The Hunting Moon by Susan Dennard – Review

Published: November 7, 2023

Publisher: Tor Teen

Series: The Luminaries #2

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Pages: 272 (Kindle)

My Rating: 4 Stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
The highly anticipated sequel to The Luminaries by New York Times 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 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.

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The Hunting Moon is the second book in Susan Dennard’s The Luminaries series, following Winnie Wednesday, a young hunter-in-training who desperately wants to be welcomed back into the clan and find out what happened to her father. At the end of The Luminaries, Winnie had just passed the hunter trials though she narrowly escaped with her life and the town now fears a werewolf walks among them. She can’t seem to get anyone to believe that there’s something else hunting the hunters in the woods around Hemlock Falls so Winnie begins investigating the Whisperer on her own. Well, with the help of Jay Friday who seems to keep showing up to save her.

In my review of The Luminaries I pointed out that this book is good, classic young adult from when I was actually a young adult, but dressed up with a somewhat more modern style. I stand by that and The Hunting Moon is a solid, well-written sequel that kept me hooked page after page. I think I’ve grown too used to the darkness in many of the adult fantasy books I read because every time something potentially good was about to happen, I got super nervous that it was all going to go horribly wrong. This may be a mild spoiler, but for the most part, everything turned out exactly the way Winnie wanted it to and there wasn’t any gut-punch awfulness to sour the mood.

That being said, Winnie is growing as a character and she’s beginning to question some things and see that life isn’t as black and white as she initially assumed. She looks at the traditions of the hunters young and old, and really starts to wonder why things are the way they are. I appreciate this is any coming of age story because it is in fact an important part of life. The adults aren’t always right and don’t always know what to do!

The supernatural element and the hunter traditions take a bit of a back seat in The Hunting Moon, mostly because Winnie has gotten through her trials and is now being a sneaky teen and going off into the forest to investigate the Whisperer. There are still a few cool interactions with the creatures that arise from the Mist around Hemlock Falls and it makes up for in quality what it lacks in quantity. This installment also focuses on the Dianas much more and I believe in the third book they will be a primary focus.

I admit, I’m a little disappointed this ended up being longer than the duology I thought it would be, but that’s because now I have to wait for the sequel. I think this is a cool fantasy world and honestly can’t wait to see where things go next!