After some very demanding months in 2019, I can now return to my beloved book review blog! I’ve read and listened to quite a few books over the last few months, but I narrowed them down to a handful of my favorites to include on this site.
A few weeks ago at a “Favorites” party I won the Young Adult book, The Girl Who Drank the Moon. The fact that it is a Newbery Award winner gave me hope. And, despite its fantasy genre, I decided to give it a try.
I’m glad I did.
Set in a gloomy, dystopian society, The Girl Who Drank the Moon is full of symbolism that spills over into our modern world. A government who swears it is protecting the people, even though they insist that one child must be sacrificed to the forest’s witch every year. Characters include a child who escapes the sacrifice, the aforementioned witch, a dragon, a swamp monster, a madwoman in a tower, and a young apprentice trying to figure out what is true and what is not.
I devoured the book in two days, then loaned it to a friend who is a high school librarian. She loved it too.
Do not be put off by the genre, as I first was, or by its target audience. Younger people may not understand every layer in this the book, and that’s OK. But they will still enjoy it. As an adult, I found the symbolism very powerful, worthy of a college paper.
The Girl Who Drank the Moon is most definitely the best book I’ve read in a quite a while. There are some unexpected surprises, which I found very satisfying. And I’ve done my best not to include any spoilers here so that you can experience them for yourself.
9.5/10 Stars
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