Welcome back to the second day of our book club readalong for OwlCrate's November book, The Luminaries by Susan Dennard!
Just a reminder that this will be a SPOILER discussion for Chapters 8-13 of The Luminaries, so make sure you read are finished this section before continuing.
Discussion questions are listed below, and anyone who participates in the comments will be entered to win a free OwlCrate box! Don't forget, you can also post about the readalong on Instagram with the hashtag #OCTheLuminaries for another chance to win!
The story continues...
Chapter 8:
Winnie’s brother Darian picks her up from school, giving her a locket with pictures of them as kids inside. Winnie bursts into tears and tells him she’s doing the trial that night, and after a time he agrees to help her get ready.
Chapter 9:
Darian takes her to his boyfriend Andrew’s place, where he gives her Andrew’s old hunter gear. He then takes her home for dinner. Every year her dad sends Winnie a card for her birthday, but her mom hides it from her and takes it to the Luminaries. After saying good night to her mom, Winnie sneaks out the window. It’s time for the trial.
Chapter 10:
Winnie heads to the trials, but is confronted by her Aunt Rachel, who tells her to leave. Winnie does, but filled with rage, she instead heads to another part of the forest. She is going to hunt a nightmare tonight.
Chapter 11:
She heads into the forest as the mist that bares the nightmares rises. It’s cloying and hot and disorienting. Winnie hears a wolf howl, and decides to follow the sound as werewolves hunt other nightmares as well. She has a trap in her hand, ready.
She comes upon a banshee, but before she can trap it it lunges for her, pinning her to the ground. It overwhelms her with a sense of loss and grief. She hears the werewolf howl again, as well as a strange whispering, and it brings her back to her senses - she shoves the banshee off her. The banshee runs into the forest. The werewolf then appears, but it isn’t running for her. It runs past her and behind it the forest seems to waver in a kaleidoscope sort of way. Winnie runs as well.
Chapter 12:
She sprints out of the forest, past the red stakes marking the boundary, and finds the banshee's head. No body, just the head. Not knowing what else to do, she picks it up and keeps running.
Chapter 13:
At first Winnie tries to get a word in about what really happened, but she quickly quiets, deciding that later she will reveal what really happened. No one else heard the whispering or saw the weird twisting of the forest.
Her mom, furious but also proud, picks her up and reveals that Aunt Rachel has already invited them to a clan dinner, and Winnie is allowed to start training at the Sunday estate again. It is then that Winnie resolves to not tell the truth.
Questions:
- What do you think is in the birthday cards that Winnie's dad sends her?
- Why do you think only Winnie saw and heard the whispering "thing" in the forest?
- Why do you think the other nightmares seemed to fear it?
- Do you think Winnie's lie will be revealed?
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