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A review by piperclover
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
I won't give this a star rating because it was read for a school assignment but I do have thoughts. This is exactly what I personally enjoy fantasies to be like this a whimsical fairytale story where it's not dark and gritty and there's no kingdoms or wars.
I absolutely adored the world building in this book. The Protectorate is the town that abandons the babies and they believe it's for one thing but it turns out to be a completely different reason. I absolutely love fantasies where the world the characters believe to know is turned completely upside down and is something they are horrified by so this was right up my alley. I actually found the world building to be the most compelling part of this book. I was a little bit bored and impatient through Luna discovering her magic and trying to learn about it because we already known all that information through Xan's pov and I just wanted to get back to the world building and how the protector was living and how The council of elders were upholding this system of terror by stealing the babies and abandoning them using the story of the witch to cover it up. I was so enthralled with the story of Sister Ignatia being a sorrow eater and how the whole system of abandoning the babies was a way to consistently feed her sorrow and it being upheld by the council of elders because it gained them power and wealth. This was just really clever and powerful and fascinating.
The cast of characters in this book are precious. Luna is the definition of a strong independent female character in a fantastic way. She is curious, stubborn, intelligent and information seeking. And though she makes mistakes and does get a little entitled and selfish sometimes she makes up for it and apologizes.
Fyrian the dragon is adorable and precious and chaotic and delightful. He's so endearing and his character introduces a piece of world building in such a clever and subtle way that you don't even realize it until he end. Glerk the swamp monster is a great foil to Xan's frenetic worrying because he is calm and stable. All of these characters mix together so wonderfully. They're distinct but mesh well together.
I usually dislike multiple povs and while I did feel like was slightly disjointed in the timeline bc of the multiple povs, I did enjoy seeing various povs through the whole town and surrounding areas to get a complete picture of the world and the events of it.
I absolutely adored the world building in this book. The Protectorate is the town that abandons the babies and they believe it's for one thing but it turns out to be a completely different reason. I absolutely love fantasies where the world the characters believe to know is turned completely upside down and is something they are horrified by so this was right up my alley. I actually found the world building to be the most compelling part of this book. I was a little bit bored and impatient through Luna discovering her magic and trying to learn about it because we already known all that information through Xan's pov and I just wanted to get back to the world building and how the protector was living and how
The cast of characters in this book are precious. Luna is the definition of a strong independent female character in a fantastic way. She is curious, stubborn, intelligent and information seeking. And though she makes mistakes and does get a little entitled and selfish sometimes she makes up for it and apologizes.
Fyrian the dragon is adorable and precious and chaotic and delightful. He's so endearing and his character introduces a piece of world building in such a clever and subtle way that you don't even realize it until he end. Glerk the swamp monster is a great foil to Xan's frenetic worrying because he is calm and stable. All of these characters mix together so wonderfully. They're distinct but mesh well together.
I usually dislike multiple povs and while I did feel like was slightly disjointed in the timeline bc of the multiple povs, I did enjoy seeing various povs through the whole town and surrounding areas to get a complete picture of the world and the events of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Death of parent