Title: The Whispering Night
Author: Susan Dennard
Series: Luminaries #3
MUCH thanks to Susan Dennard, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Love love love love LOVE this trilogy! I relistened to the first two before venturing into this one and it was no hardship. I like them more every time. I adore down-to-earth bespeckled Winnie and her strong arc, I love Darian and Andrew and Mom and the twins and Fatima and Erika and all the other secondaries. And of course Jay, though he could have been a smidge more fleshed out. We were light on Jay in this book, which is unfortunate, but he just didn’t have much to do. C’est la vie.
It was great to have so much of the mystery solved, and to learn more of the lore. Buuuuut to be honest I still don’t understand everything. Collectively I’ve listened to these books several times and I’m still baffled by the world building, the spirit and the nightmares and how it all works. I get that luminaries want to suppress the spirit, which is magic or something, and that Dianas want to let it free, but……I still don’t get what exactly the whisperer or spirit is or how exactly it relates to nightmares or what the pure heart is or how it all came about. Or why luminaries condemn magic. Or how Jay became a werewolf. Or if it’s all supposed to be one huge intricate metaphor or something; I’m not sure how deep it’s meant to be.
I’m honestly not sure if it’s my failing to put the pieces together cohesively in my brain or if Dennard was vague about the whys. Both? It feels so ironic for me to have any confusion while Winnie is a walking Nightmare encyclopedia and Luminary rulebook, lol!* I feel like I need a 2D animated historical reenactment with narration please. Complete with “Once upon a time.” Or perhaps a prequel novella: How the Luminaries Began.
In that vein, the entire scene at the lake in the end was a fever dream. Right? I had no idea what was happening. From the attack at the party through the climax, it was nonstop action and revelations to the point of overwhelming my brain. A couple times I wished there had been a narrative time-out to help process, like a brainstorming sesh between Winnie and someone else, recapping all that had happened and explaining the significance/consequences. It’s good to have a fast pace, high stakes, and high tension, but I need time to digest or I’ll just stop absorbing and information will just run off.
If anyone cares to help me understand any of the above, by all means comment.
*The way Winnie recited the compendium to distract or focus herself, or later because of her curse, reminded me of Violet Sorrengail’s similar habit in Fourth Wing. Gotta deliver that exposition. 😉 Some might think the method heavy handed or clunky, but it didn’t bother me.
I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to read a YA fantasy—I suppose urban fantasy is more accurate—that doesn’t so much as mention sex, yet the romance is just as hot and satisfying as anything explicit. The chemistry between Winnie and Jay was amazing, though it debatably peaked in book 2. With the romantasy trend gaining momentum, it’s nice to find a story that isn’t propped up by unrealistic and gratuitous carnality. Sex as character/relationship development is fine, but so many books these days are more porn than plot. It’s maddening.
I have to say, I expected the masquerade ball to be a plot point rather than the denouement, for the Dianas to do some sort of coup, what with their notable masks. Not sure if that’s a missed opportunity or sidestepped cliche. Though if Dennard dodged that cliche, she stepped right into a steaming pile of high school dance cliche, complete with giddy girls getting ready montage. But I’ll forgive it because it was fun and romantic and a good demonstration of Jay’s arc.
I could describe more small similarities to other YA series, but I won’t. None of them bothered me or made me think less of this book. YA gonna YA, I guess.
I have a terrible habit of thinking of things to mention in the review while I’m listening, but because I’m listening that means my hands are busy doing something else, so I can’t make a note at the moment I think of it, and I end up forgetting. Due to my ADHD, I recently learned. So there’s more I wanted to talk about, but I can’t remember now. However, the important things are above—my joy in the story, my lingering confusion. I want so bad to give this five stars, but that confusion means it’s only four.
The epilogue kinda-sorta hinted that this world could continue to be explored, and I’d be up for that, so I’ll be keeping an eye on Dennard’s future work.
