges, and artwork on the endpapers. All UK editions feature interior illustrations and the Illumicrate edition has exclusive bonus material! Honestly, it is simply stunning. I would really recommend getting this edition if you liked the story. It’s available on the second hand market for about 40-50 euros.

Next, there’s the Owlcrate special edition, which was also their November 2022 book pick. This edition was signed, comes with an author letter, and has an exclusive cover, sprayed edges, a reversible dust jacket, foiling on the hardback, exclusive end pages, and, last but certainly not least, contains a deleted scene. While I think this edition is slightly less special than the one from Illumicrate, it’s definitely also beautiful. Furthermore, the resell price is a bit lower, so you should be able to get it for about 30 euros.

Similar to this

Part two of this series, The Hunting Moon, is set to be released in November 2023. I cannot wait!

In the meanwhile, you might fill the void with some of the author’s other work, like Truthwitch. This is the first book in The Witchlands Series. This is a YA fantasy series about two young witches with remarkable powers, who hold the fate of the world in their hands. I’ve seen reviews calling it a “YA Robin Hobb”, so they are definitely on my TBR.

I would also love to recommend Small Favors by Erin A. Craig, which is one of the best Young Adult Dark Fantasies that I have read. It’s about a small town in which creepy things start to happen (also connected to the forest, by the way). My full review can be found here. I gave this book four gemstones.

Next, the Luminary clans with the specific tasks also reminded me a bit of the magical noble houses in The City of Dusk by Tara Sim. This is a New Adult Fantasy book in which the heirs of the noble houses each have particular magical powers. The full review can be found here. I gave this book three gemstones.

Last but certainly not least, the witch dynamic also reminded me of one of my favourite Young Adult Fantasy duologies, namely Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett. This is the story of a young woman who yearns to be a royal explorer and who gets caught up in the deadly battle between the emperor and the witches. My spoiler-free series review can be found here. Both parts got four gemstones from me.

Recap: The Luminaries

In the following section, you’ll find a recap that you can use to prepare for the next book when it is published. Of course, this is by definition full of spoilers, so it is hidden behind a spoiler tag. Enter at your own risk!

Want a recap before starting the next part? (click here, contains spoilers)

World: : The Luminaries are a secret society that protects the world against nightmares. Their communities are centered in the neighbourhood of forests around the globe in which spirits have awoken that create nightmares. Each sun set, a thick mist appears in these forests and when the mist disappears, different types of nightmares have appeared. Each sun rise, the mist comes up again, taking the nightmares away again. The Luminaries are split into seven clans, one for each day of the week. Each clan has its own values and focus. Their main adversaries are the witches (“Dianas”).

Main characters: Winnie Wednesday. Teenage FMC who has always dreamed of becoming a lead hunter. She and her family are being punished, however, for the fact that her father turned out to be spying for the witches. Her mother was the one who caught him and she brought to light his deception. Because of the fact that she had led a witch into their midst, the Luminaries decree that she and her two children should be outcasts for ten years. The book starts when they have been outcasts for four years.

Darian Wednesday. The older brother of Winnie. His dream had been to be part of the council, but he’s now forced to be the coffee boy. He lives together with his boyfriend. Thanks to Winnie’s success during the trials, he gets promoted to be an assistant to the council.

Jay Friday. Used to be Winnie’s best friend until they were cast out. He now hangs out with a bad crowd and is part of a popular band. He has agreed to tutor Winnie and there is some form of attraction between them.

Emma & Bretta Wednesday. Twin sisters. Two of the only people who were nice to Winnie during her period as an outcast.

Erica Thursday. Used to be Winnie’s other best friend.

Mario. Scientist and friend of Winnie who believes her theory about the Whisperer.

Plot: Winnie decides to try and reverse the community’s decision to outcast her family by succeeding in the hunter trials. For the first trial, she has to go into the forest at night and kill a nightmare. Unfortunately, she’s very much unprepared as she has not been training for four years, so she doesn’t manage to kill anything. She does encounter an undescribed nightmare however, which she starts to call “whisperer”. Fleeing the forest, she finds the head of a banshee, which she takes with her to prove that some new nightmare is killing others. Her classmates discover her holding the head and mistakenly assume she killed it. Due to this, Winnie and her family start to be more welcome again in the community.

Before the second trial, Winnie tries to convince everyone that there’s something new out there, but everyone’s attention is focused on catching a werewolf instead. She asks her old friend Jay to tutor her and to prepare her for the second trial in which she has to survive a night in the forest. Jay shows her to a tree in which she can hide as it is on an island, but Winnie fails to get there before the mist rises. She soon discovers that an entire horde of vampira manifested around her, and they chase her all the way to the three. Once again, the Whisperer arrives, scaring away or killing all other nightmares. Winnie uses her alarm to alert the adult hunters, but as they do not get to her before the mist rises again, they say she has passed the second trial too.

The third trial is a secret. At her friends’ birthday party, she notices one of the twins (Emma), sneaking away into the forest. She follows her. It turns out to be Emma’s trial to lure Winnie into the forest, and Winnie’s trial to get her out. Unfortunately, Emma is badly wounded by a nightmare, nearly killing her. Winnie succeeds in rescuing her and both of them are invited to join the hunters. Winnie says she would first like to train some more though.

In the meanwhile, the hunt for the werewolf is coming to its peak and tests are to be scheduled to determine whether or not the wolf is one of the students. In parallel, Winnie discovers a hidden message from her father, saying that he was framed.