The Whispering Night was an emotional and intense ending to The Luminaries trilogy. Filled with twists and turns, romance and deception, I polished it off in one sitting, desperate for Winnie to win out in the end.

I feel like Winnie has grown so much through this series. In book one she starts off so desperate to get back into the world of the Luminaries, wanting to right the wrong that was done to their family years ago, and as the series progresses she does that and so much more. She still has her anxieties and insecurities, but she's also incredibly stubborn, and once she has a plan in motion, nothing and no one will be able to get in her way. While the previous two books have largely focused on her relationship with Jay, one of her old friends, he plays a significantly smaller part in this book, which was sad and I found myself missing both him and their interactions. However, Winnie spends the majority of this book with Erica, the T in their old WTF group, and I did enjoy getting to see them start to build bridges and re-build their relationship back from the ruin it was left in when Winnie was kicked out of the Luminaries.

The story picks up from the ending of the second book and never really lets up at all. All the revelations from the previous book, Jay being a Werewolf, Erica a Diana, have made Winnie's life that much more stressful, but she is still determined to look for the truth, whilst keeping her friends safe. Something that is made harder by a Diana leader showing up in Hemlock Falls and setting Winnie an impossible task, claiming she will kill everyone she loves if she fails. The stakes are higher, especially once Winnie learns the truth about her father through her investigation, and everything she thinks she knows, about him, about the forest and about the Whisperer and other nightmares come into question.

If anything, this book actually moves faster than the previous two, which is a feat in itself. Dennard really picks up the pace, allowing us hardly any slower scenes, instead everything, every interaction and event becomes almost pivotal to the story and the mystery that Winnie has to solve. Dennard's foreshadowing really is insane and she uses it, not only to add to the tension and pace of the plot, but as an emotional device as well, and I loved when all the pieces started clicking together. I will admit, there were a few twists that I guessed early on, but that never took away from the emotional hit at all, and there were plenty of WTF moments in there for me as well which kept me on my toes.

Ugh Jay got an upgrade to ah Jay, which was enjoyable, and even though he kind of disappeared as a character for a large part of the book I still really enjoyed their scenes together. The history these two share make them perfect for one another, and I've really enjoyed following their romance throughout the series. But the thing I enjoyed about his lack of page time was how it allowed Dennard to show Winnie starting to depending on herself, learning to trust herself, her intuition and insights. Jay had almost been Winnie's safety blanket in the first two books, showing up when she was in danger, so I enjoyed Dennard's decision to remove him from the equation and make Winnie look to herself, as well as others, friends and family, for help.

Considering how many questions I had, how many open plot points there were going into this book, I think Dennard did a truly brilliant job in trying everything together. What happened to Winnie's dad? What the Whisperer is? All of these were answered, as well as some questions that popped up solely in this book. Which is amazing when you consider the pace of this book and just how much information had to be packed in. If you're looking for a YA trilogy to dive into I couldn't recommend this enough. Twisty, intriguing, filled with magical creatures and plenty of romance. I already loved Dennard from her Witchlands series, but this just cemented her as an all time favourite author.

The Whispering Night is everything you could want from the finale of a trilogy and more! My heart rate litterally sped up at the intensity of this fast-paced, action packed, return the Hemlock Falls that was immensely satisfying!

I am so sad this trilogy has ended! I loved being in Hemlock Falls with Winne and co.
I think this was a perfect ending, we got answers from questions raised in books 1 & 2 and everything tied up nicely. Winne remained true to character and was a loyal Wednesday Bear through and through.
I do think there were a couple of later chapters that ended 'better' than the actual ending final chapter and at times I think things could of been cut down but it didn't impact my reading experience too much.
I would definitely recommend this series, I am so knowledgeable about the Nightmares now, thanks Winnie!
The little bits at the very end were nice to read too.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC!

The Whispering Night is the finale of the Luminaries trilogy, and I have to applaud Susan Dennard. I didn't enjoy the first book—I've said that before, and I stand by it—I found it boring and lacklustre. The second book surprised me with how much I actually enjoyed it, and the third capitalised on that and stuck the landing.

I didn't finish this trilogy wishing for something more but was instead satisfied with everything that happened. Winnie grew as a person, which is exactly what I wanted, and the side characters were given plenty of time to grow and have their own stories told as well. Winnie and Jay are adorable together, and I do wish we'd seen more of them. Instead, we spend a lot more time with Erica - a character we've interacted with only slightly in previous books. This also means that it comes at the expense of Bretta, Emma and Fatima, as we don't get to see them nearly as much.

Winnie knows what she's battling now; she knows who her enemies are and what the Whisperer is. Knowledge is power, and it really showcases itself in the Luminaries trilogy. Winnie's a hunter, sure, but she's not the best hunter. What she is is knowledgeable. She puts things together quickly and comes to conclusions that others don't. I loved Winnie's mind and how smart she could be, even when she missed things at first. She eventually puts it together.

There are plenty of surprises in this book, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying it all. I'd actually love to see another book in the series set in the future, and I'd be pretty happy to have it focused on Winnie and Jay again. The world needs to be fleshed out more, as there are plenty of tantalising details that I'd love to see explored!

I really loved this book. The Whispering Night by Susan Dennard is the type of book you don't want to put down for a bit. I recommend everyone to read this book.