Antonia Bernardin

The Luminaries by Susan Dennard was the 65th book I read this year, this book was gifted to me by my podcast co-host because she loved it and wanted me to read it too! It took me nearly a year but I finally read it.

A vague plot summary

The Luminaries is a secret society whose job is to protect people from the nightmares that appear when ancient spirits rise in mystical forests worldwide. Winnie lives in Hemlock Grove and her family has been outcast for 10 years as punishment for her father being a spy. Her big plan to save them from their sentence is to sneak into the hunter trials, despite the fact she has received no formal training in the four years since her sentence was passed. However, it seems like a nightmare that no one has ever seen before is loose in the woods. By luck more than skill Winnie makes it through the first trial but it’s then she realises how truly fucked she is and recruits their star hunter, and her former best friend, to help train her. No one believes her about the strange new nightmare, Winnie is really struggling with the change in the way people are treating her after the trials and she also can’t let go of the mystery of her dad being a traitor and how she didn’t see it. All of which is happening as the trials continue!

My thoughts

I really really enjoyed this book, I’ve been struggling to fall into the world’s of books lately, whether that’s due to life or the book’s falling short but this one was extremely easy to get absorbed into. Its atmospheric, spooky and great secret society vibes. The main character isn’t necessarily likeable but her behaviour is very understandable and her journey over the books is great, just the right touch of teen angst and anger, without it feeling childish or annoying. I liked the ending to this and I will definitely be reading the next one (in fact it’s on it’s way to me right now in the post).

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