The Luminaries by Susan Dennard is a supernatural fantasyesque story about a sixteen year old girl named Wednesday Winona Wednesday who prefers to go by Winnie. Winnie lives in Hemlock Falls where she is a part of the Wednesday clan. Seven clans live together across seven different estates. These seven clans protect the outside from the nightmares within. Every day at sundown, a mist rises in the woods and nightmares are created. It’s up to the hunters of the clans to kill them and prevent them from escaping. Every sunrise, however, the mist rises again and the nightmares disappear. Nightmares are creatures sprung from the sleeping spirits that dwell beneath their home in Hemlock Falls.
Winnie desperately wishes to become a hunter but there are certain restrictions that have stopped her for four years. Four years ago, it was discovered that her father was a traitor to the clans and was secretly a Diana spy. The Diana were a group of people who used to be like the Luminaries but now wish to release the nightmares upon the rest of the world. After her father escaped, Winnie’s family was sentenced to 10 years of exile. No one else was even supposed to acknowledge their presence. But as Winnie is now 16, there are no rules stopping her from partaking in the hunter trials. While participating in the first trial, a quick whispering blob attacks her in the woods and kills the banshee she was tangling with. After the first trial, she lies about being the one to kill the banshee and suddenly everyone wants to speak to Winnie again. Winnie now has to prove herself to the Luminaries while also attempting to figue what that whisper thing in the woods actually was.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a really exciting book that was very quickly paced and it held my attention the entire time that I read it. I liked the characters’ personalities and I thought they each had well made storylines. Winnie had a small crush on one of the other characters, Jay. However, there is hardly any romance in this story. There are brief mentions of her getting nervous around him but nothing more than that. I really appreciated this. I don’t often like romances in these kinds of books because they are usually overdone and end up taking over the plot. Without any sort of romance, you are really able to learn about Winnie and see how she progresses without a romantic relationship.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes the supernatural and anyone who is not a fan of romance. The Luminaries is fantasyesque but it is not like your typical fantasy story. It isn’t set in a new realm or a kingdom, but actually takes place in our real world. It also isn’t about things like dragons or princesses but instead werewolves and badass fighting women.