emzhay's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A book so full of love that it gave me heartache.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Grief
Moderate: Violence and Child abuse
micaelamariem's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Around my birthday a couple months ago, I went to a used bookstore and picked up a few gems, including this one, which seemed perfect to read around Halloween.
The Girl Who Drank the Moonby Kelly Barnhill is a middle grade fantasy novel about a town that sacrifices a baby each year to the witch in the woods under the belief that she would curse them elsewise. The witch doesn't know why the town is abandoning their babies, but she tries to save them and give them each a loved home. Until one day, she accidentally enmagiks a baby by feeding her moonlight and decides to raise her as her own. Over the novel there are secrets that lead to the discovery of why the town must sacrifice babies and how the story began. The novel actually won a Newberry award!
The author, Kelly Barnhill, is a teacher turned author who loves promoting the arts for children.
I really enjoyed this story for a middle grade novel. There were a few themes that really struck out to me: the danger of sorrow vs hope, the fragility of memory, as well as some motifs of paper and birds and magic.
The worldbuilding of the novel is great, showing a vast landscape for readers to escape into, complete with its own laws and myths and origin stories.
The writing style was a little confusing and a lot whimsical. Half the time I wasn't quite sure what was going on but I enjoyed the ride, reminding me kind of like the show I just watched called Over the Garden Wall.
I loved the characters as well, each one combatting their own fears and sorrows. My favorite character was the Simply Enormous dragon Fyrian who was always childlike and naive, but had blocked out his own trauma which perhaps kept him this way.
Perhaps the main idea of the book is the hope and sacrifices we make for whom we love can combat sorrow. The witch and the girl formed a tightly-bound relationship like a mother and daughter and held hope for each other. The swamp monster and the dragon seemed to also care about each other. The boy from the town found his own love and hope, ready to change the world, as did the madwoman.
I would highly recommend this book to middle grade readers who like whimsical quirky things with deep messages and meanings or who like to make their own inferences in stories.
Overall, this was a four star read for me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Violence, Confinement, and Abandonment
saara_ilona_muu's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, and Violence
marissasa's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This magical middle grade story was such a whimsical read. I listened to the audiobook on and off while driving and thought it was really well done, the narrator doing different voices for each of the characters really reminded me of listening to my mom do the same thing when she read stories for me as a child. Something I really appreciated about the story was that it didn't shy away from dark themes and that it treated its young audience as mature enough to understand the stakes and complex emotions of the main characters. Although some of the plot points were predictable, the final outcome still felt earned and I enjoyed all the forms of growth and character development we got to see over the years of their lives. The whole time I listened to this book I was thinking that it would make for an excellent animated show or movie and I really hope it gets adapted some day!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Death, and Emotional abuse
theinkwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I like the idea of this more than the execution. I just feel like there was too much going on and the story would have benefitted from some editing to make it more comprehensible (both for its target audience, which I feel would really struggle keeping all the different plot lines separate, and just in general). I really loved the overall magical realism fantasy vibes, but I don't feel like vibes make up for the lack of cohesion in this case. Still not a bad book and I liked the story overall, but I don't feel like it lives up to its potential.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Violence and Death
drtx_bwt's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Xenophobia and Violence
kshertz's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I thought it was extremely cute. I rooted for the good characters, I was happy to see the bad ones fail. There’s a ton of life lessons. I fell in love with a dragon. I think it’s a great really young YA book ❤️ It’s not my typical read but I still enjoyed it and it was light enough to bring joy overall. I loved the message.
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Violence
captainoliimar's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Confinement, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, and Child death
Moderate: Blood, Medical content, and Kidnapping
Minor: Violence
skudiklier's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This book was really sweet, and I loved the way it was written. It touches on some really important ideas and I'm glad I'll get to talk about it with others in my book club. I'd recommend this to fantasy fans, and people who want a complicated but mostly heartwarming story about love and found family.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Grief, Death, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Abandonment, and Murder
Minor: Self harm, Pregnancy, and Death of parent
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a middle grade fantasy about a witch who rescues babies who are left for dead in a sacrificial ritual every year. One year, she accidentally feeds one of the babies moonlight and enmagicks her. She decides to keep the child as her own and protect her from her mistake. Of course, it's a little more involved than that, but I'm so bad at summarizing which is why I rarely do it, oops.
Anyway though, this book was surprisingly dark for a middle grade read, which I kind of loved. The writing is really great and the characters are loveable. Fyrian, the dragon, was such a delightful character and I love him with my whole heart. Additionally, I just thought that the whole story had a certain charm and whimsy about it that I haven't encountered in a long time. I think this book has a lot to say about the power of hope, family ties both biological and found, and coming of age. There were some parts that dragged for me and I don't think it needed to be as long as it is, but in general, I really enjoyed my time with it.
Anyway though, this book was surprisingly dark for a middle grade read, which I kind of loved. The writing is really great and the characters are loveable. Fyrian, the dragon, was such a delightful character and I love him with my whole heart. Additionally, I just thought that the whole story had a certain charm and whimsy about it that I haven't encountered in a long time. I think this book has a lot to say about the power of hope, family ties both biological and found, and coming of age. There were some parts that dragged for me and I don't think it needed to be as long as it is, but in general, I really enjoyed my time with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Body horror, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Murder