The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Winner of the 2017 Newbery Medal)

I’m not surprised this won the Newbery, because it is absolutely stunning. Told in a wonderfully mystical narrative, this book is sure to join the ranks of enduring middle grade classics. The story centers around a long held tradition in the Protectorate, that every year the youngest child must be sacrificed to appease the witch in the forest. But right away the reader finds out the the witch, named Xan, is actually kind and makes the yearly trek to the Protectorate to save the babies from dying alone. One day, Xan picks up a baby girl and instead of feeding her starlight she feeds her moonlight, which imbues the child with incredible powers. What follows is an intricate cast of characters that are all affected by Luna, the girl who drank the moon. I loved every word in this book, and I look forward to reading it again and again and again.

I thought my 7-year-old daughter and I would love this; I mean really, really love this. Unfortunately, we just did not. The book is well-written for sure. The vocabulary and sentence structure are fabulous. I even learned a new word, accretion. My Ivy-League-graduate husband was a bit smug that I did not know the word. Of course, I wiped the smugness right off his face when I used accretion in a sentence for him. The accretion of papers on his desk is what prevents him from quickly finishing his work! But I digress...

The plot started off strong. Barnhill created an intricate and well-developed setting although oddly, I felt like I could not connect well with her characters. I never loved Luna for example. I did not understand the purpose of the crow, etc. The only character I felt like I knew, and we definitely rooted for him although his role in the denouement was disappointing at best, was Antain. In fact, the entire book just fell apart at a quick, convenient, and I hate to say it, boring end. Such a disappointment after the gripping start.

It was a bit of a struggle to finish the book and my 7-year-old lost interest before I did. She wanted to read The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey but I talked her into this first since it just won the Newbery. Her take on this story? "I told you we should have read the other book." Yeah, I guess that sums it up.

I was a bit reluctant to read this book for a couple of reasons. One, I've heard so many good things about it that I didn't want to be disappointed. Second, the story seemed kind of weird. But I ended up loving it. The character development is fabulous, and not just surrounding the main character Luna. Antain, the young man who wants to protect his family, Xan, the witch who adopts Luna, and the madwoman, all play important parts in the story and get their fair share of attention. Barnhill's books are known, at least in my mind, for being unusual and unique. This book definitely lives up to that standard. I did find the mother telling her child stories at the beginning and several other occasions throughout the book rather intriguing. It reinforced the myths that the people living in the Protectorate had been lead to believe. I think what I found most impressive was the intricate plotting that eventually led the main characters to each other and the answers they were seeking. I knew going in that at least some of the various characters would meet up, what was fascinating was the way it happened. And the way that magic was woven into the story and the various characters lives, especially Luna's and Xans's.

In addition to just being a great story, the themes running through the book are very thought-provoking, at least for me. The themes of kindness versus power and control, along with themes about growing up and making decisions, and then the most impressive theme of all, living with the consequences of the choices we make. All of these themes make this a book well worth reading and discussing. And after all of that, there is the volcano, the element in the story that none of the characters can control. This is a book that is well worth all the praise it has been given. Barnhill has outdone herself with this one.

My 9year old daughter and I read this as a bedtime story. It kept both of our attention and I must confess I read ahead while she was at school. I do not wish to give away any storyline but it does have some strong female characters that are worthy of being the story's focus and this story gives more than one type of strong female for girls to look up to. It is a well written coming of age story.

It was an okay story. It had magic and the story is certainly unusual. Granted this is certainly FICTION but it reads a bit choppy and not sure I understand many of the points of the tale. There seemed to be many hints of a political nature but all mixed up in a choppy manner. I really did not connect with the characters and not sure what some of the symbolism meant. Honestly, I did not enjoy it enough to dissect it by going back to read again. It started out great but somewhere in the middle the story just lost it's way.

I was a bit reluctant to read this book for a couple of reasons. One, I've heard so many good things about it that I didn't want to be disappointed. Second, the story seemed kind of weird. But I ended up loving it. The character development is fabulous, and not just surrounding the main character Luna. Antain, the young man who wants to protect his family, Xan, the witch who adopts Luna, and the madwoman, all play important parts in the story and get their fair share of attention. Barnhill's books are known, at least in my mind, for being unusual and unique. This book definitely lives up to that standard. I did find the mother telling her child stories at the beginning and several other occasions throughout the book rather intriguing. It reinforced the myths that the people living in the Protectorate had been lead to believe. I think what I found most impressive was the intricate plotting that eventually led the main characters to each other and the answers they were seeking. I knew going in that at least some of the various characters would meet up, what was fascinating was the way it happened. And the way that magic was woven into the story and the various characters lives, especially Luna's and Xans's.

In addition to just being a great story, the themes running through the book are very thought-provoking, at least for me. The themes of kindness versus power and control, along with themes about growing up and making decisions, and then the most impressive theme of all, living with the consequences of the choices we make. All of these themes make this a book well worth reading and discussing. And after all of that, there is the volcano, the element in the story that none of the characters can control. This is a book that is well worth all the praise it has been given. Barnhill has outdone herself with this one.

My 9year old daughter and I read this as a bedtime story. It kept both of our attention and I must confess I read ahead while she was at school. I do not wish to give away any storyline but it does have some strong female characters that are worthy of being the story's focus and this story gives more than one type of strong female for girls to look up to. It is a well written coming of age story.

It was an okay story. It had magic and the story is certainly unusual. Granted this is certainly FICTION but it reads a bit choppy and not sure I understand many of the points of the tale. There seemed to be many hints of a political nature but all mixed up in a choppy manner. I really did not connect with the characters and not sure what some of the symbolism meant. Honestly, I did not enjoy it enough to dissect it by going back to read again. It started out great but somewhere in the middle the story just lost it's way.

For being a Newbery award winner I was surprised at how much I didn't like it. It just dragged on and on and on. The story concept was good, the characters were good. But it could have been told better in 1/2 the amount of pages.

This charming novel can be read as a children's fairy story, but it can also appeal to adults. One can learn about unintended consequences, loyalty, friendship, loss, love, and how easily misperceptions occur. Ranging from a treehouse in the swamp to a bird woman's tower to a sorrowful village, the settings help the characters grow as they face and overcome challenges. Even after three readings, new details emerge to charm the reader. A powerful book.

The love that flows through this story filled up my heart and pushed out so many happy tears that I think I shall read it again to see what I missed. Glerk and Fyrian (a bog monster and a tiny dragon) are two amazing supporting characters that lead a cast of memorable people and creatures that make Xan and Luna's story so perfect.

Love is infinite.

This is a book filled with wonder. The un-wicked witch, the not-so-scary dragon, the tiny girl who was given the moon to drink. We are reminded about the beauty and the love in ordinary things. I don't want to spoil the book, so I won't tell you any more about it. Just buy it, read it, and prepare to fall in love.

A witch haunts the woods, waiting each year for a sacrifice of a newborn baby to sate her hunger and to buy off her wrath. But perhaps the wrong witch is to blame for the Protectorate's sorrows?

The first few pages into this story convinced me that this was something special. I love dark young people's tales, because it seems like they often have something much more genuine to offer young and old readers alike, especially in terms of wisdom of the heart. This reminded me very much in tone of Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book" in the wistful sorrow of loss, and how we sometimes make our families not of blood, but of the kinship of the heart. It's a story of challenging what you thought you knew, accepting what you cannot change, following your heart home, and how stories that are half forgotten, sometimes have a grain of truth to them.

This is a wonderful story. Tons of vocabulary for my 9yo and a little hard to follow for that age group but we loved it just the same (just took a little bit of extra explanation here and there). The end wasn't as detailed as I expected but overall it's a good read.

Recommend The Girl Who Drank The Moon to anyone who needs to feel hope, love and the knowledge that family is more than your blood relatives. Family is the company we keep in our hearts, that believes in us every day. Hope is sunshine and smiles.

When I saw the definitions of the stars here, I went from 3 stars to 2. Within the first few pages I instantly saw "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. Initially I found the characters uninteresting and felt little connection with them. By the end, I found the characters uninteresting and felt little connection with them! I must admit I struggled to finish this book simply because it was a Newberry winner. I disagree with reviewers who said they couldn't put it down. It was hard to pick up! I think this choice for American children's literature's highest honor is misplaced and is better served shredding itself into paper birds and flying into the woods, or bog or volcano or wherever. The book that should have won the award is an honor book, The Inquisitor's Tale. I'll try to review that one as well.

This is such a great book! I had to read it for a middle childhood class in college so I was kind of skeptical that it was going to be boring and too much for younger children. I actually really enjoyed reading it and it has such a great plot!

I've been done with this book for a couple of weeks, and wasn't sure how to write this review. I thought about just throwing a 3 or 4 star rating down and being done with it, but I feel like I owe it to my friends that have similar tastes to be honest.
I wanted to love this book.
The cover was gorgeous.
The writing was gorgeous.
The ending came together perfectly.
I didn't love this book.
I kept pushing through it, hoping that I would have an "AH-HA" moment and fall head over heels in love with it. I finished it, but kinda wish I hadn't wasted my time.
I don't see this as middle grade fiction. To me, it seems more like an adult book with a middle grade character. It's what adults wished middle graders wanted to read. The first 3/4 of the book is slow, sad and repetitive. I was bored.
It has so many elements that I thought I would love: A bog monster, a tiny dragon, and magic from the moon. All while living in a forest.
I wish it had worked for me.

A tiny note for Audible listeners. The narrator for this book is FANTASTIC!

A very interesting story about a witch who isn't your typical witch, a sad village, a monster, a tiny dragon, and the abandoned little girl who drank the moon. There are deeper lessons to learn from this book, but the story never goes deep enough and leaves you with many questions. Well written and a vast vocabulary make it a should read but not a must read.

Lots of kids at our school would check it in. I would ask how the book was and they would say I did not finish it. It was too boring. I figured it was the length that scared them. I read it an it was boring

What a beautiful written, entricate plotted, long winding fantasy tale. Girl is taken from her mother. A witch raises her but due to a spell can't teach her about the magic coursing thru her veins. The story itself is delicately laid out of people's prejudices and fears that blind them to the truth. Complex emotions tie the people together from the heartbreak of a mother gone mad with grief to a young man weighed down with guilt. The imagery is rich and characters well presented with layers.

An editor! An editor! My kingdom for an editor! An editor was strongly needed to trim all the extra frivolous details that detracted from the main story. So much could have left out that was not needed, maybe 100 pages worth!!! And yet this was a book you couldn't skip thru because you might miss a key point. With such a long story close to 400 pages, these extra details added frustration. There is also a narrator telling a completely false tale to their child throughout the story that is not only distracting but also confusing.

When Luna was a baby, she was left alone in the woods. Luckily, she was rescued by a witch intending on bringing her far away to a loving family.

But along the way, the witch accidentally fed her the magic of the moon. Luna was hungry and she drank up and filled up with so much magic that she became a witch. Now the witch must adopt her and teach her the ways of magic. And kept her safe from the looming danger of the sorrow-eater.

This book is a fun read with many interesting characters. Children 10 and up will delight in the several twists and turns of the story.

Every year the people of the Protectorate leave a baby in the woods as a sacrifice to the witch who lives there. The rulers of the Protectorate don't believe in the witch; they think a wild animal eats the babies. They use this annual tradition as a way to keep power over the people of the Protectorate. A witch, however, does live in the forest and she comes each year and rescues the children, feeding them star light, which makes them glow. She takes them to be raised by happy families in the happy villages on the other side of the woods.

One year, the witch accidentally on purpose feeds the baby moonlight, too, which imbues the child with magic. The witch, Xan, names the child Luna. Xan locks Luna's magic deep inside her to protect her. Meanwhile, a man from the Protectorate decides to end the yearly sacrifices by venturing into the woods to kill the witch. Adventures ensue.

You would think this book would be mostly Luna's story, but it isn't. There are many characters in the book, with many stories, and, unfortunately, they aren't well developed. The Girl Who Drank The Moon has some horribly-named characters (Antain, Ethyne, Gherland, Glerk), which is always something that niggles at me and will sometimes force me to put down a book.

Another puzzling aspect of the book was that I couldn't figure out who its intended audience is. It's marketed as a middle school read. At times it reads that way; at other times, it reads more like young adult fiction or some type of metaphysical gobbledygook. I didn't like the fact that it was written partly as a fairy tale, then partly as a tale of magical realism. The two genres don't mix well.

And it was about one hundred pages too long.

When I look at the reviews on the store and Goodreads, I can see that I'm in the minority in my dislike of The Girl Who Drank The Moon. I can't help but wonder how many of those glowing reviews were written by adults; i doubt many were written my middle graders. All in all, I'd say pass this one by unless you're planning to check it out from your local library. Two out of five stars.

Purchased on Kindle, no problems with the Kindle edition.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon
by Kelly Barnhill

SUMMARY: On a particular day each year, the leaders of a village place a baby in the forest to keep the forest witch at bay. However, the witch does not understand why on earth the people would leave a child out each year and takes the child and places him or her into a loving home in another town. But one year, she keeps the child. And that’s The Girl Who Drank the Moon.

MY REVIEW: This enjoyable, fairytale-like book had many humorous scenes and had good messages of love and forgiveness. Good discussions can be had on abuse of power, control, prejudices, and following without questioning.

The witch—with the help of a poetic bog monster and a Perfectly Tiny dragon—is kept on her toes raising Luna, a child full of magic. Parents reading the story will laugh at some of “joys” of child-rearing. This story covers Luna’s first 13 years of life.

While there is much fun, adventure, magic, and love in the story, there is also much sorrow, depression, grief, and madness. There are also a few creepy parts. Like paper birds that attack “without mercy” and disfigure and sit in trees, watching you. This story might be labeled for grades 5-8, but perhaps it might be better suited for a bit older of an audience.

I did find the middle of the book slower than the beginning or the end, but overall I enjoyed the story immensely. I’m going to give it to my fairy tale-loving 17yo daughter to read next.

In many places, the writing is lyrical and beautiful. In others, it’s repetitive. Here are a couple of quotes I enjoyed.

“My love is not divided. It’s multiplied.”
and
“She dreamed of oceans of ink and forests of quills and an endless bog of words. She dreamed of all of it in abundance.”

3.5 stars. I deliberated over how many stars to give this book. In the end, I came up with four stars because it is very enjoyable even though it has some slowness and repetitiveness, but I felt I needed to deduct half of a star for being marketed to as low as 5th graders when it will be best understood by older students.

This review reflects my honest thoughts and opinions on the book, and I received no compensation for this review.

As you can tell from all of the rave reviews that have appeared on pretty much every book site this is an admired and popular book. I'm not sure why Barnhill isn't recognized as a bigger deal, but looking over her other books it's easy enough to see where she's headed.

I first read Kelly Barnhill six years ago when "The Mostly True Story of Jack" came out. That book confused and annoyed some people because it was sort of dreamy, ambiguous, indirect and open-ended. I loved it. Then we got "The Witch's Boy", and that made a bigger splash, and more readers seemed to "get" Barnhill's approach and style.

Now, we have this volume, which strikes me as the best of the three and the most mature, accomplished and well-crafted of the books. To my mind, Barnhill does two unusual things here.

First, she has again created a dreamy-plot. There is a plot, and it has a beginning and a middle and an end, and you could diagram or outline it to make it sound perfectly clear and linear. But it doesn't actually read that way. There are digressions, and open sub-plots, and ambiguous side paths, and bits that circle around and double back on themselves. Characters bob up and down in importance, and coincidence and fortuity play a large role in the progress of the story. Magic is always there to fill in any gaps. It is much more fabulous and fairy-taleish than it seems as you're reading it. Her plots don't have "magic" the way most books have rigorous "magical" systems, with rules and so on. Her books have "magic" that just permeates everything, and if there are "rules" they're just little odds and ends that pop up when convenient. Magic is more like the musical score in the background of the tale that keeps everything alive.

But that's where her second signature strength comes in. All of this could be insufferably twee, coy, and romantically artsy-fartsy in a pink-and-flowery world sort of way. But no. Barnhill enlists humor, in many different forms, to complement every aspect of the story. Her characters can be silly, or endearing, or caustic, or amiable. Her throw-away lines and descriptions can be laugh out loud funny. There are edgy bits and some pretty sharp lines. And a lot of the humor serves to switch the mood in a whiplash sort of way - sad becomes funny, a confrontation can turn wacky, a sad moment becomes slapstick humor. This constant shifting of the humor gears keeps everything unexpected and suspenseful, even if all we're doing is walking through the woods. While Barnhill is never ironic or sarcastic, and never mocks the genre, she can be stone cold deadpan funny.

The upshot is that "magical" books, for all their charm, can be tedious and sometimes even dreary. They can certainly sometimes be "precious". That's not a problem with a Barnhill book, where magic, fable, self-awareness, and bracing clear eyed humor somehow co-exist. A wonderful find.

(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

I have a love/hate relationship with Newbury Award books -- I don't deny that many of them are good and have vital messages to pass along, but too often the books fall into one of two traps (or both traps if they're unlucky). The first trap is being so heavy-handed with said message that it overwhelms the story, and the second is the belief that "true art is angsty" -- namely, that in order to be taken seriously and considered exceptional the books have to either feature a death or focus on heavy, depressing subject matter. This phenomenon is so well-known that TV Tropes has a trope for it (Death By Newbury Medal), and there's even an entire book mocking the subject matter ("No More Dead Dogs" by Gordon Korman). So despite being intrigued by the plot synopsis of "The Girl Who Drank the Moon," I was hesitant to pick it up when I saw the Newbury medal on the cover. I wanted to be entertained, not depressed...

I needn't have worried, though. Yes, "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" has something valuable to say about society, and yes, there is heartbreak in its pages. But it's still a phenomenal story, one that will resonate with me for some time to come.

In a fog-shrouded village at the edge of a bog, the Elders have decreed that every year an infant must be left in the woods as a sacrifice to an evil witch. But the witch, Xan, isn't evil at all -- she takes these children, feeds them starlight, and finds them new homes in the kingdoms beyond the bog. When Xan accidentally feeds moonlight to one of these children, inadvertently imbuing her with powerful magic, she decides to raise her herself, naming her Luna. Luna grows up with her grandmother, a morose but kindly swamp monster, and an adorable tiny dragon, blissfully ignorant of either magic or her true heritage. But she won't stay innocent for long -- for a young man from the village has decided to end the yearly sacrifices by killing Xan, a power-hungry woman who holds the village in her thrall is tightening her grip, and a deadly volcano is threatening to erupt and destroy all everyone holds dear...

At first I was a bit put off by the multiple plots this book was constantly juggling, and found myself scratching my head and wondering just how it was all going to tie together. But Kelly Barnhill impressed me by handling the plots deftly, giving each the attention it deserved and weaving them all together in a final complex story. Some books get cluttered with too many plotlines, but "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" manages to handle its multiple storylines quite well, and each story is a thread that makes the final tapestry of the book all the more vibrant. Barnhill's writing is a great help here, lyrical and mythic without falling into excessive purple prose.

The characters are a joy to get to know as well. The protagonists, Xan and Luna, are flawed but likable characters, who make their share of mistakes but are earnest in their desire to do good and protect those they love. Glerk, the swamp monster, is a voice of reason and an unexpected source of dry humor, while Fyrian, the tiny dragon, serves mostly as comic relief but gets an enjoyable story arc of his own. The young man bent on killing Xan could have been painted as a flat villain, but he's made sympathetic and even likable by the story and author. And while the villains are somewhat flat in their motivations, one has his moments of sympathy that help flesh him out, while the other is one of those delightfully-sinister villains you can't help but love to hate.

The book could have easily gotten preachy in some of its themes -- the corruption of power, and how those in power use lies and distraction to hold onto their power. But Barnhill makes her themes serve the story, rather than using the story as a vehicle to cram a message down the reader's throat. In my mind, a message in a story is all the more powerful when it's NOT beating the reader over the head, and when it's carried out with some degree of subtlety.

A complex and wonderful story, "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" is a fantastic read, and fully deserves its accolades. And it gives me new hope that the next Newbury book I pick up won't be a sad slog to get through. Now if we can just convince those behind the Pulitzer Prize of the same thing...

In this beautifully magical book, the witch Xan adopts a sacrificial baby from the Protectorate into her heart, having accidentally fed her the moonlight. As baby Luna grows, so does her magic yet she is unable to control it. Soon she unknowingly becomes a hazard to her adoptive family, turning Glerk into a fuzzy mammal. Xan fears tiny dragon Fyrian may be next, so she bottles up Luna’s magic until she is older and can control it. Meanwhile, sorrow hangs heavy over the Protectorate as the Tower and the Elders demand the yearly sacrifice to the ‘witch’ to keep their town safe. Meanwhile, young Antain has grown into a young man and over the course of the book he becomes determined to stop the ‘witch’ from stealing any more of their children.

Wow! Just, simply, wow! I fell in love hard with this book. I do enjoy a fun kid’s book here and there but this hit all the right buttons for me. It has this wonderful mix of magic, sorrow, adventure, loss, love, discovery, humor, and goodbyes. Barnhill has magnificently caught the sorrow of losing a child and also a child’s longing to know their biological parents in this intense fairy tale. Those two things give what would otherwise be a light, fun read a certain keen edge that makes all the beautiful parts that much more intense.

The Protectorate is surrounded by a bog and a forest and few of the residents know of any life outside the area. It is ruled by two powers – the Council and Elders (a group of ‘wise’ old men) and the Tower (which is filled with armed, armored, and well-educated women). Right away, we are privy to a yearly scene where a child is taken from its family and walked to edge of the town and left for the evil ‘witch’ to retrieve. The townsfolk are told this is to keep the entire town from being decimated by the witch, but the Elders all know there is no witch. The ritual keeps them in power and comfort. Young Antain, who is being groomed to become an Elder, sees first hand the horrible result of this as the baby’s mother goes insane with grief and is locked in the Tower for safekeeping.

Xan has known for years that the Protectorate gives up a child on the same day every year so she has been visiting them in secret and taking the babies off to other cities to be adopted into willing families. Yet this time it is different. Xan calls down the starlight to feed the baby, but she is extra hungry, and before Xan knows it, she has accidentally fed the babe moonlight, enmagicing her. Xan decides to adopt her, names her Luna, and becomes her Grandmother. Glerk, an ancient, friendly bog monster, and Fyrian, a tiny baby dragon, round out the family.

Xan is the real star of this book. She gives so much and becomes a bit of a willing sacrifice herself. Her decisions drive much of the plot. Plus I just enjoy her character. She’s got a bit of a hidden history that becomes clearer towards the end of the book. Luna is fun but she doesn’t have much of a personality until the last quarter of the book. I was also quite taken with Antain. His story arc is the most dynamic, starting off as a young lad, being groomed as an Elder, studying in the Tower, suffering a scarring accident, and eventually resolving to put an end to the yearly sacrifices. I think Antain deserves a story of his own. Fyrian and Glerk provide the comedic relief much of the time but add so much love and happiness to the tale I would be shallow to dismiss them. Glerk, being as ancient as he is, knows the importance of family and the ties of love and friendship. Fyrian is not as young as he thinks he is but he’ll grow into it.

There is a hidden villain in the story and I didn’t figure out their identity until the last third of the book. I loved that I was totally not expecting it and therefore, I didn’t really know where this tale would take me. I loved that I couldn’t easily predict how things would turn out. The story has just enough hard edges, just enough evil and sorrow, that the author had me wondering if this fairy tale would indeed have a happy ending. Luna’s mom really captures the heart of this novel. Her immense love for her lost baby has driven her into a deep sorrow and that sorrow has pushed her into a touch of insanity and that touch has opened the door of magic just a crack. All these elements are connected in one person here and the bigger story shows how those elements connect all the people in this tale to one another. It’s really quite clever. Like up there with Neil Gaiman kind of clever.

In short, I can’t recommend this book enough. I was captured from the opening scene and didn’t want to put it down. I was never quite sure how things would end and this kept me thoroughly invested in the story and characters.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Christian Moore did a great job with this book. I loved her voice for Xan, Glerk, and Fyrian. She also managed quite well in portraying not only a young Antain but also the man he grew into over the course of the book. Her voice for the true villain could be quite spooky indeed! She was excellent at imbuing scenes with the correct, and sometimes subtle, emotions.

I adore this cover. It was what first caught my eye when people started talking about this book, and then to find out it was a fairytale about a girl, a witch, and a dragon? I was sold. The trouble was getting my hands on it! But it has finally worked its way through the long line of other people who wanted to read it at my library, and I got to check it out. I've labeled it YA Fantasy, but it's actually pretty close to middle-grade Fantasy. Definitely something younger readers could understand, but enough meat in it for older readers who like fairy tales to enjoy it as well.

I would argue that the main character is not, in fact, the titular one, but the forest witch, Xan. Xan has been rescuing the babies left outside the Protectorate for many, many years, thinking the parents were abandoning them willfully, not that they were bullied into "sacrificing" wanted children. She'd cluck, take the babies, and deliver them to towns on the other side of the forest, where the villagers knew and loved her and cherished the children, calling them blessed and Star-Children. Meanwhile, the people of the Protectorate lived their days under a gray haze of misery, ruled by a Council who cared only for themselves and used Xan and the forest as a scare tactic.

Into this world Luna is born, and her mother refuses to give her up to be sacrificed, and goes "mad" when she is forced to. She is imprisoned in a tower, watched by fearsome nuns, while the oblivious Xan spirits her daughter away. On the journey, Xan winds up wandering instead of going straight to a village, and accidentally feeds Luna moonlight instead of starlight. Realizing the girl would be too much for a normal family to raise, she takes her home. (She also can't bear the thought of giving this particular child up.) She raises Luna as a granddaughter.

But Luna's mother wants her back, and some of the people of the Protectorate have started to wise up to the Council's games, and the plot really begins.

I really enjoyed this book - the characters were fun, the emotional conflicts were realistic, and the world-building was cute. This would actually be an excellent book to read to a child as a bedtime story, one chapter a night. (My parents read to us that way, working through Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Chronicles of Narnia, Tolkien, and Anne of Green Gables.) Adorable book, gorgeous cover. Slightly simplistic, but it strikes a perfect balance between a middle-grade read and something adults will still enjoy.

“Everything you see is in the process of making or unmaking or dying or living. Everything is in a state of change.”
THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON by Kelly Barnhill
I was listening to THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON on CD, but near the intense conclusion, I picked up the "tree book" to finish more quickly. Wow! A well-told story with excellent lessons: Standing up to evil rulers — a theme for our times, for all times? — joining with friends, facing fear, finding and supporting truth, with compassion toward others. It makes me wish I could drink some moonlight and be enmagicked, but my mortal, ordinary, storytelling self will have to do.
“A story can tell the truth . . . but a story can also lie. Stories can bend and twist and obfuscate. Controlling stories is power indeed.”
“Some of us choose love over power. Indeed, most of us do.”
“Xan was very good at making people feel better, having had five hundred years of practice. Easing sorrow. Soothing pain. A listening ear.”
“Everything you see is in the process of making or unmaking or dying or living. Everything is in a state of change.”
“Volcanoes erupt and the world changes. This is the way of things. But we can protect.”
“Not all knowledge comes from the mind. Your body, your heart, your intuition . . . Make bubbles.”
“It’s all the same . . The Beast, the Bog,the Poem, the Poet, the world. They all love you.”
“Reason, beauty, poetry, and excellent conversation were his preferred tools for settling disputes.”
Off now to find more titles by Kelly Barnhill

A story about a town trapped in a dark tradition, a yearly sacrifice of the newest born babe, a boy named Antain who cannot abide with these traditions, a mother whose sanity flies away, a witch, a tiny dragon, a monster, and Luna, the sacrificial baby girl who gets accidentally filled with magic. We watch as Luna grows up, and her adopted family has to figure out how to handle her magic. We watch as Antain grows into a man troubled by his town's traditions until the day it is his own child about to be sacrificed, and something must be done. Most of all, it is a story warning of the dangers of bitterness and trumpeting the power of hope and love.

Barnhill's writing in this is a teensy bit like Dickens in that she introduces a bunch of different characters and you follow them around for a while getting to know each of them without seeing how they are connected. And then in the last quarter of the book it all comes together and you start going, Ohhhh! To be fair, Barnhill gives more clues than Dickens and doesn't keep you in the dark for nearly as many pages, but it still ends up feeling like the beginning of the book is a little slow. Sure, Barnhill's writing is often very lyrical and her world building is fascinating. Luna's adopted family are loads of fun to read about. Especially Fyrian the tiny dragon who thinks he's enormous. I want my own Fyrian! He's my second favorite character after Ethyne, Antain's wife, who is a rock star. It does take patience and perseverance to get to the point where you'll start to get answers and be able to see how the different parts being introduced fit together. The wait is worth it, though. The ending is powerful. The way Barnhill sets things up to fit together perfectly is masterful, and the message about the dangers of harboring bitterness and the power of hope is done so very well (and is so very important). A beautiful story.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. One person receives tons of paper cuts, to the point it is dangerous. Deaths in the past due to a volcanic eruption are mentioned, but not described. Two people die of old age.

Every year, the youngest child in the Protectorate must be left in the woods for the witch. The sacrifice of the child has ensured the survival of their small community for years. Unfortunately, the entire witch story was made up by those in power to keep the population sad and controllable. Still, there is a witch who lives in the woods, but Xan is gentle and kind. She rescues the children who are left in the clearing, taking them to other communities where they are loved and adored. Then one year, Xan accidentally feeds the baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the small child with magic. Xan decides to keep the child, whose magic will need to be controlled. As Luna grows, her magic starts to seep out everywhere, so Xan locks it away deep inside Luna who grows up knowing nothing of magic, despite living with a small dragon and a large swamp monster. As truth starts to appear, those in power struggle to maintain control even as Luna begins to discover what is hidden inside her.

Barnhill has created a brand new classic fairy tale with this book. Her writing is rich and filled with emotion. She allows magic to be incorporated throughout her book with a natural feel and flair. It becomes almost as normal as the trees in the woods, allowing readers to realize that Luna must discover her own magic or not be living at all in this world. The world building is brilliantly done with each piece clicking neatly in, forming a full pattern of the world.

The book does have Luna as a protagonist but it is so filled with rich characters that there are many heroes and heroines. There is Antain, the boy who refused to witness babies die. There is the amazing Xan, elderly and full of life, determined to do good even with her last breath. Glerk and Fyrian the monster and dragon are perfect for both humor and wisdom. Luna herself has to be even more special to stand out against these other characters, and she certainly is!

This book is magical, clever and luminous. Definitely one for young fans of fantasy or for anyone looking for a rich reading experience. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

I admit that fantasy is not my genre. I prefer realism, whether contemporary or historical. But I decided to read this book because of its many awards and stellar reviews, and also because the cover is stunning. Right away I loved the lyrical, intricate writing and the frequent dollops of humor. Unfortunately, I never did start caring about any of the characters, with the possible exception of Antain, who had to wrestle with difficult questions and decisions. The other characters (including Luna) were not multi-dimensional enough for my taste. Occasionally in the book I got confused by such things as the paper birds' motivations, the identity of the rock with a door in it, and the fates of various long-dead characters. I also considered the Christian theological references rather bizarre in a book about witches. I also think the book would have been better with about 50 fewer pages, because it was slow and ponderous in the middle. However, I'm giving the book four stars (instead of three), because the writing itself is beautifully crafted and the humor is refreshing.

I won an ARC of The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kelly Barnhill in a Goodreads firstreads giveaway.

Although The Girl Who Drank The Moon is actually aimed at a much younger audience than me, I enjoyed this book a lot. It is an easy read with wonderful imagery. The scary parts are not too scary and love rules the day.

All the characters (except the mean ones of course) are lovable and comical. I would love to hang out with Fyrian and Glerk. Then characters are well developed for younger to middle grade readers. The main story is simple enough for younger readers (or listeners) yet had enough depth to keep this old coot interested.

At 386 pages it might be a bit long for some younger readers, but would be a great story to be read to a child or grandchild. I think it would pique their interest and the word pictures author Kelly Barnhill paints would definitely spark imaginations. Eating starlight was for me, one such word picture.

The Girl Who Drank The Moon has a few lessons scattered throughout, but I liked that they were not so dominating of the story that they got in the way. The lessons are subtly woven into the narration and advance, rather than interrupt, the story.

So, although The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kally Barnhill is aimed at a younger audience, I do believe that adults will find this a fun book to read with or to their younger story lovers. Enjoy!

Mike

I have had this book on my TBR pile for quite some time and was excited to finally be able to read it. This was an amazing read and just a very beautifully done folk story/fairy tale of sorts. I have also read Iron-Hearted Violet by Barnhill, but I didn’t like that book as much as this one.

I listened to this on audiobook and Moore did an amazing job of narrating it. The characters’ personalities were captured perfectly and it was a joy to listen to. I would definitely recommend listening to on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

This is one of those books that really focuses on the concept of a good story and does it beautifully. The story is fantastically crafted and just absolutely magical.

There is a lot of discussion about sorrow and love; along with dragons, witches, magic, and volcanoes. It was an amazing read that kids and adults alike will enjoy.

Overall this was just an amazingly well crafted story with a very classic folk tale feel to it; something that you don't see a lot of these days. I would highly recommend to those who enjoy books that are excellently crafted classic feeling folk tales or fairy tales.

Title: The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Series Number: Not part of a series
Author: Kelly Barnhill
Narrator: Christina Moore
Theme(s): Memories are easily forgotten, things are not as they seem, folk tales have some truth at their heart, a person's actions make them good or bad; not their reputation

One sentence summary: A baby who was left in the woods is rescued by a witch whom accidently feeds her moonlight, which makes her magical.

(Audio) Narrator review: Excellent narrator. Did a variety of voices, was consistent with the voices, and had excellent inflection for all of the voices.

What I liked:
I greatly enjoyed the first half. It involved a number of time skips which allowed us to follow the baby and many others through their youth. It was a nice change from characters have large story arcs over small periods of time.

This felt like it had the right number of characters. While that seems like a weird comment to make it's important from a writers perspective. The story seemed complex; each character was well developed and had an arc etc. Yet not every person from the village was named and expanded upon. It was a well done balance.

What I disliked:
Honestly this was mostly let down by the pacing of the ending. After the first half involved a lot of time jumping and watching people grow up the last half covers two days. The switch between the two was too drastic and led me to expect different things from the end than ended up actually being there.

Over-repetition of some phrases. Particularly, "And it was the truth." And "She felt it in her bones."

Rating:
7/10 – Good read, with a little more polish the authors next book could be great. Might or might not recommend to friends.

Wow. I must have said that three times as I finished this fantastic Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee. THIS is the way a Texas award-winner is supposed to leave you feeling! I am a big fan of the fantasy genre so the summary intrigued me from the start. And from the beginning of the book, I was sucked in, wondering where a book that begins with a town of baby sacrificing idiots could possibly be going and was this really going to be a book for my 4th and 5th graders. I became more and more intrigued as this town of "gloomy guses" yielded an unusual sisterhood and a corrupt batch of elders and a mysterious witch of the woods. There was also laughter with bog-monster Glerk and dragon Fyrian and frustration with Antain and the madwoman. So many marvelous threads that weave together in end with utter perfection and a few tears. I know, sounds incredibly sappy, but read this and you will see just what I mean. My speculation about this book continued after the last page, though, with a question of whether Barnhill was taking a page from C.S. Lewis' book and was intentionally making "Drank the Moon" allegorical or if it was me just seeing types of God the Creator and Christ the sacrificial Lamb. Readers will have to come to their own conclusions, but even if they do not see that symbolism, they will close the book clearly seeing themes of hope, love and forgiveness inside an exciting story that will leave you breathless.

Gosh. How do I even begin to talk about this book? I have so many thoughts. I liked it so much. The writing is gorgeous. That cover is beyond stunning. Just wishing I had the print copy, eee. Cannot wait to own the hardcover in August. Four stars for this precious book. I have so much to say about it, I think. Will try.

I have only read one book by Kelly before, The Witch's Boy. But I loved that book so much. And when I heard about this, I knew I had to read it. So glad I got accepted right away. I couldn't not read it right away too, hih. And I'm glad I did. Because this book was great. I loved it, but had a few small issues. Will explain.

When I read the summary, I was sure the book would be about a young girl, learning about magic and things like that. But then I started reading. And it was not. Because the girl was just a baby, for at least one hundred pages of the book. I was a bit sad at first, but then I started to really, really love the story, and I'm glad it was told this way. It is written in third person, I think it is called, and we get to see so many lovely characters. I loved reading about them all. Though, well, some of them were evil, and I did not like them. But the rest were so amazing. Like what I would say is the main character, Xan. She is a five hundred year old witch. And I loved her the most. She's kind and sweet and I simply adored reading about her and getting to know her.

A lot of this book focus around a small village in the forest. There are Elders in charge. And I could not stand them. Shudders. They knew the truth about the witch in the forest, that there were none, that they had made her up, and it just broke my heart. Because everyone else believes that they have to leave a small baby in the forest once a year, so that the witch will not ruin their village. And they do it. And they are all heartbroken about it. And I just. It was so sad. And I loved reading about it the most.

This is where we first meet Luna. She is one of the babies that are left in the forest. And her poor mother did not want to give her up. She went crazy with sorrow, and they locked her up for it. Shudders. Luna is left in the clearing. The Elders think all the babies get eaten by animals. But this is not true. Because every year the witch comes and takes them, and moves them to a new home, at a different town. Which I loved a lot. But those other poor families. Sigh. It was such a sad story to read about.

The witch, aka Xan, picks up Luna. She always feeds the babies with starlight, and she does the same with Luna. Except she starts caring for the baby. And then she feeds her moonlight too. And oh, this baby is now full of magic. And Xan decides to keep her. And just. I loved it lots. She was an awesome woman to read about. And I loved how she named and cared for Luna for so long. Most of the book is from her point of view, and I loved getting to see Luna grow up from her eyes. It was pretty awesome.

A lot of the book is about Luna growing older, and her magic being stuck inside her for years. An awful thing was done so that she would not hurt anyone with her magic, and it broke my heart a little. Yet it totally needed to happen too, and so I loved it. There are also some other amazing characters to get to know. Like the swamp monster, Glerk. He was so sweet and awesome and smart and I loved reading about him. And the tiny dragon with the biggest heart, Fyrian. He was so much fun. So full of life.

All of these characters were so well written. And I loved getting to know them all. In the beginning, Antain was a teenager. But as Luna grew, he grew as well, in the village. And was a man for most of the book. Gosh, how I loved reading his story. How his poor face got ruined. How his mother treated him. How he started to fall in love. It was all so beautiful. And I cared for this boy a lot. So many great stories in this book. Ack. Just wish it had been longer. Sigh. At least hope there might be a sequel.

This book is about magic. And witches. And dragons. And monsters. And evil humans. It has everything. But no boy for Luna to play with. Aw. That made me a bit sad. Which is why I want a sequel, lol. But this book was even so pretty amazing. And I liked it so, so much. So happy I read it. The magic is stunning to read about. And there is such an incredible story inside this book. I was surprised a lot. And shocked. And heartbroken. I loved getting to know all the secrets about the past. So very good and so interesting.

I don't think I have more to say about this book. Just. It wasn't like I thought it would be, but it ended up being just what I wanted in the end. The Girl Who Drank the Moon was beautiful. And I loved every word of it. The story was amazing, and all the characters were the best to read about. This story has life and heart and I loved it lots. The villain is the worst. Shudders. Loved it. You all really should read this book when it comes out in August. Thank you so much Algonquin Young Readers for Netgalley approval :)

---

This review was first posted on my blog, Carina's Books. Read it in April.

Kelly Barnhill reminds us that updated fairy tales still have a place in young adult literature.  She incorporates a plethora of iconic images and archetypes in forming the story. Stars, the moon, a  dragon, a tower prison, a witch in the forest who eats children, orphans, nuns, a mad women and helpless babies. Even a cloud of doom covering the village harkens back to fairytale imagery. A slight tweak to the iconography was a delightful dragon that didn't grow up.

As with any good fairy tale or fable sprinkled within the story are words of wisdom such as forgiveness, fear of what others tell you, overprotecting those we love and the power of hope.  "It's awful to be cut off from your own memories." "The answer is too easy, my friend. Look deeper." I found Barhill's messages about orphans and adoption, however, somewhat idealized.

Barhill sets the story between a village covered in the cloud of doom around a large bog and a forest. She's said that her travels walking in Costa Rica influenced her choice of location and descriptions.

This book is a classic. I could not put it down. In fact I checked it out from the Library and I forgot that it was a Library book. Because when I am so into a book, i have to underline and take notes on the pages, so i started doing that early on. Kelly Barnhill nails it, she has some lines that are just too good, filled with myth and magic. The first part I could not help myself from underlining, was this, on page 20, " ...When the goats milk ran out (as it invariably did---the trek was long and the milk is heavy), Xan did what any sensible witch would do: once it was dark enough to see the stars, she reached up one hand and gathered starlight in her fingers, like the silken threads of spiders' webs, and fed it to the child. Starlight, as every witch knows, is a marvelous food for a growing infant. Starlight collection takes a certain knack and talent (magic for starters), but children eat it with gusto. They grow fast and sated and shining." There is so much alluring towards myth and lore in this story, pulling from what feels like the true mythic history of things. So I continued to underline and make notes, relating to the magic and the characters so much. She, Kelly, really had me wanting more with this story. Well done!

“Everything you see is in the process of making or unmaking or dying or living. Everything is in a state of change.”
THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON by Kelly Barnhill
I was listening to THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON on CD, but near the intense conclusion, I picked up the "tree book" to finish more quickly. Wow! A well-told story with excellent lessons: Standing up to evil rulers — a theme for our times, for all times? — joining with friends, facing fear, finding and supporting truth, with compassion toward others. It makes me wish I could drink some moonlight and be enmagicked, but my mortal, ordinary, storytelling self will have to do.
“A story can tell the truth . . . but a story can also lie. Stories can bend and twist and obfuscate. Controlling stories is power indeed.”
“Some of us choose love over power. Indeed, most of us do.”
“Xan was very good at making people feel better, having had five hundred years of practice. Easing sorrow. Soothing pain. A listening ear.”
“Everything you see is in the process of making or unmaking or dying or living. Everything is in a state of change.”
“Volcanoes erupt and the world changes. This is the way of things. But we can protect.”
“Not all knowledge comes from the mind. Your body, your heart, your intuition . . . Make bubbles.”
“It’s all the same . . The Beast, the Bog,the Poem, the Poet, the world. They all love you.”
“Reason, beauty, poetry, and excellent conversation were his preferred tools for settling disputes.”
Off now to find more titles by Kelly Barnhill

I really enjoyed this story. It felt unique in it's style of writing and it made me feel a part of the magical world it takes place in.

I picked this up because it sounded like a good story to share with my daughter but I figured I should read it first. She is only five so I think I have some time before she is ready for this, but it it is at the top of my I am excited to read this with her pile.

The world Ms. Barnhill has created here is extremely interesting and exciting. A forest full of magic and a city full of sorrow. The characters she populated it with are even better. Xan the misunderstood witch who has the best of intentions. Luna the rambunctious magic infused child. A woman driven mad by having her child taken away. Antain a boy who doesn't seem to fit in anywhere. Every point of view kept my full attention which is pretty rare when I read. I usually have one that I find less interesting but this book just has a great cast of characters.

I recommend this to any fans of middle grade reads and anyone who is interested in a great story to read with their very own small people.

I will definitely be looking into other books by this author.

Xan, a witch lives in a forest and rescues abandoned children every year with a swamp monster, Glerk, a perfectly tiny dragon, Fyrian and a girl she adopted named Luna. The girl is a very special and bright little girl with magic locked deep inside her. When that magic starts to break out as the girl turns 13 years old it will change the entire woods and the nearby town with its coming. Atlain, a young man who grew up in that town, is determined to stop the bad from coming to take his child.

First, this is a middle grade book. There are certain writing problems that I endure for middle grade books as they seem to be the agreed on techniques to use for that genre. One such technique this one is riff with is telling. The telling is so overwhelming that it is hard to write (my own work) properly after reading a chapter. It is insidious and sapping. In middle grade literature we should show then tell to tie things up in case they didn't understand but with all this telling the young readers are not learning to think properly. **Despite this glaring problem this is one of the best middle grade books I have read.

For all the telling the writing is really powerful and evocative. It makes for a strong narrative for the reader to follow.

"Everything I have, everything I am, flows to you, my darling. This is as it should be."

With great imagery:

"Was love a compass? ... Was knowledge a magnet?"

I really enjoyed the characters! I fell in love with Xan and Glerk and Fyrian in the setup! And surprisingly a character only mentioned briefly in the blurb, Atlain. Atlain is why I kept reading the book... He was clearly uncomfortable with how things were and he made an effort to change his role. Then when his family was endangered he moves to act. We learn through him that in making these changes in our lives is when we find happiness.

Xan is a good woman and a loving grandmother and friend. She was also a bit delusional. While I actually quite love how that delusion is shown it felt a bit contrived to explain away why she just allowed time to pass without learning why things were happening. She has some abilities and they are pretty cool and play an integral part in the end!

Glerk and Fyrian are two excellent non-human characters. They are fun and add quite a bit of whimsy to the story. They also act in concert with Xan as Luna's family. Glerk is a poet and I wanted him to have a bit more role in the story than to dump info through by talking with Xan. Fyrian actually has an arc through the book and was a really great part of the end!!

The crazy lady in the tower and Atlain's crush who used to be a novitiate in the tower were also characters that I loved, both mothers who would do whatever was needed for their child. (The crazy lady in the tower is one of the best elements of mystery from the way she hung from the rafters to all the paper... and what she did to Atlain!)

The secondary characters really made me root for things to work out for Luna even though I didn't much like her, especially at first. I know she was written as a young child and that Xan didn't exactly teach her right about what she was doing but those experiences that lead up to Xan's locking of Luna's power left a bad taste in my mouth. Once she became a teenager I liked her a lot better and it made me better able to root for her. I did enjoy how she handled learning the truth, she is not a dim girl nor does she lack bravery!

The premise drew me in... and the characters kept me in the story. The real villain was obvious to me once I met them but I like that they left the town and ran into their past evils. The plot was really layered and came together in the end to create tragedy and resolution!

A story about a town trapped in a dark tradition, a yearly sacrifice of the newest born babe, a boy named Antain who cannot abide with these traditions, a mother whose sanity flies away, a witch, a tiny dragon, a monster, and Luna, the sacrificial baby girl who gets accidentally filled with magic. We watch as Luna grows up, and her adopted family has to figure out how to handle her magic. We watch as Antain grows into a man troubled by his town's traditions until the day it is his own child about to be sacrificed, and something must be done. Most of all, it is a story warning of the dangers of bitterness and trumpeting the power of hope and love.

Barnhill's writing in this is a teensy bit like Dickens in that she introduces a bunch of different characters and you follow them around for a while getting to know each of them without seeing how they are connected. And then in the last quarter of the book it all comes together and you start going, Ohhhh! To be fair, Barnhill gives more clues than Dickens and doesn't keep you in the dark for nearly as many pages, but it still ends up feeling like the beginning of the book is a little slow. Sure, Barnhill's writing is often very lyrical and her world building is fascinating. Luna's adopted family are loads of fun to read about. Especially Fyrian the tiny dragon who thinks he's enormous. I want my own Fyrian! He's my second favorite character after Ethyne, Antain's wife, who is a rock star. It does take patience and perseverance to get to the point where you'll start to get answers and be able to see how the different parts being introduced fit together. The wait is worth it, though. The ending is powerful. The way Barnhill sets things up to fit together perfectly is masterful, and the message about the dangers of harboring bitterness and the power of hope is done so very well (and is so very important). A beautiful story.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. One person receives tons of paper cuts, to the point it is dangerous. Deaths in the past due to a volcanic eruption are mentioned, but not described. Two people die of old age.

Every year, the youngest child in the Protectorate must be left in the woods for the witch. The sacrifice of the child has ensured the survival of their small community for years. Unfortunately, the entire witch story was made up by those in power to keep the population sad and controllable. Still, there is a witch who lives in the woods, but Xan is gentle and kind. She rescues the children who are left in the clearing, taking them to other communities where they are loved and adored. Then one year, Xan accidentally feeds the baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the small child with magic. Xan decides to keep the child, whose magic will need to be controlled. As Luna grows, her magic starts to seep out everywhere, so Xan locks it away deep inside Luna who grows up knowing nothing of magic, despite living with a small dragon and a large swamp monster. As truth starts to appear, those in power struggle to maintain control even as Luna begins to discover what is hidden inside her.

Barnhill has created a brand new classic fairy tale with this book. Her writing is rich and filled with emotion. She allows magic to be incorporated throughout her book with a natural feel and flair. It becomes almost as normal as the trees in the woods, allowing readers to realize that Luna must discover her own magic or not be living at all in this world. The world building is brilliantly done with each piece clicking neatly in, forming a full pattern of the world.

The book does have Luna as a protagonist but it is so filled with rich characters that there are many heroes and heroines. There is Antain, the boy who refused to witness babies die. There is the amazing Xan, elderly and full of life, determined to do good even with her last breath. Glerk and Fyrian the monster and dragon are perfect for both humor and wisdom. Luna herself has to be even more special to stand out against these other characters, and she certainly is!

This book is magical, clever and luminous. Definitely one for young fans of fantasy or for anyone looking for a rich reading experience. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

I admit that fantasy is not my genre. I prefer realism, whether contemporary or historical. But I decided to read this book because of its many awards and stellar reviews, and also because the cover is stunning. Right away I loved the lyrical, intricate writing and the frequent dollops of humor. Unfortunately, I never did start caring about any of the characters, with the possible exception of Antain, who had to wrestle with difficult questions and decisions. The other characters (including Luna) were not multi-dimensional enough for my taste. Occasionally in the book I got confused by such things as the paper birds' motivations, the identity of the rock with a door in it, and the fates of various long-dead characters. I also considered the Christian theological references rather bizarre in a book about witches. I also think the book would have been better with about 50 fewer pages, because it was slow and ponderous in the middle. However, I'm giving the book four stars (instead of three), because the writing itself is beautifully crafted and the humor is refreshing.

I won an ARC of The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kelly Barnhill in a Goodreads firstreads giveaway.

Although The Girl Who Drank The Moon is actually aimed at a much younger audience than me, I enjoyed this book a lot. It is an easy read with wonderful imagery. The scary parts are not too scary and love rules the day.

All the characters (except the mean ones of course) are lovable and comical. I would love to hang out with Fyrian and Glerk. Then characters are well developed for younger to middle grade readers. The main story is simple enough for younger readers (or listeners) yet had enough depth to keep this old coot interested.

At 386 pages it might be a bit long for some younger readers, but would be a great story to be read to a child or grandchild. I think it would pique their interest and the word pictures author Kelly Barnhill paints would definitely spark imaginations. Eating starlight was for me, one such word picture.

The Girl Who Drank The Moon has a few lessons scattered throughout, but I liked that they were not so dominating of the story that they got in the way. The lessons are subtly woven into the narration and advance, rather than interrupt, the story.

So, although The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kally Barnhill is aimed at a younger audience, I do believe that adults will find this a fun book to read with or to their younger story lovers. Enjoy!

Mike

I have had this book on my TBR pile for quite some time and was excited to finally be able to read it. This was an amazing read and just a very beautifully done folk story/fairy tale of sorts. I have also read Iron-Hearted Violet by Barnhill, but I didn’t like that book as much as this one.

I listened to this on audiobook and Moore did an amazing job of narrating it. The characters’ personalities were captured perfectly and it was a joy to listen to. I would definitely recommend listening to on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

This is one of those books that really focuses on the concept of a good story and does it beautifully. The story is fantastically crafted and just absolutely magical.

There is a lot of discussion about sorrow and love; along with dragons, witches, magic, and volcanoes. It was an amazing read that kids and adults alike will enjoy.

Overall this was just an amazingly well crafted story with a very classic folk tale feel to it; something that you don't see a lot of these days. I would highly recommend to those who enjoy books that are excellently crafted classic feeling folk tales or fairy tales.

Title: The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Series Number: Not part of a series
Author: Kelly Barnhill
Narrator: Christina Moore
Theme(s): Memories are easily forgotten, things are not as they seem, folk tales have some truth at their heart, a person's actions make them good or bad; not their reputation

One sentence summary: A baby who was left in the woods is rescued by a witch whom accidently feeds her moonlight, which makes her magical.

(Audio) Narrator review: Excellent narrator. Did a variety of voices, was consistent with the voices, and had excellent inflection for all of the voices.

What I liked:
I greatly enjoyed the first half. It involved a number of time skips which allowed us to follow the baby and many others through their youth. It was a nice change from characters have large story arcs over small periods of time.

This felt like it had the right number of characters. While that seems like a weird comment to make it's important from a writers perspective. The story seemed complex; each character was well developed and had an arc etc. Yet not every person from the village was named and expanded upon. It was a well done balance.

What I disliked:
Honestly this was mostly let down by the pacing of the ending. After the first half involved a lot of time jumping and watching people grow up the last half covers two days. The switch between the two was too drastic and led me to expect different things from the end than ended up actually being there.

Over-repetition of some phrases. Particularly, "And it was the truth." And "She felt it in her bones."

Rating:
7/10 – Good read, with a little more polish the authors next book could be great. Might or might not recommend to friends.

Wow. I must have said that three times as I finished this fantastic Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee. THIS is the way a Texas award-winner is supposed to leave you feeling! I am a big fan of the fantasy genre so the summary intrigued me from the start. And from the beginning of the book, I was sucked in, wondering where a book that begins with a town of baby sacrificing idiots could possibly be going and was this really going to be a book for my 4th and 5th graders. I became more and more intrigued as this town of "gloomy guses" yielded an unusual sisterhood and a corrupt batch of elders and a mysterious witch of the woods. There was also laughter with bog-monster Glerk and dragon Fyrian and frustration with Antain and the madwoman. So many marvelous threads that weave together in end with utter perfection and a few tears. I know, sounds incredibly sappy, but read this and you will see just what I mean. My speculation about this book continued after the last page, though, with a question of whether Barnhill was taking a page from C.S. Lewis' book and was intentionally making "Drank the Moon" allegorical or if it was me just seeing types of God the Creator and Christ the sacrificial Lamb. Readers will have to come to their own conclusions, but even if they do not see that symbolism, they will close the book clearly seeing themes of hope, love and forgiveness inside an exciting story that will leave you breathless.

Gosh. How do I even begin to talk about this book? I have so many thoughts. I liked it so much. The writing is gorgeous. That cover is beyond stunning. Just wishing I had the print copy, eee. Cannot wait to own the hardcover in August. Four stars for this precious book. I have so much to say about it, I think. Will try.

I have only read one book by Kelly before, The Witch's Boy. But I loved that book so much. And when I heard about this, I knew I had to read it. So glad I got accepted right away. I couldn't not read it right away too, hih. And I'm glad I did. Because this book was great. I loved it, but had a few small issues. Will explain.

When I read the summary, I was sure the book would be about a young girl, learning about magic and things like that. But then I started reading. And it was not. Because the girl was just a baby, for at least one hundred pages of the book. I was a bit sad at first, but then I started to really, really love the story, and I'm glad it was told this way. It is written in third person, I think it is called, and we get to see so many lovely characters. I loved reading about them all. Though, well, some of them were evil, and I did not like them. But the rest were so amazing. Like what I would say is the main character, Xan. She is a five hundred year old witch. And I loved her the most. She's kind and sweet and I simply adored reading about her and getting to know her.

A lot of this book focus around a small village in the forest. There are Elders in charge. And I could not stand them. Shudders. They knew the truth about the witch in the forest, that there were none, that they had made her up, and it just broke my heart. Because everyone else believes that they have to leave a small baby in the forest once a year, so that the witch will not ruin their village. And they do it. And they are all heartbroken about it. And I just. It was so sad. And I loved reading about it the most.

This is where we first meet Luna. She is one of the babies that are left in the forest. And her poor mother did not want to give her up. She went crazy with sorrow, and they locked her up for it. Shudders. Luna is left in the clearing. The Elders think all the babies get eaten by animals. But this is not true. Because every year the witch comes and takes them, and moves them to a new home, at a different town. Which I loved a lot. But those other poor families. Sigh. It was such a sad story to read about.

The witch, aka Xan, picks up Luna. She always feeds the babies with starlight, and she does the same with Luna. Except she starts caring for the baby. And then she feeds her moonlight too. And oh, this baby is now full of magic. And Xan decides to keep her. And just. I loved it lots. She was an awesome woman to read about. And I loved how she named and cared for Luna for so long. Most of the book is from her point of view, and I loved getting to see Luna grow up from her eyes. It was pretty awesome.

A lot of the book is about Luna growing older, and her magic being stuck inside her for years. An awful thing was done so that she would not hurt anyone with her magic, and it broke my heart a little. Yet it totally needed to happen too, and so I loved it. There are also some other amazing characters to get to know. Like the swamp monster, Glerk. He was so sweet and awesome and smart and I loved reading about him. And the tiny dragon with the biggest heart, Fyrian. He was so much fun. So full of life.

All of these characters were so well written. And I loved getting to know them all. In the beginning, Antain was a teenager. But as Luna grew, he grew as well, in the village. And was a man for most of the book. Gosh, how I loved reading his story. How his poor face got ruined. How his mother treated him. How he started to fall in love. It was all so beautiful. And I cared for this boy a lot. So many great stories in this book. Ack. Just wish it had been longer. Sigh. At least hope there might be a sequel.

This book is about magic. And witches. And dragons. And monsters. And evil humans. It has everything. But no boy for Luna to play with. Aw. That made me a bit sad. Which is why I want a sequel, lol. But this book was even so pretty amazing. And I liked it so, so much. So happy I read it. The magic is stunning to read about. And there is such an incredible story inside this book. I was surprised a lot. And shocked. And heartbroken. I loved getting to know all the secrets about the past. So very good and so interesting.

I don't think I have more to say about this book. Just. It wasn't like I thought it would be, but it ended up being just what I wanted in the end. The Girl Who Drank the Moon was beautiful. And I loved every word of it. The story was amazing, and all the characters were the best to read about. This story has life and heart and I loved it lots. The villain is the worst. Shudders. Loved it. You all really should read this book when it comes out in August. Thank you so much Algonquin Young Readers for Netgalley approval :)

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This review was first posted on my blog, Carina's Books. Read it in April.

Kelly Barnhill reminds us that updated fairy tales still have a place in young adult literature.  She incorporates a plethora of iconic images and archetypes in forming the story. Stars, the moon, a  dragon, a tower prison, a witch in the forest who eats children, orphans, nuns, a mad women and helpless babies. Even a cloud of doom covering the village harkens back to fairytale imagery. A slight tweak to the iconography was a delightful dragon that didn't grow up.

As with any good fairy tale or fable sprinkled within the story are words of wisdom such as forgiveness, fear of what others tell you, overprotecting those we love and the power of hope.  "It's awful to be cut off from your own memories." "The answer is too easy, my friend. Look deeper." I found Barhill's messages about orphans and adoption, however, somewhat idealized.

Barhill sets the story between a village covered in the cloud of doom around a large bog and a forest. She's said that her travels walking in Costa Rica influenced her choice of location and descriptions.

When the people of the Protectorate abandon a child each year, they think they are paying tribute to an evil witch in the woods. If they pay the witch with a child, she'll leave their village alone, but Xan is a good witch. She is kind and gentle, and has no idea why the villagers leave a child in the woods each year, but she rescues each one. She delivers the babies to loving families in another village, feeding the children starlight on the long journey. But when she accidentally feeds a baby girl moonlight, a chain of events is set into motion that Xan could never have foreseen. Loving the child as her own, Xan raises the girl and learns more about the Protectorate and the real witch in the woods than she ever imagined.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon, written by Kelly Barnhill, is a lovely new fantasy for the middle-grade crowd. The story is beautifully told through alternating perspectives as each character's story weaves into the greater story arc. While the characters lacked some depth, they are all enjoyable and the plot is mysterious and magical. This is an original tale told with a nod to traditional fairy tales as it draws on typical fairy tale features such as witches, dragons, and magic. A fun read for fans of fantasies and fairy tales.

Thank you to Net Galley for a reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Fanciful, creative and captivating this Newbery winner offers readers multiple narratives, clever plotting and true character development. The author even creates new words, such as “to Enmagic” which are readily understood. In this fantasy world humans strive to achieve marginal contentment in a foggy realm threatened by the myriad dangers of the swamp. A pervasive atmosphere of parental sorrow looms
at the annual Day Of Sacrifice—when the town’s youngest baby is offered to the Witch in the woods. Parental resistance is both non-existent and futile—until one desperate mother objected and went mad.

Familial relationships are examined in touching tenderness: mother-child, grandmother-child. Human friendship is also prized and demonstrated. Then one boy dares to defy the status quo and one young girl--nourished on moonlight—comes of age (13) by realizing that Magic exists and that she herself can use it to help others. Ancient myths, enchanted paper, birds, a troubled volcano, and the primordial Bog
(Genesis-like) all appear in this heavy YA novel. The worst monsters are not the tiny dragon or the 5-armed mud-loving Glerk, for the monsters in human form cultivate sorrow in others--to prolong their own despotic rule. The protracted climax drags on for several chapters, as the principal
characters meet for a final duel; emotional recognition scenes are inevitable. An interesting but convoluted page-turner.

This review can be found on my blog Crimson Blogs About Books

The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a story about a girl named Luna who was torn from her mother’s arms as a baby, left in the woods as a sacrifice for a witch (per village beliefs), and is then adopted by said witch after she’s been accidentally filled with magic from the moon. The reader gets to see her grow up until she’s 13 and we get some insight from the people she’s encountered in her life (whether she remembers them or not).

Just by looking at the cover, I knew I was going to like this book. It had this magical aspect to it and I LOVE magic (fantasy) reads. I was a bit worried about who the main character would be though. It’s not that I don’t like reading books where the protagonist is younger, but it is less relatable for me. But The Girl Who Drank the Moon surprised me!

Yes, the book was about Luna and we did get quite a bit of her POV, but it wasn’t just that. We had insight from a 500+ year old witch who saved abandoned children from the woods, a woman who had been driven mad from being forcefully separated from her child “for the greater good” of the village, and a young boy who grows up with the guilt of having been part of said separation. There were also a couple other characters but I felt these three were our more important ones.

But what I loved the most about this book were the bonds between the characters, especially the parents to children.

For example, the witch Xan ends up becoming a Grandmother when she accidentally feeds Luna too much moonlight. Having filled her with magic, Xan knew it would be a difficult task to leave Luna with human parents and so she takes her as her own.

As Luna starts to grow up, Xan is placed in a tough situation. Luna can’t control her magic and (like all children) is hyper and imaginative. Her words hold power as she changes rivers into cupcake rivers, a swamp monster into a bunny, and trees into birds. The only solution seems to be locking away Luna’s magic until she’s grown up enough to use it responsibly, and so that’s what Xan does. The caveat being that Xan will die when Luna turns 13

A lot of the time, I feel like adopted parents get the bad end of the stick when children find out they were adopted. It could just be that I’m watching some really exaggerated dramas but I’ve always asked my mom the same thing, why do kids do 180s and suddenly hate their adopted parents? Like if they’d committed some crime? I think people that adopt children (and truly become parents) are quite amazing. They take on the responsibility of someone who they technically don’t have to.

And to see that Luna still loved Xan just as strongly as ever after finding out that she’d been adopted (and met her mother) was pretty amazing to me. I had wished there’d been more interaction between Xan and Luna once all the lies had been stripped away, but time wasn’t exactly on their side.

This whole ‘love for my child’ and ‘willing to die for them’ (or other such extreme) was a big thing in the book actually. We see it in the madwoman who never gives up on her stolen child. She’d been willing to damn her whole village if that meant keeping her, and when that proved to be fruitless she’d endured 13 years of solitude and sadness in hopes of being reunited.

We also saw it in a man who broke tradition and decided to confront the Witch. He was ready to kill her if necessary and if he couldn’t, he was willing to die trying.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and gave it a 4/5. It reminded me of The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman) and Uprooted (Naomi Novik), except for the whole romance part. It read like a fairytale and I think that’s also another reason I really enjoyed it. Fairytales are one of my weaknesses (haha). I did get a bit confused about the Protectorate’s creation but that issue wasn’t delved into deeply so I left it alone.

Also, if you can get this as an audiobook, the narration is AMAZING

"There is magic in starlight, of course. This is well known. Moonlight, however, is a different story. Moonlight is magic. Ask anyone you like."
Xan, the witch who lives in the forest, is kind. She is misjudged by the Protectorate, who count her as evil and blame her for everything bad that has happened to them. The Elders of the Protectorate take the youngest of the city and use the baby as an offering, hoping that the Witch wouldn't terrorize their city.
Xan finds the babies and takes them to other cities at the other side of the forest and feeds them starlight as food. One year, a baby was fed with moonlight, and was enmagicked. Xan had to claim her as her own to contain the magic. She named her Luna, and Luna became friends with a swamp monster and a dragon.
During Luna's life, things aren't always what they seem. When her magic clock is ticking again near her 13 birthday, paper birds attack, a volcano erupts, a man with a quest tries, and a madwoman escapes.
What is a lie, and what is the truth
The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a calm, relaxing book for magic-loving teens. Most of the book is depressing, which is why I gave it a low rating.
Madeleine L, age 10, Nebraska Mensa

I really liked the beginning of this book. It was cute and clever with an interesting writing style. I loved the creatures who made themselves into a family—especially the Simply Enormous Dragon who was actually a Perfectly Tiny Dragon but didn't realize it. I loved how the townspeople thought one thing about the witch and the witch thought another thing about the townspeople and how they were both wrong. Very nicely done.

For me, however, the book lost some of its charm as it went on, as this cute and clever story seemed to start taking itself too seriously. Part of this may have been the language that grew increasingly poetic (and poetically repetitive), like it wanted to be more weighty than it was. There's no denying the language was often beautiful and stylistically unique. It just didn't quite mesh for me. The repetition of language was also mirrored by repetition of events and storytelling. I think I would have enjoyed it if it had been trimmed a bit more.

I also like magic that's limited and explainable, but the magic here was very powerful, too much so for my tastes.

Also not sure how realistic the geology was toward the end...

It's a good book, and my quibbles are all very subjective. I would certainly try more of Kelly Barnhill's work.

This book reads like a storybook or fairy tale, with each chapter reading like a small story of its own that fits into a larger puzzle. Each chapter title begins with “In Which…such and such takes place” and reads like a miniature story. While it is a continuation of the larger story, it doesn’t feel that way when you’re reading it. I felt drawn into each individual character’s story. I was enchanted.

I loved the story of Luna. She is the baby sacrificed to the Witch in the woods and then saved, enmagicked, and raised by none other than the Witch herself who, it turns out, is quite kind. Luna must be protected, though, from her magic. She is simply too young to know how to handle all of that power. So Xan (the kind old Witch), Glerk (the old swamp monster), and Fyrian (the tiny dragon) raise Luna together in the woods. But one day, another witch comes looking for her…and this one is not so kind.

I loved this story. I would recommend it for anyone who loves stories filled with imagination and magic!

Read full review at: KaitsBookshelf.com

The Girl Who Drank the Moon is thoroughly enchanting; a lyrical exploration of family, coming-of-age, sorrow and joy. Mrs. Barnhill's writing fairly sings, and all the characters are complex and riveting. My favorite character was a young carpenter who seeks to save his family at all costs.

In a village shrouded in fog, the people are terrified of a malevolent witch who lives in the adjoining forest. Every year, the villagers sacrifice a young infant to satisfy the witch's hunger. Sorrow cloaks the village in its ponderous grip, but no one dares challenge the witch. Things are not what they seem, however, and although a witch does reside in the wood, her mission is one of mercy. The paths of a scarred carpenter, a madwoman, a kind but bumbling witch, a young girl nourished by moonlight, a "perfectly tiny dragon," and others will converge as truths are revealed and villains are unmasked.

I especially loved how the "enmagicked" child, Luna, must learn to control the power within her. It was refreshing as well to find a story that presented parenting in a positive light. Mistakes are made, but love exists, and The Girl Who Drank the Moon beautifully portrays the love between family members, (traditional and otherwise). The novel also illustrates that stories, (while beneficial), can also harm if they are manipulated. In this age of conflicting reports, this theme is very relevant.
I thoroughly recommend this enchanting and unforgettable story. It's one of the best fairy tales I've read in a long time. God bless you all.

Wow. What a beautiful book and beautiful story. I read this out loud to my kids and they became as engrossed in it as I did. It's a layered, complex story with several characters factoring into the end result. Big and small characters all play a vital part in the story.

The writing is breathtaking. The author sweeps you into the story and off your feet faster than you can read the first page. Then, she pulls you along on the backs of her paper birds for a journey through a land of volcanoes, witches, dragons, and magic.

I can't get over how much I loved The Girl Who Drank the Moon. When we finished reading, my daughter asked me if I could write a letter to the author and ask her to make the book into a series. I just laughed because I know exactly what she meant. It's an amazing story that you can't stop reading and don't want to end.

Content: Clean

Source: The publisher sent me a copy of this book.

Loved, loved, loved this story and will definitely read it again. There is so much more to discover and appreciate in this book than I could have possibly taken in with just one reading. This is fantasy at its best, fantasy that makes everything, even the most magical things, sound plausible, bringing an imagined world and all its inhabitants to life. I loved Luna, the protagonist, as well as the cast of wonderful and so lovable secondary characters (well, except the villains of course). I was intrigued by the beautiful names too and hope to explore an audio recording to know how to pronounce them correctly: Ethyne, Xan, Antain, and of course Luna. I also highlighted several quotes, just loving the beautiful language in which the story is told. To use words from Kirkus Review, I was enchanted, enthralled, and enmagicked.

The Grand Elder takes the youngest child every year on the Day of Sacrifice to the witch; this child is the village’s sacrifice. It has been done for years but this year things are different. As the child is being summoned the mother refuses to give up her baby, guards must be called in to take the child from her mother and the mother is placed in the tower for surely she has gone mad. Antain, the Grand Elder’s nephew, an Elder in training, is questioning the procedures and his questions are not making the Grand Elder happy. No one questions what the Elders do; it is what must be done. Antain has big ideas and the only reason he is in the position he is, is because he a relative. The Elders have never really seen the witch and what really happens to the children once they leave them by the forest, is not theirs to think about, they only go about the procedures that have been passed down to them but Antain wants answers. Antain wants to see the witch. I loved the magical aspect of this story, the whole novel felt enhanced with magic and I was enchanted as I learned about the village and what actually occurred in the forest. Something magical happens to the babies when the Elders leave them for the witch each year. The village has created their own stories of what the witch does with these young children and when I read the novel, I was surprised at what lied beneath the trees. The forest was alive and yet the village could not see it. I think this would make a wonderful bedtime story or read-aloud. It truly is a remarkable story.

The people of the protectorate were under the mandate of the elders in that community. The elders believed that a baby eating witch lived in the forest, and that they must sacrifice one infant annually to keep her from terrorizing the town.
Xan, the witch was never late to pick up the new infant, for fear that it would be in danger. She did not understand why humans abandoned a baby in the forest every year. She only knew that she must save it, feed it, and take it to a family in a faraway city, who would love and care for the baby. Until she has no choice but to raise an infant girl to whom she fed moonlight instead of starlight, which filled her with magic.
Xan’s life in The Girl Who Drank the Moon, spanned a life time, and readers were in for a journey with Xan as the plot unfolded, to allow the reader to see how all of the character's lives were intertwined. Kelly Barnhill developed her characters well, and I found myself loving the poetic swamp monster, the delightful tiny dragon with a big heart, enmagicked Luna, and Xan, the kind witch..
There are several plots unraveling simultaneously, and no shortage of surprises, revealing several antagonists. This is a story about a witch, a dragon, a swamp monster, and a little girl, but most of all this story is about life, rite of passage, death, and pure love for family. It is the love, trials, and emotions that a family goes through that will truly speak to readers.
I truly think that if there ever was a coming of age story for witches, this is one of them. As Luna discovers her magic growing, she must also come to turns that her grandmother's magic was fading; hence dying, as was done when Xan grew her magic.
. Our nine and five year old granddaughters asked about Luna every day after school, as they were fascinated by this wonderfully enmagicked fantasy fairy tale story with a bit of magic sprinkled on top!

My review:

Refreshing, magical, oftentimes comical, and full of adventure and heart, The Girl Who Drank the Moon soars off the pages! Readers will be enrapt in a spell that will sing to them and wrap them up in a finely woven tapestry of fantasy and magic. Few storytellers have the gift of so deftly arranging a fantasy or building a world so magical that readers want to live there, but Kelly Barnhill is the best at her craft. If you loved The Witch's Boy, you will love The Girl Who Drank the Moon even more!

Each year, the people of the Protectorate take a baby to a clearing in the forest and leave it as a sacrifice for the witch. Xan, an old woman who lives with the poetic Swamp Monster and a tiny dragon with a huge heart, always rescues each baby and travels through the forest to the other side where she will find a suitable family to adopt the baby. The baby will be loved and cherished and much better off than left in the woods to be eaten by wild animals.

One year, Xan is particularly tired, and after picking up the baby, finds herself stopping again and again to rest. As she rests, she feeds the baby goats' milk and then starlight. But

Xan makes a huge mistake. She was so tired and must have dozed off and fed the baby moonlight. Everyone knows moonlight is dangerous magic.

Xan is happy to raise the child as her own. She knows of no one else who could understand and help the child learn to use her extraordinary gift. She names the girl Luna and insists that Glerk, the Swamp Monster and tiny dragon Fyrian, must learn to love the baby as much as she does. Each year Luna's magic intensifies and Xan begins to worry when and how it will "erupt." In order to quell the child's magic, Xan builds a spell that will keep the dangerous magic in check, at least for awhile. Glerk is worried. He knows that Luna needs to learn about her magic; he worries Xan will die before teaching Luna what she needs to know.

In the tower, a woman goes mad and begins folding paper birds that hold their own magic. Maps tell the way. A man with scars will read the maps and seek the witch. . A baby will be brought to the woods.

Luna's magic is about to be unleashed in a big way. Xan, Glerk and Fyrian will have to help Luna against powerful dark magic in order to save the entire world.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon is an instant classic and will be a book that today's children will read to their children. Yes, it's that good! I expect this book to be awarded many state awards as well as national attention. Can you say Texas Bluebonnet? I can see this book made into movie magic as a treat for the eyes and hearts.

Smart choices were made with cover art. The paper birds seem to glow against a backdrop of blue. The title is centered on the moon which commands half the cover. The child seems to be walking in a near trance following the magical birds as a small dragon hovers just near her face. The dragon also appears on the spine which will be easy to spot on a library shelf. Readers will choose the book after seeing the dragon. The design of the book is sheer delight.

Highly, highly recommended. I would recommend this book over all others this year! It is honestly the best book I've read in years.

Recommended grade 4-up. There are life lessons in these pages--important ones about love, friendship, bravery, family, and heart. Everyone 8-80 should read this one.

In a tale of good witches and bad witches, madwomen with paper birds, a quiet scarred boy, a dragon and a swamp monster, two humans will change their destiny, as well as those that surround them. But first they must discover if the witch is the one who lives in the woods, the one that was taken, or one of their own?

Get lost in the magic of a middle grade read with The Girl Who Drank The Moon. Beautifully written and poetic, this is a tale that defines magic and love in a whole new light. Told in a few different voices, the story only grows in intensity and strength, allowing each character’s part to add the overall story, which all find their way to come together in the end. Kelly Barnhill has a magical way of bringing a story, and a moral to light, while delicately dealing with deep issues. Perfectly suited for young readers, this book is also entertaining for an older audience.

*Full review published in Dixon Independent Voice Newspaper column- For the Love of Books

When Luna was a baby, she was left alone in the woods. Luckily, she was rescued by a witch intending on bringing her far away to a loving family.

But along the way, the witch accidentally fed her the magic of the moon. Luna was hungry and she drank up and filled up with so much magic that she became a witch. Now the witch must adopt her and teach her the ways of magic. And kept her safe from the looming danger of the sorrow-eater.

This book is a fun read with many interesting characters. Children 10 and up will delight in the several twists and turns of the story.

The people in the Protectorate think that the baby they sacrifice to the Witch of the Woods each year will keep them safe from the dangers of the volcano and the swamp, but that’s not the case. For years, they’ve been lied to; however, when the Xan, a good witch, rescues a baby she names Luna, things change.
I don’t want to tell you too much of the plot, but the all characters are well drawn and fascinating. There’s a baby dragon, a swamp beast, a renegade sister, a courageous carpenter, a scheming bureaucrat, a nagging mom, and a mad woman, as well as good and bad witches, and a lot of dysfunctional families that need to be reunited.
My favorite part of this story about love and magic is that good shines through. It’s a story where hope wins over sorrow and right is stronger than wrong. The longer I listened to this tale, the better I felt. When I got to the end, I was grinning ear-to-ear and planning to start the story again. If life has you down, this could be a great fictional fix for you.

At first, I wasn’t sure how much I would like the book because it is a book for a younger audience, but it was an absolutely delightful and quick read. The chapter titles are clever and the story continues to move forward. At no point did I feel the plot drag or slow down or find sections I wanted to skim through to get back to the action. Every character had significance and stayed within their characterization and realm.

I was a little sad when the story ended because I enjoyed it so much. I found myself totally immersed in the story and in the characters, enjoying each chapter and the character switches. I feel like I have so many good things to say about the book, but I don’t want to give away too much.

I like to read all the Newbery Medal winners, and I am rarely disappointed. I don't need to say much about this book, which already has hundreds of raving reviews. I'll just say this ... I loved the main characters, every single one. (And I really want to have a lovable dragon who will cuddle into my pocket.) I was reading this on an overseas return flight and coming to the end (sniff, sob) I was practically bawling. Embarrassing, but that is the power of this book. It is NOT scary and it is NOT too sad. It is simply awesome.

I discovered this book last summer when I was looking for a chapter book to read to my 8 and 10 year old daughters before bed. I often found myself suggesting just one more chapter or looking up to see my girls fast asleep while I couldn't help reading on.

I do think a lot of the themes and parallels to "the real world" were a little over their head as the book really requires the reader to read between the lines (for example, to an adult reader it is pretty obvious that the Proctorate symbolizes fundamentalism but that's not something I would expect my 8 or 10 year old to pick up on). However that's kind of one of the reasons I love this book... Sort of like Harry Potter, it caters to a broad audience.

My daughter's took a little longer than I did to get hooked to the story but they fell in love with certain characters and developed a vendetta against others... they had a vested interest in the story that kept them riveted until the last word. We all lamented the day we finished the book! I hope they'll revisit it in a few years with fresh eyes.

This book also reminded me a bit of Ronia the Robber's daughter by Astrid Lindgren, my favorite book in grade school. It shares a very wild, free spirited, connected to the Earth vibe.

TLDR: This is a fantastic story for all ages.

On Halloween, friend dressed up as Luna for our grade theme, chapter book charecters. Needess to say, I had never even heard of The Girl Who Drank the Moon. That night, I made it my personal homework to find out. And, infact, I did find out. And right there and then, I decided that I had to get my hands on that book. After a little digging, ( Okay, alot of digging ) I found out that I could get it from the Dimond Library. So, the next day I went there and asked where I could find it. So that day I checked out of the library. I started reading right away. Ever since then, I have loved that book.

An Amazing Must Read!
The book The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill is a must read amazing book! this book is full of mystery, magic, and emotion. I think this book makes you understand loss and emotion.
The Main character's name is Luna, In the town they live in every year people leave a baby for a supposedly “bad” witch. The people think this will stop the witch from terrorizing their town. But the witch named Zan, is a nice witch and she takes the babies people leave in the woods and feeds them stardust and gives them to the next town. One day a baby is left at the edge of town like normal and Zan takes her in and accidently feeds her part of the moon, so Zan realizes what she has done and raises Luna as her own. One day Zan leaves and Luna can not find her so she goes off and gets lost. Can Luna ever find home or will she be lost forever?
The book The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill is packed with mystery. In the beginning of the story the author put in, “She's a danger to me, to us, she has no idea what she is doing, I Don't know how to stop her,” (p.g 68). Another thing in the book is “He gave a half hearted smile ‘Yes I believe you have meet your family’ he said ‘ But I thought she was my mom?” (pg 100). And that is why I think The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill is full of mystery
The book The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill is full of magic. In the book it says. “Nap Time’ the witch said, brandishing both palms and Luna collapsed to the ground,” (pg 55). Something else magical in the book is, “ The spell erupted from her fingers and toes and made her vibrate,” (pg 61). And that is why I think The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill is full of magic.
The book The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill is full of emotion. In the book it says, “ Get Out!” she screamed. ‘YOU CAN'T HAVE HER! IF YOU TAKE HER I WILL TEAR OUT YOUR EYES AND FEED THEM TO THE CROWS!!,”(pg 12). Another piece of evidence is, “ She glared at the torn up note wanting it to fit back together so it so she could tear it up again,” (pg 200)\. And that is why I think The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill is full of emotion.
All in all. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill is a must read amazing book! this book is full of mystery, magic, and emotion. I think this book makes you understand loss and emotion. It also makes you understand how things always change even though people are afraid of change.

I loved this book! It was amazing. I don't even have the words for it. This book has incredible language and it is impossible to put down. The book is about a girl with strange magical powers and no memories. It is told in many different characters and perspectives. I love how descriptive it is with the characters. The author puts you in their shoes and you feel like your that character in the book. My favorite character is Luna she is smart, loving, creative, strange, and has her flaws. I think she is a very relatable character. She shows us that its tough being a girl. But the character I most relate to is Fyrian. Fyrian is a dragon, he loves his to sing, dance, snuggle, and talk. He is such a fun character and you can just picture him in your mind. A dragon that never grows up, he is as small as a strawberry, but his heart is as big as the moon. Overall this book is breathtaking and you should totally read it. It is great for all ages, even adults! I can not tell you how great this book is, your just gonna have to read it yourself.

I listened to this book on a road trip with my husband. My daughter had listened to it with her girls age 6 and 7 and said it was the first time they stayed quiet in the car! We enjoyed this book very much. the author wrote against type, which I like: a swamp monster who loves poetry, cloistered sisters who are fond of needlework and trained assassins!
Beneath the wonderful story were very important themes of justice, faith, love and family. Thank you Kelly for this beautiful book!

The Girl Who Drank the Moon (2017), is an exciting story filled with mystery and suspense. The story begins in a small town called the Protectorate. Every year the town leaves a baby in the woods as a sacrifice to a wicked witch to protect the town from her destruction. No one has seen the witch. No one knows what happens to the babies. No one asks. The people stay in the town of Protectorate covered by a cloud of sorrow, never venturing out to the dangerous woods where the witch resides.

Inside the woods there is a witch. Every year she journeys to the border of Protectorate to find a baby waiting for her. The witch does not know why the babies are left. She does not ask. She simply takes them and delivers them to families who will care for them. She does this for every baby, except one. One year after rescuing the yearly abandoned baby, the witch accidentally enmagics her by feeding her moonlight instead of starlight. To protect her, the witch raises the child as her own. The witch, the town, and the baby are all plagued by secrets and lies. But secrets cannot be kept forever. Eventually someone will ask questions until the truth is found out.

The story of this book is complex and intriguing. However, the plot moves slowly, and the story is drawn out unnecessarily. The book is 400 pages long, but it could have been half as long, and still developed just as well. The characters are relatable and fun. Sometimes, the mystical parts of the story are explained in such a way that they seem almost real, while at other times magical elements seem as if they are just dreamed up without explanation at all. If you are a patient reader, and appreciate complicated storylines, you will enjoy this book. While slow-paced, it is filled with deep concepts and thought-provoking ideas that draw the reader in.

This story feels like something magical and special and something that should be passed down. Possibly it's due to the chapters of stories about "the witch" interspersed around the actual story. It helps the reader see the same story from two different points of view. A story about sorrow, love, being lost and then being found. But above all things it's about the goodness and love surrounding all of us in the world. Without being silly or overwhelming I finished this book wanting to hug something. Read this for a rollercoaster of emotion.

I love most Newbery Award Books. And if I don't love them, then they are at least well written. Not this one. The plot is disjointed, the writing often annoying. I'm hoping that this isn't the beginning of lower standards for Newbery books. Really disappointing. The book seems very long and it is not a long book. I really have to question this choice. I know others do not agree, but that's my opinion.

I am having a difficult time reviewing this book. One aspect of this book I loved and another I disliked. The writing is wonderful. There are evocative word pictures and lyrical passages throughout. If you are looking for incredible use of descriptive language, this is a great book. The story is not so wonderful. The plot was choppy. I never connected with any of the characters. It seemed like the book would never end. Great descriptions and a disappointing story.

I read this novel to my class of fifth graders, so I thought I would share their reviews of the overall story, plot, and characters.

"I love how detailed and amazingly creative it is. It inspired me to write a story based off of this book." -Nataleigh
"It was sad but perfect." -Hayden
"I liked the story in general, but the beginning was sort of boring and slow." -Sophia
"When Miss Palmer read this book, I could feel the characters' pain." -Angelina
"Glerk and Fyrian were funny." -Jacob
"I finally understand figurative language!" -Jackson

This was our family's most enjoyed audible book. The narrator is perfect! Her voice is so clear and she does all the characters so well. The story is very engaging and we looked forward to our commute to school every day and often just sat in the parking lot or the garage to continue listening - hanging on every word. A perfect blend of story telling and narration! My 5 year old had trouble keeping up with the story at times but he stayed with it, our 10 year old loved it and went to the library to check out every book by Kelly Barnhill he could find.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Best For: 10 to 14 year olds, 5th grade through 8th grade
Worth a Check Out: Yes!
Buy It or Not: It's beautifully written, but a little slow at times. I say no, unless you LOVE it after checking it out.
Read Aloud: Could be a great classroom read aloud for 5th and up. Such great messages to discuss.
Lesson Ideas: The power of love, and that love can multiply. coming of age, fairy tales.

More detailed review at Alohamora Open a Book

Absolutely one of the best books I've read in years. Yes, it's about witches and dragons and magic but infinitely, it's about life and death, the loss of your soul and of course, the redemptive power of love. I'm 53 years old and I know that this is supposed to be a children's book but it's one of the most profound stories I've read in a long time. Read it for the wondrous storytelling or read it for its deeper meaning. But for goodness sakes, just read it and then give it to the adult or child sitting next to you.

This is an enchanting book that I just read as an adult. I would caution however, that this is is not a "children's" book in my opinion. I don't feel that my 10 yr old daughter would be ready for this book. I would recommend for tween-teen-adult. The 300+ pages are a somber read with some dark imagery. Barnhill has created a truly unique world and the characters were great. A very unique, special read for a mature young reader-adult.

Our just turned 7 year old (very advanced reader for his age) got this for Christmas. I read it aloud to him since then and we just finished it (its very long). It is SO good- a well written, beautiful, wonderful, enchanting story with fantastic characters and story. It is very magical and has a lot of deeper meanings and overlaying tones, which can be applied to today's world (or not if you don't dig really deep into it like I did).

I will absolutely be adding this to my gift list (I always give books). Our son loved it, too. There are a lot of things to keep up with, so it was definitely beneficial that we read it together, but would likely be easier for an older child to maintain themselves.

The people in the protectorate must leave a baby in the woods as a sacrifice each year to appease the witch who lives in the woods. The villagers live in a world of sorrow and fear and would never dare to go outside of their village. What really happens to the babies that are left in the woods and is the witch really wicked?

This was a cute story that I had a hard time putting down once I started reading it. The story is precious, and I recommend it for a light summer read.

This story seems to be a combinations of several plot lines I've read before, but with it's own uniqueness. I love the way Barnhill combines her words and wraps them around an idea with a great sense of playfulness. I wish she hadn't called Xan and Luna witches because that word has a negative connotation and they were kind people. But that doesn't detract from the story line which is fanciful and delightful. The story also has a moral lesson of not dwelling in your sorrow, but to look for hope in tomorrow.

Like a magnet, the cover of THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON pulled me across the bookstore. The New York Times Book Review cover endorsement—“Impossible to put down,”—was no exaggeration. My husband and I read this Newberry Award winning book out loud to each other, back and forth, on a road trip and we both loved it. So much so that we’re gifting the book to our adult son (another book lover) so he can enjoy it too. Take my word for it; this is not a book to pass up!

Luna was raised by a witch named Xan, a bog monster and a perfectly tiny dragon. She does not know that she had been taken from her mother, who then went insane, by the leaders of a town that was enthralled by sorrow. Luna does not know that Xan accidentally enmagicked her and then locked away her magic to keep her safe. As she nears her thirteenth birthday, however, the spell locking away her magic weakens and she begins to understand and many wrongs become apparent. The story is magical and rather lovely. I received this book free to review from Netgalley.

This is such a gorgeous read! Storytelling at its finest. It is a complex, rich tale filled with characters of diverse intentions, so there is a great deal for readers to work through. Those that fall into the story will be so very rewarded! So satisfying as the multiple plotlines all come together. Vocabulary is high (as in, some words this English major librarian didn't know) but it does not inhibit a young reader's understanding of the narrative. Descriptions abound, so kids will still be able to follow. Readers of all ages will love the interactions between Luna, Xan, Gerk, and Fyrian. A gem for those who love smart fantasy novels.

Never have I read a book that so succinctly turns every trope on it's head. I absolutely loved it!
The story is put together fantastically. Each character is amazing in their own right. No one does quite what I expect, even when I thought I had a handle on the way the story was breaking the rules. The family that Luna, Xan, Glerk, and Fyrian make is just adorable. All the people in the Protectorate are dealing with their own issues and making their way through life in ways that are not entirely opposite the norm that I would expectn or entirely the norm either. There's a part of me that feels like it's the way all the old stories should have been written, so that everyone has a little agenda and not all converge nor diverge. History isn't that neat and stories shouldn't be either. At the same time, it was loads of fun to watch the way these characters were like characters we were already a bit familiar with.
Basically, Barnhill did a fantastic job of "making familiar things new and new things familiar" as are the two great powers of a writer according to William Makepeace Thackery or Samuel Johnson. It's been attributed to both on different sites, not sure which is accurate. I listened to it on Audible, read by Christina Moore, who was great. I loved her voices for everyone, especially Fyrian.

One of my favorite books of the year. What I found interesting is that this is written in 3rd omniscient, and it's absolutely the right thing for the book. It's a fantasy that feels a little bit Coraline, a little bit '80s fantasy movie, a little bit fairy tale. Beautifully written. It does start a little slow, but stick with it. My 11yo son read it and liked it too.

Lovely book which exercised my imagination. I pick my books by cover and title. This was a beauty on the surface but left a bit to be desired by end. Was it a page turner through the end? No, and it was slow to start and mild in the end. It did restart my reading romance though and caused me to start picking up books again.

This isn't an author I had heard of before, but I picked her up on a friend recommendation. Her style is lyrical, very beautiful. It has the feel of a fairy tale, but less formulaic. I've subsequently read a few of the author's other works. I think this is her best one, but I enjoyed her other books as well. I'm glad to add this author to my shelf. I'm encouraging my local library to add it to theirs.

A beautifully written middle grade fantasy, with probably the sweetest dragon I've ever read about. Luna must harness her magic before it's too late - not easy when even the word 'magic' won't stay in her head. A lovely book for all ages. Recommended.

The book is creative and poetic, but absurdly fantastic. I tried to read it with my teenage child, but we both thought it was ridiculous. Perhaps we just don’t have an appreciation for witches and fantasy.

A cute read. I loved the power given to the bonds between women throughout. The buildup was kind of slow, and much of the book feels like the reader is waiting for something to happen.
I thought the world buidling was really well done. I especially liked the concept of the dreary town where Luna was born and the abbey-type establishment there.

This book was very helpful in improving my reading skill. I learned a lot of new word and their meanings. Some people not think this is right for their children, but if they just keep going even if it seems boring, They will improve.

Found it in another place and grabbed immediately purchased two (one for me and one for a young lady across the street (very bright and nine).
I finished it a short bit ago and she may finish it tonight. She started it yesterday and was loving it when we spoke about it last night. It is definitely deserving of the Newberry!!!!!

I received this book as an uncorrected digital proof from the publisher, via Edelweiss.

The citizens of the Protectorate have learned to accept that every year the youngest child in the village has to be sacrificed to the witch who lives in the bog. They have been taught that the witch protects the citizens from the woods in exchange for this sacrifice. It has been this way for 500 years, but one baby, one little girl with a crescent birthmark on her forehead, is about to change everything.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon is one of the best books of any genre that I have read in a very long time. The good guys are fallible, the bad guys aren’t completely bad, and the monsters have hearts. There isn’t a single character in this book that seems stilted or out of place. They all work together to create a cohesive story that flows so smoothly, that it takes more effort to put the book down than it does to just keep reading. The world-building done by Ms. Barnhill is exceptional. She has created a land of myth and magic that easily finds its way into the mind’s eye. I would recommend this book to fantasy lovers of all ages. This will be a book I read again and again.

This is a story about the things people do out of fear, and for control and power, and out of love and sacrifice. I don't even have adequate words to describe it. It is luminous and beautiful, and you'll cheer for the good and boo the bad, and cry at the really lovely parts. Well worth the read.

I loved this book. It was beautifully told and brought the reader on a marvelous journey. I kept thinking about how much I want to read it to my niece and nephew when they get a bit older. So many great quotes litter this book as well.
"A story can tell the truth, she knew, but a story can also lie. Stories can bend and twist and obfuscate. Controlling stories is power indeed."

Simply fabulous story telling. I could not put this book down. It seemed written for young adults but I enjoyed it just as much even though I'm an old adult. The story read like a bit of creationism from a magical perspective. The author deserves every award. I can't wait to go explore her other works.

Perfect. the store requires twenty words from me or I would just write that one. Perfect. As an adult with young children I enjoyed reading this for myself, and I look forward to sharing it with my girls when they are old enough. My oldest daughter has zero tolerance for anything the least bit scary, so I don't see her reading this until she's at least 10-12, but I think it's appropriate for kids as young as 8-10.

This may be just a kids book, but my oh my, it was the most delicious drink of literature I have experienced in years. Exquisite and delicious to listen to as an audiobook to boot. Put a smile of pure satisfaction on my face every time I listened to a chapter. Highly recommend!

What a wonderful book. I read this with my 8 year old daughter and we both just loved it. The writing is rich and gorgeous. The story is suspenseful and full of great characters. The content/plot complexity and some of the vocabulary were a bit beyond what my 3rd grader -- a pretty advanced reader -- could handle on her own, but reading it together was perfect. The book gave us so much to talk about -- the political uses of fear, courage to stand up to evil forces, the power of love. This is one I know we'll read again.

I don't read tween fiction, however, a children's librarian encouraged me to purchase this book for My Little Free Library as a "cross-over."
I read it first out of curiosity and I was gobsmacked! What an excellent book. I highly recommend.

I utterly loved this book from the first page until the end. The story was quirky and lovable, and I loved the unique characters and plot. The writing is beautiful, and I couldn't put it down. I would recommend it to children and adults alike.

I enjoyed the initial concept, but then everything started going down once the witch decided to *spoilers* bind tiny childs magic. *End spoiler* Then theres the amnesia plots...I am so tired of a character who has ammesia and then conveniently remembers something. Its an actual plot point! Magic blocks out bad memories and gives you a bad memory in general. And of course she gives the kid amnesia who then conviently starts remembering things. Just so many things could have gone better. I would not recommend this for younger readers, if I could barely keep track of plot points, I doubt they'd understand them. The only reason I could even figure out what was happening was due to my firm grasp of fantasy tropes. I feel like the amnesia stuff wad just thrown in because they couldn't figure out how to explain things properly (and that says alot considering most things were Told not Shown) mi dios I have read better fanfics than this.

I so enjoyed this book! It was a total escape from tumultuous presidential election politics and current uncertain frenetic everyday life. I fell in love with the characters and enjoyed the surprise twists and turns. It presented the notion that "evil" is here among us wearing a disguise rather than "out there in the forest." I liked the author's metaphorical depiction of death and how it is inevitable. I look forward to sharing this book with my grandchildren.

Such a good story. Very charming. Full of magic and eventually, hope. I saw a lot of parallels to the real world although the book is very much steeped in fantasy. My only complaint is that the book had to end!!!

"The world is good. Go see it." Well add this to the list of books that have made me tear up in public. A beautiful modern fairy tale.

Like seriously. This book is about triumphing over sorrow and corruption and remains hopeful of the world's beauty and goodness.

This story is full of deep magic, wonderful characters, powerful themes and rich language. Readers will get swept away by epic fantasy about a young girl raised by a witch, a swamp monster, and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon who must unlock the powerful magic buried deep inside her.

tho I think there should have been a battle.... You know, with townsfolk holding torches and screaming: BURN THE WITCH!!!!!! And the main characters should have to sneak into the sister's evil layer, kill some guards and murder the most evil sister along with all the elders.

Kelly Barnhill weaves stories filled with lyrical wonder... along with humor and mystery and emotions and human matter of factness. I have not felt so imbued with the possibility of being filled with magic since I first read Patricia McKillip's "The Changeling Sea," a book that remains my gold standard for wonder. I now plan to devour every book this author has written and stay alert for more.

I thought this would read as a simple fairytale. It did not. I loved the story of good and evil. I loved the triumph of good over evil. The references of how the world was made and how sorrow entered the world and the life after death were very heavy and confusing to me.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon, written by Kelly Barnhill, introduces the role of authority, its consequences when refused, and legends. Barnhill puts the reader on an emotional rollercoaster as families are ripped apart when babies are sacrificed to the witch once a year. The truth, along with magical abilities of a few, are uncovered. I highly recommend this book. The ending is not what you would expect – thank GOD!

Kelly Barnhill delivers this gorgeously developed story full of hope, love and unlimited possibilities. Full of memorable characters and beautiful prose, Barnhill leaves the reader looking for magic in themselves and in the overlooked corners of life.

This multilayered story will be more of a pleasure to read again and again. It held every emotion, thought and feeling so delicately and drew you in, inviting you to drink the moonlight as if you were part of the story. Thank you.

I would highly recommend this book to any pre-teen, tween, teen and those who love them. A wonderful tale of growing up, of love and loss, of self and world discovery and ultimately courage. Kelly Barnhill has really captured a coming of age story for today's youth.

This book entranced me with its layered plot, deep characters, and from the depths of sorrow—hope. The dove-sized dragon and the multi-armed older-than-time monster are the mostly gently human of all the characters. I do hope this book is made into a movie.

This book was way too long for Middle Grade, there was too much boring political content, and it was having a huge identity crisis. Some parts read like a great Children's chapterbook, a lot of it was based on an older character and read like okay YA, and then there were two adults in the story who had their adult thinking added in too often. For such a long book there was very little MG age interesting content.

Many of the scenes were too long and a lot of them were basically the same scene in a different location. It would have been better to write things like, "She felt like she did the day she found the *fill in the blank* when she picked up the book," instead of describing the same sensations and thoughts over, and over, and over again. If these redundant scenes had been taken out, and most of the adult storyline extracted, the book would have been more MG length and a lot more interesting for MG age readers.

Luna, the bog monster, and the tiny dragon were the highlights of the story and more focus should have been on them. This book needed an editor who knows MG inside and out. I was excited to read this book after reading the summary, but ended up being disappointed.

I was approved for an eARC, via Netgalley, in return for an honest review

I don't normally go for fantasy, but this is more in line with classic fairy tales. What impressed me the most was that my children, 5 and 6, actually asked me to read it to them. They do not usually tolerate books without pictures, but they love the witch, the monster, the dragon and their little girl. The book appeals to my daughter and son alike and as a mom and middle school teacher I found the book to be a tremendous journey.

I thought the world Kelley Barnhill created was beautiful, with stunning imagery. But I did think things wrapped up a little too quickly for my taste. I would have liked to see more wrestle with the foe. It wrapped up a little too neatly for me as well.

It isn't often that I stop in the middle of a book, leaving it unread, but I have absolutely no desire to sit through the remaining few hours of this book. I will likely end up finishing it someday, but every single time I listen to it, I can't stop thinking about how repetitive and tedious it is. I can't believe that it has such rave reviews, while I wouldn't even recommend it to my 12 year old. I think I would have enjoyed it if it were 1/3 the current length.

Edit: this book was just mentioned as a possible book for summer reading for my daughter, and my memory of how bored I was while trying to slog through the redundancy to get to any resolution or even interesting points made me wish that I could review it dozens more times to reduce the rating. I cannot understand why it has such wonderful reviews. I absolutely will not ever go back and finish this book. There are too many wonderful books out there for me to waste any more time on this one.

I really was intrigued by this book and enjoyed the writing of kelly Barnhill! I would like to read it again in Book form as I read it on my Kindle. I struggled at points to to get through sections of the text. Perhaps it was because I read it in three different time frames! I delighted in it's poetry and the magical characters and the positiveness of the story!

I really enjoyed this book. I read an advance reading copy that my daughter had received. I was impressed. A great book with a great story line. I had not guessed or figured out who the bad witch was until about 3/4 of the way through the book. The ending was sad but so sweet and heart warming

The story is interesting, beautifully written, and so engaging as an audio book. We've read this book twice, and listened to the audiobook once and it's definitely an all-time favorite in our household! Our children are 7, and 11.

My husband chose this for our family book club (since our son loves to read), and I couldn't put the book down. So rare is it to find a young adult novel with such an eloquent style and character development.

Enjoyed this. Read it because it was an award winner and suggested for kids. This is not for young kids but a great story nonetheless. The story wrestles with some hard topics and comes to real ending.

The editor of The Girl Who Drank the Moon does not know how to edit. There are multiple independent clauses in this book connected by a mere comma and some sentences actually comprise only dependent clauses. Are you serious? This is why kids who read garbage like this for a summer reading assignment in middle school end up writing terribly later on and do not do well on the SAT verbal section. Maybe pointing out all the grammar errors in this book will serve them better in the context of an English class in middle school.

My husband chose this for our family book club (since our son loves to read), and I couldn't put the book down. So rare is it to find a young adult novel with such an eloquent style and character development.

Enjoyed this. Read it because it was an award winner and suggested for kids. This is not for young kids but a great story nonetheless. The story wrestles with some hard topics and comes to real ending.

The editor of The Girl Who Drank the Moon does not know how to edit. There are multiple independent clauses in this book connected by a mere comma and some sentences actually comprise only dependent clauses. Are you serious? This is why kids who read garbage like this for a summer reading assignment in middle school end up writing terribly later on and do not do well on the SAT verbal section. Maybe pointing out all the grammar errors in this book will serve them better in the context of an English class in middle school.

We bought this book to give as a Christmas present. Strangely, the cover of the book is on backwards. This means that when you take the jacket off and you're looking at the embossed front cover and open the book it is the upside down back of the book not the front. The binding is upside down and backwards on this hardcover book. Strange for a gift. I don't think it should be sold full price for this defect.