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A review by peytonktracy
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
5.0
This book was utterly delightful in so many ways. A huge focus of the book is love, and it’s tremendous power and it’s drawbacks and the choices and places it puts people in. And my heart feels very full at the end of this read, which I believe is what the author intended.
The setting is unique (I’ve never read a book whose central location is a bog near a volcano), the characters are unique, and the magic and struggles the characters face is unique. I’ve never read a book quite like this.
I also appreciated that not only did the author wrap up all loose ends, she did so with mixed results while still being empathetic. Some good people got everything they wanted. Some didn’t get what they sought, but they worked through it. Some bad people got their comeuppance, but were given the opportunity to learn and grow - some did, some didn’t. It was soothing, in a way, to still have a happy ending that wasn’t what the reader expected. Like real life.
The setting is unique (I’ve never read a book whose central location is a bog near a volcano), the characters are unique, and the magic and struggles the characters face is unique. I’ve never read a book quite like this.
I also appreciated that not only did the author wrap up all loose ends, she did so with mixed results while still being empathetic. Some good people got everything they wanted. Some didn’t get what they sought, but they worked through it. Some bad people got their comeuppance, but were given the opportunity to learn and grow - some did, some didn’t. It was soothing, in a way, to still have a happy ending that wasn’t what the reader expected. Like real life.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy
Central to the plot is the perceived loss of children. The children are left in the woods as a sacrifice to a witch, and their community is under the impression those children are dead. Those children are not dead, and are rescued by the witch and brought to live in loving homes elsewhere. So it’s not “child loss” exactly, but kind of? The grief is real even if the loss is not.