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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was SUCH a good book!!! I listened on audible and sped it up as fast as I could because I HAD to know how it ended. And now I want to buy it and have a physical copy and cherish it forever.
Ok book but isn’t one I would read again. Did not love all the suffering of the characters.
“Controlling stories is power indeed.”This was okay, I guess?
I had a surprisingly hard time getting through it, despite it being a middle-grade novel. Usually with middle-grade the pacing would have me reading big chunks of pages, but with this I mostly read in intervals of 30 or 40. More than that and I found myself getting disinterested.
There isn’t necessarily a clear reason as to why, but it’s more the result of multiple little issues. First and foremost, it read as quite repetitive, with the same imagery being used over and over again. I just couldn’t get invested, because it felt like the book was more interested in its writing than the actual story and characters.
And this is probably more a problem with me than with the book, but it was just too whimsical. It felt like it really wanted to be a fairy tale, without being able to capture what makes fairy tales memorable. Fairy tales are not just about whimsy and lyrical writing. Above all they’re stories about a certain aspect of people and/or creatures – whether that be resilience, friendship or so on.
The Girl Who Drank the Moon definitely tries to be a fairy tale about love and family, but to me that was either completely lost or delivered too heavy-handed. There were certain moments where it almost managed that balance between whimsy and relatability, but it never quite got there.
Something I did like was the empowerment of its female characters; both young and old. It was definitely a tribute to woman- and motherhood, which I always appreciate. Especially in books aimed towards younger readers.
The contrast to this is how none of the male characters held any substance, which was disappointing. But slightly shallower characters can be found in any fairy tale, so I won’t think less of The Girl Who Drank the Moon because of it.
At the end of the day I would neither recommend or advice against reading this. It’s the epitome of a 5 out of 10 to me, without anything particularly bad or good to tip the scale. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether it’s for you or not.
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sweet and fun story about the love and hope that binds a daughter to her mother and to her grandmother. I couldn't put it down and enjoyed every minute.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A village that sacrifices a baby every year to an evil witch. A young man who questions why they have to sacrifice the babies. A witch who rescues the babies and finds them new homes. A baby who becomes enmagicked.
This book was a wonderful story to demonstrate how a way of doing things can be handed down for generations and eventually no one questions why. How those in leadership can lie to their people long enough that no one thinks twice and just goes along with the status quo. But it takes just one person to stand up and question things to make a change.