Hello hello, and welcome or welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet. Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Hunting Moon, the second book in The Luminaries series. You can read my review of the first book here. A big thanks to Black Crow PR for roping me in for this tour!
Synopsis
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 her: 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.
Review
This was a great follow up to the first book. Where book one took us into the world of The Luminaries with a head dive, we only catch our breath briefly before we’re off on another adventure, picking up mere days after Winnie’s third Luminary trial, where she was injured badly yet finds herself standing at the edge of the waterfall once more, this time for a very different reason.
The power and emotion that comes through with this book is huge, and tugs at your heart right from the very start. You’re pulled on an emotive journey via Winnie’s thoughts, and we see a bit of a panicked spiral from her at times, which I thought was a really good demonstration of how mental illness can creep up on you when you’re least expecting it. I’m always on the look out for books that represent mental health in different ways, and this will now be one I very much keep in mind the next time I give recommendations.
The magic system is truly unique, and this time we get a glimpse into the enemy camp, as it were, with The Dianas, and the way their magic is working across the Forest, and across their whole town. To have two rival magic systems as work in one book series is a brilliant take on fantasy, and seeing them in action together was fascinating.
I guessed the Big Twist in book one if I’m honest, so was slightly impatient for it to be revealed, yet at the same time, knew things would never be the same once it happened. I absolutely devoured the last third of the book in one sitting as I just couldn’t put it down once I knew which track we were going to be taking. And even then, there were still so many surprises in store!
Overall I absolutely adored the book, felt a huge wave of emotion for all the characters involved, and at the end of the book, was ready for book three immediately. If you’re looking for a new fantasy series to be sucked into as 2024 approaches, pick up The Luminaries today.
Note: Huge apologies for the delay in this post; I was really unwell and didn’t check that this was fully scheduled, and instead found it sitting in my drafts folder.
Many thanks for stopping by for this review today, and my thanks again to Black Crow PR for all their hard work behind the scenes, and involving me in this tour.
And On She Reads 