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 Whispering Night Series: The Luminaries #3 by Susan Dennard
Published by Tor Teen on November 19, 2024
Genres: YA Fantasy
Pages: 384
Source: the publisher
Format: E-galley
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Also in this series: The Luminaries , The Hunting Moon
Also by this author: The Luminaries , The Hunting Moon
My Rating:
Blurb:
The forest is more dangerous than ever in this highly-anticipated, pulse-pounding, and swoon-worthy conclusion to the bestselling Luminaries trilogy.
Winnie Wednesday’s future is looking bright. Hemlock Falls is no longer hunting the werewolf, she and Erica Thursday are tentative friends, and Winnie finally knows exactly where she stands with Jay Friday.
With everything finally on track, Winnie is looking forward to the Nightmare Masquerade, a week-long celebration of all things Luminary. But as Luminaries from across the world flock to the small town, uninvited guests also arrive. Winnie is confronted by a masked Diana and charged with an impossible task—one that threatens everything and everyone Winnie loves.
As Winnie fights to stop new enemies before time runs out, old mysteries won’t stop intruding. Her missing father is somehow entangled with her search for hidden witches, and as Winnie digs deeper into the long-standing war between the Luminaries and the Dianas, she discovers rifts within her own family she never could have imagined.
What does loyalty mean when family and enemies look the same?
My Review
This is a series I have adored and I was so excited to get this third and final book to see how it would all end. I wish I’d had time to go back and reread at least the last book before I started, because it took me a minute or two to get back into the story completely. Once I did though, I loved all the action and even the new types of nightmare creatures, or the new stuff we learned about them in this story. Of course since it was the final book in the series, we pretty much got all our questions answered. And there were a lot of loose ends to be wrapped up! So many things had to be figured out to understand what was happening and how to fix it.
This was an action packed story. Which unfortunately for me being as tired as I was the days I was trying to read it, I wasn’t able to keep up when I was falling asleep while reading, and had to reread some parts when I got up the next day to begin reading where I thought I’d left off. Again there was some of the humor/character interactions that I liked from before. Like when Winnie got a cell phone, an old model, and her texting conversations, especially with her mom, made me giggle.
A few things felt a little rushed or glossed over. Like I know that Jay disappeared in this one a couple times, but I feel like I needed more time with him and Winnie than we got. I did like that the author gave us some of that through memories or flashbacks. The end was just non-stop action it seemed. With Winnie having to figure some things out in the moment, again making it feel a little rushed or I would have to go back and reread parts because in my hurry I didn’t quite get what she’d figured out after a first read through.
Pretty much there was an HEA though, and we got several loved ones back that we thought were missing or might be gone for good. And even those who were gone for good got to come back for one brief moment and appear to their loved ones, so that was neat. Another thing I’ve said after the first two books that I still feel, is that I’d love to have an artist go through and create the compendium with all the drawings of the nightmare creatures. I know I imagined them based on the descriptions, but it’s always interesting to see what the author actually meant.
While this is the final book in the series, I feel like the little bit at the end means maybe there could be a branch off series? Which I’ll be here for!
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This looks good, and I am certain I have read and enjoyed one of her books/ series back when I read a lot of YA.
This was my first series by her, and now I hope I can read more when I get some extra time.
I have always wanted to read her Witchlands series. Other than I often don’t like YA.
This one definitely has YA aspects to it with the school parts, so it might not be for you.
I haven’t read this yet but I’m hoping to squeeze it in this month (or maybe next month) So glad you loved the way things wrapped up😁
Hope you like it too!