ARC Review: The Hunting Moon (The Luminaries #2) by Susan Dennard

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Hunting Moon by Susan Dennard
Series: The Luminaries #2
Published by Tor Teen on November 7, 2023
Genres: YA Fantasy, YA Paranormal
Pages: 304
Source: the publisher
Format: ARC
My Rating:
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Blurb:

The Hunting Moon is the highly anticipated sequel to The Luminaries by New York Time s bestselling author Susan Dennard.

Winnie Wednesday has gotten everything she thought she wanted. She passed the deadly hunter trials, her family has been welcomed back into the Luminaries, and overnight, she has become a local celebrity.

The Girl Who Jumped. The Girl Who Got Bitten.

Unfortunately, it all feels wrong. For one, nobody will believe her about the new nightmare called the Whisperer that’s killing hunters each night. Everyone blames the werewolf, even though Winnie is certain the wolf is innocent.

On top of that, following her dad’s convoluted clues about the Dianas, their magic, and what happened in Hemlock Falls four years ago is leaving her with more questions than answers.

Then to complicate it all, there is still only one person who can help Jay Friday, the boy with plenty of problems all his own.

As bodies and secrets pile up around town, Winnie finds herself questioning what it means to be a true Wednesday and a true Luminary―and also where her fierce-hearted loyalties might ultimately have to lie.

My Review

I loved the first book in this series, The Luminaries, which was also my first book by this author. And this book did not disappoint! I’ve been eagerly awaiting it. I even held off reading the ARC the publisher sent me until closer to the actual pub date, which messed me up because of family things getting in the way and me getting a bit behind. But once I was able to pick it up I was flipping the pages as fast as I could because I had to know how things were going to turn out.

I guess I assumed this was going to be a duology, and for the longest time I could see it possibly getting everything all neatly tied up. But then a few other things happened and now I know there will at least be one more book and I am excited for that. Because this one left us with more questions, questions building upon things we were left wondering about at the end of the first book. Because even as some answers fell into place, they often led to new questions.

There was one big “reveal” towards the end, although I pretty much had figured it out in the first book early on, and I’m guessing most people who read probably did as well. Which is fine, the characters didn’t know, so it was still interesting to read and see how they would figure it all out.

New creatures or nightmares as they are called in the story were introduced in this book. And once again I found myself really wishing for the author to create or have someone draw all these creatures and create a compendium I can look at. I liked the way Winnie kind of felt for the creatures, that they were kind of like animals, some of them anyway, so how could they be blamed for just that.

And Winnie and Jay’s relationship is developing at a perfect pace. I’m also looking forward to seeing what obstacles they’ll face in the next book, and how they will continue to grow closer as friends again, and more.