Book Review | The Hunting Moon #20booksofsummer24

So glad to be delving back into the world of nightmares.

The Hunting Moon
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.

Bookshop.org | Goodreads | The StoryGraph | Amazon

There is something about a second book in a series, it can be a hit or a miss, luckily though this one for me was a hit, I actually might have enjoyed it more than the first book. Off the back of a pretty harrowing encounter for her third trial, Winnie is back to trying to figure out the clues that her dad left her whilst navigating a newfound popularity that she isn’t all that keen on.

I warmed to Winnie a lot more in this book, she had more of a determined purpose in this book and you can see the growth in her character as she starts to think about others more than she does herself. Of course, she still has some flawed moments and like most of us lets her feelings cloud a situation but she is working on it. She also seems more ready to face the forest as well, she isn’t just skirting by on dumb luck and hoping for the best, she understands the risk a little more.

Jay has a lot on his plate in this book, yet still finds the time to help Winnie as best he can. They have a slightly more fractious relationship in this book due to Jay’s new position in the Friday’s and Winnie sometimes feeling like he is working against her but they still seem to gravitate to each other.

I loved the new nightmares that we came across in this book and that there were some differences between what happened in real life to what the Luminaries knew of. It is quite interesting to see how Winnie’s mindset starts to change the more she experiences the forest and I’m looking forward to exploring more of this in the next book.

I enjoyed finally getting a bit more information on the Diana’s, as Winnie follows her dad’s trail and realises that she needs more information on what she might be up against. I liked that their power has been a bit more integral to the story than I would have thought in book one and again I’m looking forward to Winnie figuring out what happened four years ago.

The Hunting Moon is a fantastic continuation of the series and I am very much looking forward to book three.