The Luminaries

by Susan Dennard

Honestly, this wasn’t on my radar until recently. But I’m so, so glad it made it onto my TBR because I can’t wait for the sequel now!

How did it make it onto my TBR without being on my radar? I decided to look into more Fall Releases [November is a really mixed month on releases, but I could tell this was a fall book!], and this cover really gripped me. And then Daphne Press announced it was their first acquisition, and that really sold me!

I jumped into this one blind, like I do most times with books these days, but you don’t have to – you can read a Goodreads review here! Now, onto recommendation time.

Recommendation: If you’re looking for a fun, forest-based, unique read, this one might be for you. It’s got the secret society feel you get from the witches in Wild is the Witch with the “warrior” feel of Shadowhunters [just without the supernatural power]. It’s a story with so much more beneath the surface than that of the initial story, and it left me wanting to continue to join Winnie as the story deepens and develops. I’m looking forward to it!

Winnie Wednesday, one of the most single-minded heroines you’ll ever meet. She’s been dead-set on rejoining the order her family was shunned from. Despite everything that that shunning involved, she forces herself to turn to her ex-best friend, Jay. Which doesn’t sound like a lot at the moment, but, once you read more about the shunning and all that it entails, you’ll likely be surprised she’s willing to make that move – and what it costs her to not only decide it, but to act on it. Girl’s motivated, let me tell you.

Jay Friday. “Resident bad-ass” who is likely a secret marshmallow with excellent hunting skills. I have a theory about why he’s so good at being a hunter while also seeming to double as a marshmallow, but I’ll save that for after the spoiler line. Anyway, he both annoys me and it annoyed me how much crap Winnie gives him, how many assumptions and judgements she’s making without really knowing her ex-best friend anymore – all while acknowledging that she doesn’t really know him anymore.

I got so sucked in by the end, I honestly probably need to reread it just so I can actually absorb every word instead of just rush-reading it to match the pace of my beating heart and my need-to-know-what-happens-next-oh-my-goodnesss! general attitude at that point. I mean, if that isn’t a sign of a good book, at a minimum, I don’t know what is.

ANYWAY – this world is fun, unique, and a joy to explore and learn more and more about it. If you’re tempted, definitely give it a go! But, for now, onto spoilers.

**SPOILER LINE HERE – DON’T CONTINUE UNLESS YOU WANT SPOILERS [OR HAVE READ THE BOOK]! IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS UNTIL YOU READ, STOP HERE – BUT FEEL FREE TO COME BACK AND READ AFTER YOU’RE DONE! I’LL BE HERE WHEN YOU’RE READY TO COME BACK.**

At first, the weekday last names sort of put me off [I don’t know why, but it did, I can’t explain it], but it not only makes sense with the origin of the order [I mean, it would be the easiest way to identify who was assigned each night when the need for the order first appeared], but it also makes sense that, as people, they would then form fierce, familial attachments with the people they routinely performed this deadly work. Which is the perfect crucible for clans to form. I mean, if they allowed outsiders into the order and I somehow made the cut, I could easily see myself becoming just as fiercely attached to one of the clans.

Pack-bonding and all, ya know?

I [begrudgingly] ship Winnie and Jay. I know that’s likely the end goal, but I don’t know that I’m 100% behind it yet. At minimum, I ship them becoming besties again, but I’m hesitant on the dating front. There’s a lot of damage they’d need to repair to get there, in my opinion. But we’ll see what the sequel brings!

That said, I’m also on the fence about Erica. And the twins seem a little too nice, but they are sixteen year-olds. All in all, the order does seem toxic, though I can’t put my finger on why, outside of Winnie’s unease and her father’s accusation that he was framed. Him being framed absolutely has merit – while definitely possible, her father’s betrayal doesn’t make much sense. I doubt he would have been so skilled that he could thoroughly convince not only his wife, her sister, and the order but also pass his background check, and, not only be a Diana, but also continue “undercover”, for lack of a better term, for as long as he did. The punishment is odd and the treatment of the family like they’ve never truly been doubted to be disloyal is weird. Like Winnie says, “Everyone acts as if Winnie and Darian and Mom have just gone away from a while – traveled abroad, explored the world, and now are finally returning home as weary, cosmopolitan networkers. There is no mention of Fran serving extra ketchup at the Revenant’s Daughter. No mention of all the years Darian has collected coffee and dusted off Dryden Saturday’s desk. No mention of Winnie gathering corpses while the Wednesday hunters pretend every Thursday that she doesn’t exist.” It would be that way if they truly questioned their loyalty, right? It feels more like they’re trying to sweep it under the rug and hope no one looks too closely.

All that aside, I’m enjoying the world. I love seeing other people’s take on certain lore/myths/mythical creatures. The interesting use of banshees, manticores, kelpies, vampires/vampira, melusine, basilisks, etc. is so much fun to me. I’m enjoying watching Winnie deconstruct the order through all the pieces that don’t add up, peeling back the superficial facade she’s seen her whole life and not questioned.

I can’t tell if it’s odd that Jay no longer has parents while there’s a rumor about a strain of werewolves that pass their condition genetically rather than through bites, or if I’m just trying to see something there that isn’t. There were other things in the book that implied the werewolf was someone else. But there’s something about Jay, both his skills and his general feelings towards the nightmares of the forest, that make me think he has some sort of . . . kinship with them. I don’t know, nothing about my theories on the werewolf’s identity are concrete, but my vote is it’s Jay, though I do have other ideas, too.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading yet another of my semi-rambling [because I love books] reviews! As always, be kind, stay safe, and read on!